Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-08-03
ENGLAND AND elMErALL,sM.
Will England Join, with France and
the United Stnteaf

AhC NHhSSO StnteSI
The London National Review, organ
efthe English tories and a stanch adj
v0cate of bimetallism, announces in its
July number that the United States
monetary commission will present to
the British government a joint state
ment from France and the United
States asking the good will and ac-
tive concurrence of England In the eff
| fort to terminate the disastrous exper-
iments inaugurated in 1873"
The National Reviews forecast Of
what would be England's reply to such
q joint statement is of the greatest i'm
portance. The forecast is given in the
form of a positive (which
is vested with semioficial character
by the close affiliations of the editor
with the dominant party in the British
government. These are the concessions
, which he asserts England stands ready
to make to the demand for interna-
tional bimetallism:
! Reopen the Indian mints.
Extend the use of silver in England
by increasing Its legal tender functions,
making it the basis of notes. and en-
towering the Bank of England to use
it's silver reserve.
Guarantee the material assistance
and moral support of the British gov
eminent to the. effort to establish in.
ternational bimetallism.
All of these are concessions of the
greatest value to the cause of inter-
national bimetallism. The first comes
as no surprise, for it has been an open
secret with well-informed bimetallists
that England has been ready for some
time to reopen the Indian mints when
ever by such action she could declare
herself doing her share toward reestab-
fishing bilnetallism. Indeed, ithas been
regarded as probable that the distress
in India which has followed the closing
of the minis would compel the imperial
government to reopen them without
waiting to utilize such action for pur-
poses of barter. Nevertheless, the re-
opening Of the Indian minis would be
q notable reinforcement to the effort to
check the appreciation of gold. 1t
would, to begin with, reassure timid
souls who fear that with silver coinage
III VIC Oulteu OtdlSS 1lldlo WOu1u
dump" on this country it's $950OoO 900
of silver. That enormously populous
country is almost unlimited in its ca
pacity to absorb silver. Since 1885 it
has imported and utilized over one-half
of the whole worlds output of the white
metal. When the British government
without warning closed the Indian
mints the stoppage of the demand for
silver was so immediate and SO positive
that the price of that metal, expressed
in terms of gold, dropped sA pence, or
Fl per cent. The proposition to restore
this demand is obviously full of good
for that system which seeks to keep
the relative values of gold and silver
fixed and Interchangeable.
The other reported concessions of
England are less important, and, if we
may hazard conjecture, less likely of
fulfillment. The British financial pub
lie is fairly well used to the prospect
that the Indian minis will be reopened,
but the extension of the legal tender
function in England and the positive
Alignment of the British government
with the international bimetallists is
Likely to arouse anFopposition in Lom-
Yard street which no ministry dare face.
N. Y. Journal.