Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1897-10-22
SILVER SPRAY.

The London bankers, In meeting re-
Gently, adopted, unanimously, n reso-
luton to the effect that they entirely
disapproved of the Bank of England
agreeing to exercise the option, permit
ted by the act or 1884, OF holding one
fifth or any other proportion whatever
of silver as n reserve against the circu-
lation OF the Bank Of England notes.
OF course they protest. They have been
doing that, and pretty successfully, too,
for some years. The bankers of London
have been consistently opposed to all
the interests OF the whole people, UNI
less II might be some interest Of which
they themselves had n way Of securing
the major portion Of the profits The
trades unions of England are without
exception pledged to the reconciliation
of silver. The people want IL. Many of
the peoples represcn tativcs In parlia-
ment are advocating IL. Isn't il about
time the English people had something
without having to get the consent of
the London bankers 10 be allowed to
secure It?
But, however that may be. one-ffth
Of the reserve OF the Bank of England
England's part toward international BIZ
metallism. II tho monetary commits
sion Is 20 be satisfied with such sops
as this they Ind better I'm the berin-
ming have stayed ut home. One-ffth
of the reserve held by the Bank of Eng
land in silver while the other four-fifths
is held in gold Is not bimetallism, nor
does it approach it; nor, so far ms we
can sec, does 1t even hint at a POSSIBLE
ity that the British government or the
Bank OF England Will ever do ANYTHING
further toward the placing of silver in
the markets OF the world as money
metal. II il is thought that sop of this
KIND Will lessen the intensity of the
campaign in the United States for gen-
uine bimetallism, silver on an equal
footing with gold. and INDEPENDENTLY
If other nations wont join us, we may
conclude that the caliber of the Amcri-
can people has been woefully mistaken
by our brethren across the water.
What We contend for is the prosperity
Of the people, but the prosperity wants
some assurance of permancncy. Some
thing of prosperity has come to us of
late from the failure of crops abroad
and the success Of our home croUs. For
the present gold is tending toward this
side of the Atlantic. Prosperity has not
struck us yet very hard, but the i'm
provement on what has been for some
years Is material. But consider the
slender foundation on which it rests.
suppose that next year that il was our
crops that failed, and that everything
was In smiling way on the Russian
plains and the Argentine fields. where
would the gold balance be? Silverites
are not apt to lose sight of the real ques-
uon' but our friends of the gold stripe
may be likely 10 be deluded into n feel
ing OF security. For we remember that
goldltes rs we'll as silverites were a little
while ago clamoring for a change in
our currency system. This very fact
shows the inconsistency observed in
certain quarters of crediting to the GOLD
standard forces credit for the sliobt
betterment we have seen. All hands n
year ago wanted n change. Gold-stand-
ard advocates wanted their leal<v svs-
tenn mended, bank notes substituted
for greenbacks. In fact, when the sad
cohdlnon was seen on every side they
must advocate some sort of q change.
Now, with the lull in the storm. they
nave taken assurance. False pilots!
they little know the waters In which
they SAIL Bimetallists stood for
radical change that would affect the
root OF the matter. Bimetallists stood
on the well-known facts of history, and
prophesied that no permanent i'm
provement could come under any gold
standard regime. That is their position
to-day. Horace Boies and others that
are carried with every current, weather.
cocks blown by every wind, can re-
pudiatc this stand, but no other position
Is logical or tenable.