Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-08-05
ENGLAND AND slMa rAlLlsaa.
Will England Join with France am@
the United StaaenR

Will England Join with France am@-
the United Stntesg
The London National Review. organ
| of the English tories and a stanch adj
vocate of bimetallism, announces in its
July number that the United States
monetary commission viii present to
| the British government 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~
iinents inaugurated in 1873"
The National Reviews forecast of
what would be England's reply to such
joint statement is of the greatest inn
portance. The forecast is given in the
form of positive which
IS vested with a semiofficial 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 bi1netallism. 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 minis when
ever by such action she could declare
herself doing her share toward reestab-
fishing bimetallism. Indeed, it has 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 mints would be
notable reinforcement to the effort to
check the appreciation of gold. It
would, to begin with, reassure timid
souls who fear that with silver coinage
in the United States India would
dump" on this country its $95O,o00,0O0
of silver. That enormously populous
country is almost unlimited in its ca-
pacity to absorb silver. Since 1895 it
has imported and utilized over one-haIf
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 81 pence, or
81 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 a conjecture, less likely Of
fulfillment. The British financial pub
lie is fairly well used to the prospect
that the Indian mints 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 an opposition in Lom-
bard street which no ministry dare face.
IN. Y. Journal.