The Irish standard., 1897-09-25
NO GOLD FROM ABROAD.

Instead of gold shipments from Eu-
rope in payment CT American wheat and
ether food products every steamship
sailing from England to the New United
States is carrying railway and other Sc
curities which have been bought by
American spectators on Wall street
The balance Of trade in favor of the
United States is therefore not settled in
gold. as was anticipated but the wheat
scid at high prices to John Bull is being
paid for by the return of bonds and
stocks which have been lately advance
ing by leaps and bounds through The
adroit manipulation Of the representa-,
tives of English financial syndicates On
the New York stocl; exchange.
The Philadelphia American refers 10
this peculiar state of affairs in the fol-
lowing words:
"'The disposition of the London bank-
ers to pay Indebtedness to us by the
return OF our securities is having Il
serious effect upon the New York banks
which are called upon to supply the
funds for the purchase of these securl.
ties and at the same time provide the
money due the farming sections of our
country for products sold abroad and
which are paid for by the return of our
securities to New York. This makes
the New York banks pay for good
portion Of products sold abroad with
out having their resources strengthened
in any way In short, the New York
banks have to loan on the securities re-
classes for products sold abroad, for
which products the English banker
sends us securities which the New York
banks have to absorb while giving the
farmer money for that for which the
British banker pays securities. So the
New York banks get securities, or rather
loans made on such securities, and lose
money"
The Minneapolis Tribune, commenting
on the above. says that the remarks of
the Philadelphia paper are characterized
by sound common sense and then adds:
"'rhe great rise in prices in Wall
dcnce of prosperity; but it appears to ne
prosperity for our foreign brethren rath
er than for us. If the rise in stocks
had come from foreign buying. this
the fact is that the foreigners have been
persistent sellers all through the rise.
by kindly bidding up the price of go
curities the American spectators have
enabled the foreigners to pay for the
enormous quantities of brcadstutfs they
are Obliged to buy of us mainly ont of
the profits on their sales of American
stocks For it must he remembered
that tho bulk of the foreign holding
of such securities was purchased at the
prevailing low prices of the past few
years"
All of which goes to show that the pro-
verbal "smartness' of the American in
money matters is considerably exagger-
ated. This transaction alone Is 4 con-
vincng demonstration Of his incapacity
to compete successfully with the willy
fnancicrs of London and their agents
in this country.
The fact that President Mckinley has
sent an embassy to England to suppll-
cnte the British government to aid in
restoring bimetallsm by international
agreement Is an acknowledgment of the
incompetency Of the American people as
tlnanciers. 1t is more than that. 1t is
nm admission that the American people
have lost confidence in their own abil-
ity to govern themselves without the as
sistance of tho mother country"