The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-03-26
VOIC0I7 ON JAPAN.
His Explanation Of That Nations
Attitude Toward Silver.
A STEP TOWARD B1METALL1sM.

The Depreciation Of Silver, the Colorad,
Senator Declares, Gives an Advantag,
to Japanese Agriculture and Japaaes,
Industries.
Washington, March 20. = Senator
Wolcott, who has interested himself
30 much In international bimetallism
expressed the opinion today that the
recent action Of Japan In attempting
to depreciate silver would hasten In
ternational action to restore the equal
ity of the two metals, and made the
following statement giving his reasons
for this belief:
"The monetary situation in Japan
is not only interesting, but most far
reaching, and perhaps not generally
understood. The result which Japan
seeks is to make permanent the de-
probation Of silver In relation to gold,
and to preserve thereby the advantages
which this depreciation naturally gives
to Japanese agriculture and Japanese
industries, and 1t is not In any sense
an attempt to equalize values. There
was time In the history of the United
States when we might have taken a
step identical with that which Japan
now proposes. II, during the years Of
our civil war, when our money was
worth but 50 per cent of the gold dol
lar, we had by law declared that hence
forth our dollar should be of the value
Of so cents only in gold our legislation
would have been parallel with that
which Japan evidently intends. We
chose to follow a different path
1.-THE action of Japan accords, In a
measure, with that Of Austria few
jected in Russia, with this difference:
Austria forced the permanent deprecia-
ton of its money, measured in gold,
to the extent of some 16 per cent;
Russia will establish o reduction of
about rs per cent In the value Of its
rouble, while Japan proposes to per-
manently depreciate its exchange, rela-
tive to gold, SO as to lower the value
of the yen to about As cents on the
dollar, The action of Japan must not
be construed as an attempt to estab-
lish and maintain a gold standard; it
is simply an attempt to preserve the
cSoiiolIiS advantages Wilcu SHe al
present enjoys because of the gold
premium which exists in japan, and
this at the expense of the great COM
mercial countries of the world which
have heretofore maintained the stabil-
ity Of their coinage as well as their
financial integrity.
"Of course, at the present price of
silver, measured by gold the result of
the action of Japan would be to drive
all its silver out of that country 1t is
premature, however, to attempt to
forecast the full effect of her action In
this respect. The course of japan
must, in my opinion, only serve to has
ten some agreement between the lead
ing commercial nations of the world
looking to a settlement of this ques-
tion upon an International basis"
Senator Jones. of Arkansas, chair
man of the Democratic national COM
mittee, has recently received two let
tiers from England regarding the pros
poets of bmetallism by international
agreement. One Of them says the gold
standard is more firmly fixed In Eng
land now than ever before, and the
other says that the times seem to be
very favorable for bimetallism, and
expresses the belief that in case the
United States should make the proper
effort bimetallism might be brought
about