The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-05-13
MORETON FREWEN'S ,WElGHI1
ARGUMENT.

| To the exclusion of editorial matter we
| publish below the third of Moreton rev
| an,s articles in the Washington Post on
the silver question. He writes:
Editor Post: Looking back upon the eff
forts made in the past to secure the res
toration Of silver by international con-
ference, the central idea at these con-
ferences being to secure the simultaneous
oneninc of a score of minis, 1T is indeed
difficult to ina CINE that such conferences
were called except with the object OF ad-
yertising to the world the fact or their
failure. Before 1878, thanks to France,
and, as l am about to point out, thahks
also to England, the world enjoyed Ell
fectiye bimetallism; that is to say, lo,ooo
tons of silver, or a 1000 tons OF golo,
wherever produced, could have found
omen minis in the western natlons.As long
as France returned to the bearer gold
coin for gold bullion, and also silver coin
for silver bullion, the two metals were
found to be convertible at the Franch
ratio Q51a to H. But if we look a little
further we see how it was that France
was able to do this, without being drain
ed of her gold; it was because of the Sill
yer monometallic systematic free mint
age of silver by the British government In
India gold being strictly demonetlzed by
our government there. Such was the
nature of England's subscription to the
bimetallic system, and but for that great
subscription l think that France must
have failed to maintain the parity.
This argument, l am aware, makes for
the ability of the United States single
handed to establish bimetallism, and
therefore it is an argument that will be,
and ought to be, criticised, even with hos
tihty. 1t lis, however, this evidence from
monetary history that has induced some
Of us to think that under present condi-
tions. and in view of the large supplies OF
new gold coming forward, the United
States could with free coinage establish
bimetallism, with no other help except
that of open mints in India.
What France did before 1913 was this:
She took silver, coined it freely, and
gave gold for it. If at any time silver
threatened to swamp her currency ana
send gold to premium, she-that is, her
merchants and ours-expOrted silver to
Bombay, Madras, or Calcutta, buying up
with that silver gold bills upon London,
these bills representing India's excess of
exports to England over what she i'm
ported from England. In this way any
151b ounces of silver, delivered at the
French mint, was able Thy way of Bonn
bay) to draw an ounce of gold from the
Bank of England.
What France did, what French bimet-
allism did, by buying silver at liked
price. was to refuse Asia any silver from
the Comstock mine at less than that
price: and thus France put in the peg
below which the price of silver could not
fall France was, so to speak, mere
money changer, not silver aosofDer'
she sat here in the center OF the world
and said. Il have got 150,0O0.OOO gold dol
lars which l am willing to exchange for
600 100000 ounces of silver; but II any
seller of silver brings in one lump
thousand million ounces, then he VIII
have to wait for his gold a few weeks,
until by shipping silver to Asia | can eX-
change it there for gold bills on London.
But think | hear one of your intelligent
anti-free coinage merchants say, well,
but if we in the United States open our
minis and pay 129 cents per ounce for
silver, when to-day it sells for 90 cents,
can we keep the peg in at any such price!
Will India buy our silver at that price!
Will not not that price prove so prohibi-
tive that the natural drain of silver to
India will be checked, and we shall have
to buy and buy and buy silver as it comes
from the mines, until presently all our
gold is gomez" Now, this is a very proper
objection to free coinage it is one that re-
H. Sin
of experts. You must remember, how
ever, that with open mints, so long as
India maintains, as she always has main
tanned, an immense balance of exports
over imports, India must draw silver
mo matter what the price of silver is.
She cannot draw gold, because gold in
India is not money, nor is 1T received
either for debts or taxes. Therefore, If
India should refuse to take Americas
silver at the / to 16 rating 029 cents per
ounce, India must cease to export her
produce, and if India land all Asia ex
port less produce to Europe, then prices
must rise, and America will export more,
and larger balance of trade earned by
increased exports will bring gold back
to you from all gold standard countries.
] have no doubt whatever that if you
put in the peg" at 129 cents, both India
and also Ohina (now commencing to
build railways will take so much silver
from you, paying you for it in produce
| exported to London that not only would
silver not become redundant in your cur
rency, but that your exports, swelling
immensely because of the rise in the ex-
changes with all isilver-using nations,
would favor the extensive export of the
new African gold from Europe to you.
Take the following table Of figures from
the report Of our silver commission in
1875:
ABSORPTION OF SILVER BY INDIA.
Annual
average
net i'm. Worlds an