Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-01-06
OUR OPPORTUNITY.
the Future of BimetaIIism as Seen In
Russia.

strives to upllft them; Russian econ
omist who befriends mankind and re-
fuses to serve the moneyed oligarchy
that is bent on enslaving the world,
though he earn thereby the enmity of
the rich and powerful; a noted bimetal-
list who has especially devoted himself
to the demonstration of the blighting
influence that the suspension of the
free coinage of silver rubles has had
upon Russian agriculture, sends us the
following communication, that can
not fail to interest our readers:
Sir: That which one could not fail
to anticipate has happened.
The government of her majesty, the
queen of Great Britain, has capitulated
before a handful of Lombard street
bankers. The Salisbury-Balfour min
istry has put the interests of the money
lenders in first place, it has sacrificed
to them the Interests of agricultural
and industrial England, the interests
of India, the pledge of the present gov
eminent given to the house of commons
and the whole world on March II, 1896,
upon the honor of this same govern
ment.
1ism with the assent Of England has
seemed irrational to me from the be-
ginning. Why wait upon government
of bankers to deprive themselves vol
UNFAIRLY of the advantage of levying
tribute upon mankind by means of the
artifcially appreciated gold sovereign,
which the world owes to these same
bankers? One would reason that it is
the English bankers themselves who
have invented this irrational kind of in
ternational bimetallism in order to
stave off the danger of national bimet
allism, which threatened to break their
power last year. Once this danger
postponed until the elections of 1900,
and they are the first to find this plan
impracticable.
The producing classes have been
fooled up to this time by this political
treachery, but it has carried it's good
side.
The accomplishment of bimetallism
by the aid of England was fraught with
a serious danger. This was the ques-
ton of ratio between silver and gold.
1t is very probable that England
would have used the entirely too
strongly pronounced desire of other
nations to have her cooperation in a
bimetallic arrangement to impose some
conditions on the question of ratio. I
fear very much that the English, in
place of agreeing to the restoration of
bimetalliSm at the ratio of fifteen and
one-half to one or sixteen to one, which
would have restored gold to its ancient
value, would have insisted on establish
ing another ratio, say a ratio at the
actual existing value of the two pre-
cious metals on the markets. This
would have led not to a cheapening but
to fixing of the purchasing power of
the gold sovereign at its present ap-
preciated value, not to a Tightening of
the burdens of debtors, but to an eter-
EaliEtion and legalizing of the burden
of debts fraudulently augmented since
1878 by the artificial appreciation of
gold, not to an amelioration of the pres
ent crisis by rise in prices, but per-
petuation of the agricultural and in
dustrial crisis by giving permanence to
the era of low and falling prices.
Now the procedure is simplified.
There is no longer to be work for BIZ
metallism with the English govern
ment, but for bimetallism against the
government of bankers.
The English response of the 10th of
October, refusing to reopen the Indian
minis to the free coinage of silver, will
lead necessarily to the further appre-
citation of gold, to further fall in the
price of silver and of all commodities.
The terrible crisis which will thereby
be unclaimed upon the world will force
the people of the world to a compre-
hension of the truth that gold is the
instrument that is despoiling them of
the fruits of their toll to the profit of
handful of international money lend
ers. The nations that have ever had BIZ
metallism will hasten to national BIZ
metaIlism. Those that had the silver
standard las Russia) will be forced to
conserve it or return to it, and they
will thereby be benefited.
The purchasing power of the none
tary unit determines the burden of
debts. Hence the debtor nations are
interested in the depreciation, the in
ternational bankers in the appreciation
of the monetary unit. By means of
gold recommendation the money lenders
have succeeded in causing the apprecia-
ton of the monetary unit, or gold. The
wronged nations ask that it be depre-
ciated to it's ancient worth. Obviously
nation which will adopt national BIZ
metallism alone, if such action is not
initiated by other nations, runs the
risk of seeing its bimetallic system de-
generate into silver recommendation.
It's monetary unit would be deprecated
under the new level asked for. But it
would benefit. The money lenders
would suffer the losses. If the interna-
tional bankers wish to avoid these
losses it is for them to take precau-
tons, it is for them, for the bankers,
in their own interest, who would thus
feel the need, to take care that national
bimetallism be adopted by all the ma
tions. SO that it should thus become in
tcrnational.
When one is attacked by brigand
who threatens to rob you or even muir
der you, if need be, it would be clearly
an excess of courtesy for one to wait
before repulsing him until he left no
doubt by his steps of his intentions.
There would only be permitted him the
movements that could not be pre-
vented.
This excess of consideration has been
practiced towards the British govern
ment. and the money power of England
has proven by the decisive response of
October 10 that it is not with studied
considerations of England's wishes and
smooth words that one should under
take to deliver mankind from earthly