The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-25

| the monetary systems of these countries
| have no common unfit each nation, in ig-
norance or misled independence, prefers an
! independent system of its own-they will
| inevitably vary in value to each other, and
| the profits of the international transaction
we are considering are subject to these va
riations. Such variations are, therefore,
barrier to trade between the countries
TO ESCAPE FLUCTUATIONS.
''N was to escape from such fluctuations
Of the Russian currency. which in 1892
reached 9.6 per cent. and in 1891 IS per cent.
that the Russian government has fixed it's
paper money at the gold standard. For the
same reason Austria Hungary and Japan
have lately done likewise For the same
reason India closed its mints to the unre-
stricted coinage of silver. and has been
| struggling since to hold its rupee at the
| fixed value of Is pence. Tt is for this rea-
son that even Peru, with it's comparatively
| small foreign trade, has closed It's mints
| to the unlimited coinage of silver. 1t is for
| this reason that the government of France,
while friendly to an international agree
ment upon the bimtallic money standard,
will not entertain any proposition that in
wolves a possible separation of her own cur
rency from the standard used by the other
| important commercial nations of the world.
| The enterprising peoples of the world are
not voluntarily assuming or remaining un-
der conditions which put them at disad-
vantage in the keen rivalry that statesmen
| find in every market The enlightened judg-
ment of the time condemns such a meaning
! less and burdensome restraint upon the eX-
changes.
Nor is there any merit in the plea, some
| times made, that, inasmueh as most of a
country's business transactions are domes-
| tic, and only small percentage of them in
| ternational, therefore, the relations of it's
money to the money of other countries is of
equally small Importance. The truth is that
prices in all domestic sales are related to
| prices in international transactions, and
cannot be separated from them. The values
Of all goods that enter into the common
consumption of mankind are international
and cannot be affected by monetary legisla-
ton. Legislation can alter the value of a
local currency but the owner of goods of
worldwide demand simply raises or lowers
his price to correspond with the changed
value of the money. Clear as these prin-
ciples seem to be, and attested by the un-
varying experience of all countries, there
are those everywhere who protest against
all measures to enforce them.
HOW WAGE FARMERS SUFFER.
Certain narrow objections and sophistic-
al doctrines become familiar Some assert
that the depreciation of country's money
has a good effect by stimulating it's export.
The shipper sells his products abroad for
gold converts the gold into the currency of
his own country and as the latter declines
in value of course he gets more Of it. The
net gain depends on his opportunity to work
this deprecated currency off on somebody
else at its old value. In some countries the
| exporters claim to have succeeded in doing
this, and they are pleased and pronounce it
a good thing. 1t is said, for instance, that
in India, while the price of wheat and tea
in silver currency has advanced the plant
ers can still hire labor at about the same
wages as before. Evidently if the wage
| Garner consumes wheat and tea he is not
i sharing the good thing. 1t is said that in
Mexico manufacturers and planters have
enjoyed prosperity by reason of the rising
prices of their products in silver, while
wages have advanced but little. The ques-
| ton naturally arises, who buys these prod
ucts? Who consumes, in those countries,
| cotton, flour, sugar, shoes, meat and the
| other things which in any country are GER
tain to rise as the local currency declines?
'It is evident that the stimulus to enter
| prise which these countries have enjoyed
| has been precisely such stimulus the
| United States would have if the wage earn
| ers of this country would agree together to
accept a % to so per cent. reduction in their
| pay. That might truly stimulate the export
trade for a time. AS a measure of wage
reduction a depreciating currency may be
accepted as effective. AS policy to stimu-
| late exports it is in any case effective but
| temporarily; for, if it ceases to depreciate,
wages and other expenses will gradually
| adjust themselves to it, the exporter losing
his premium while if it continues to de-
preIiate it will eventually become worthless
and all it's influence, beneficent or otherwise,
will perish with it. AS policy upon which
to build a nations trade and prosperity it
begins in fraud and ends in failure"
| THE WOLCOTT COMMISSION.
Reviewing the efforts of the WoIcott in
ternational bimetallic commission the direc-
! tor says that the sentiment in favor of
| bimetallic monetary standard, supported by
| international agreement had found express
| sion not only by the legislative bodies of
| France and Germany but of Great Britain,
! and it had therefore seemed oppOrtune that
| a conference should be held with a view
| to ascertaining what concerted action might
/ be agreed upon. Mr.. Roberts adds: "A
| single nation, acting alone, is certain to lose
| the dearer metal entirely, and retain only
the cheaper as its standard Thus, for any
| country, under present conditions to open
! its mints to the unrestricted coinage of both
! gold and silver at 16 to /, or any thereabout
ratio, would be for it to lose what gold it
| possessed, because that metal would surely
go where it was rated higher. If. however,
there was no country in the world where
it was legally rated higher, there would be
no place to which it might go for monetary
use. Allowing that the ratio originally
agreed to was approximately the market
| ratio. the valuation thus coinciding with
| the judgment of the commercial world
there seems every reason to believe that
such an international agreement would ac-
complsh it's purpose.
Although the efforts of the commission
were brought to an end by the refusal of
the government of India to join the move
ment, the director considers the failure in
! directly due to a growing feeling that the
| rapidly increasing product of gold has radi-
! caIly changed the situation from what it was
| ten years ago. when the gold product
! seemed to be at a standstll or declining
! 1t has changed to Indifference or opposi-
tion the attitude of many who then feared
| an apprecating standard but who are as
/ much opposed TO a depreciating one
Great as was the worlds production of
amounting to the value of $287, ,504, 500, and