The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-14
STUDENTS OF FINANCE MEET.
DISTINGUISHED ASSEMBLAGE OF
LEARNED MEN AT OMAHA.


iiberatiOns-PrOmin Men of
COntending Theories Take Part In
the DiscnssiOn-Mr. Edward AtIxin-
son of Boston. Prevented by Sick
ness From Attending, Sent Paper
TO BE Read Entitled "Force Bills
or Legal Tcnder"-speeches OF
Participants.
Omaha. Sept 13.-One of the most dis
tlngushed gatherings of financial students
that ever assembled, opened three days
session of the monetary conference at the
Nebraska building, exposition grounds, to-
day
Hon. j. Sterling Morton presided to-day.
Messrs. Warner, Towne, Barune. weav-
er, Reynolds and other leaders of the silver
and paper money sides took part in the
joint debate to-day
Shortly after 10 o'clock Mr.. MortSn cali
ed the convention to order and without eny
unusual formality beyond few words of
explanation and welcome, said "Three
questions demanding your solution are;
l. Is it the fixed legal ratio established
between the coins which governs the rela-
tive value of the metals In bullion? or
80 Is it the relative value of the metals
in bullion which governs the relative value
of the coins?
49, If no single and separate state can
maintain a fixed legal ratio between the
metals when coined in unlimited guam
titles, can an international agreement
among the principal mercantile countries
of the world do so?"
Mr.. Edward Atkinson. the distinguish
ed economist and pubncist of Boston. was
prevented from attending because Of i'll
health. Therefore, he sent to me for pre-
sentation on this occasion his paper eni
tied Force Bills Or Legal Tender and
without further prelude L proceed to read
it."
Mr.. Atkinson's paper dealt with the
question of legal tender saying good
money needs no act of legal tender Only
bad money calls for an act OF force or le-
gal tender to make people take it whether
they want &c or not. He held that the So
called free coinage act proposed in 1898 was
nothing but a pretext Free coinage could
be admitted of gold, silver. copper or nick
el If that were the end of the matter The
vice of the free coinage policy Is hidden
under the name of legal tender. Legal ten
der acts were born in fraud and have been
nursed in corruption ever since. That Is
the record from the dawn Of financial his
tory to the present day All legal tender
acts or DEGREES with the exception of those
relating 10 the subsidiary coin have been
created for one or two purposes. They
have either been the acts or DEGREES of alb
solute rulers or despotic governments for
the purpose of cheating their people and
defrauding them of their earnings, or else
they have been acts for the collection Of a
forced loan in the conduct of war, like our
legal tender acts Of 1861 so; or else for tho
collection of a forced loan for the pur-
chase Of silver under the Bland bill or
Sherman act, which Is now resting in in
nocuoue desuetude in the vaults of the
treasury of the United States.
money Is necessary to the conduct of
commerce. Commerce is the exchange Of
products or services for mutual benefit. IL
any farmers are foolish enough to want
silver, or cattle money, or skin money,
they can get It; silver in Asia, cattle
money in Africa, and fur or skin money
i'm Nova Zembla. The free coinage of sill
yer of full legal tender is almost grotesque
In its audacty, asking farmers In the
great Mississippi valley, so per cent. Of
whom are free of any mortgage whatever,
and are thus the creditors OF the world,
to give their principal customers in Great
Britain the power to force British silver,
costing % cents an ounce or less upon
them under an act of legal tender at
$1.2912 an ounce, or 16 to /:
1.-THE force of folly could go no further"
There was no debate on Mr.. Atkinson $
speech, and Editor Horace White Of the
Evening Post opened the conference prop
er with a paper on the History OF the
| Gold Standard"
Mr.. White said the history of the gold
standard was a narrative of attempts on
the part of the governments and peoples
to make two metals variable in their ma
! tuTe, stable In reference to each other.
These attempts were honest, but futile.
| The pursuit of bimetallism was like the
| pursuit of an ignis fatuus. The nations,
one after another, had abandoned il, so
| that in 1898, all countries of any CONNER
| cial Importance, except four, had adopted
| the single gold standard The four were
India, Chile, Japan and Russia. All four
| were then silver standard countries All
/ have since adopted the gold standard or
! have taken steps to that end. The only
nation that has gone back from gold to
| silver Is Spain, and this has been in con
sequence Of her recent misfortunes AS
! to international bimetalllsm, Mr. White
| thought that Senator Wolcott had preach
/ ed its funeral sermon after he came back
/ from his frutless mission some six months
! ago.
! Mr.. White next considered the common
| saying that there is not gold enough in
/ the world 20 90 the business or the world.
! He could prove that there was enough
| gold 70 DO our business The reason of
/ this plethora Of gold was easy to under
stand The large crops Of the last two
/ years colncidng with partial failures
/ abroad, had turned the balance Of trade
/ In our favor. Accordingly we had import
ed Sill 10000 of gold during the fiscal year
| ending June 30, 1888. We had produced $685.
| O00, 900 in our own country which we had
retained and we had received somewhere
/ from 6, 900 900 20 $l0OOO,0O0 from the Klon-
| dixie. Our stock Of gold had Increased
about $3.50 900 600 in little more than one
year. Our holdings of gold We're now fully
! $50 900 600. being larger than those Of any
other country in the world and IL was
perfectly absurd to say that there was not
1 enough gold to do our business with. But
| the evidence was Overwhelming that there
| was enough for other nations also. The
amount added to the worlds stock during
| Tie last eight years was $1.377 OOO, 600, and
IL was Increasing by leaps and bounds
| Mr. White favors the bill recently re-
/ ported by the House banking committee
| ,v,sch while not retiring the greenbackg