The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1898-09-20
INDIA WON'T HAVE IT.
PEOPLE THERE SEE INIoUlTy
OF GOLD STANDARD.
Under 1T They Would Have to Give
Away Twice as Much of Their Prod
ucts for Dollar as Under the BIZ
metallic System.

contemporaries devote to the subject
1t is to be concluded that the proposi-
ton to put British India on a gold-cur-
rency basis is regarded as burning
question. 1t has already been pointed
out that the view taken by the leading
economic and financial writer's of Great
Britain is decidedly hostile to the
scheme. This opposition, it is fair to
say, is not grounded upon the theory
that the discarding of silver by India
would be detrimental to British inter
ests, although there is an idea present
IN the discussion that such a move
would increase the difficulties which
the London market and the Bank of
england have to contend with growing
out OF the demand for gold from Rus
sla and Japan, not to mention the
heavy drafts which the United States
mas made during the past year on the
English supplies of gold and those
which are liable to result from a main
tenance of this country's favorable
trade balances.
The principal contention of British
critics in discussing the gold currency
proposals of the Indian government is
that the effect would be disastrous to
India itself. That country and all it's
business interests, it is maintained,
have already suffered severely from the
contraction of the currency caused by
the closing of the Indian minis to the
free coinage of the silver rupee. Finan-
clal stringency is an annual occurrence
throughout the presidencies Money
goes to prohibitory rates, and accord
ing to one authority, the leading Indian
banks were recently unwilling to make
loans even on the security of bar gold
The restriction and disturbance of bus
mess from such state of affairs is OBJ
vious. And it is further pointed out
that for a poor country like india al
ready burdened with debt in Europe,
on which the interest is payable in
gold, to enter upon policy that neces-
sarily involves additional heavy gold
loans in Europe in order to accumulate
and maintain large gold reserve
would be little short of suicidal.
Another feature of the Indian finan-
cial situation which is also dwelt on
with emphasis in the course Of the dis
cusSion is the relation of midas i'm
memorial popular habits of boarding
silver to the proposed gold standard.
1t is pointed out that even since the
Indian minis were closed that country
went on importing silver to the extent
of about '$20000,00 a year, although it
was a period of low prices for wheat,
cotton and other products and was
marked by plague, frontier war, famine
and exceptional dearth OF money. Since
1859 it is calculated that about $780,
100000 Of silver had been absorbed by
India for boarding and personal orna
ments, and the usually careful London
Statist goes so far as to assume that
the total amount of silver held in that
way, not coined in India, is fully
100000.
While the rupee in exchange is
worth about Is. 4d., the value of the
silver in the rupee is worth about
1015d. Silver, therefore, is about one
third below the artificial existing value
of the rupee. Consequently the boards
and ornaments of the people of India
are worth about one-third less than
they would be if the minis had not
been closed In old times, before the
minis were closed, rupees and silver in
the form Of ornaments were inter
changeable Now if a native is forced
to sell the latter he finds he is offered
about two-thirds their weight in ru-
PEGS. ct follows" says the journal
quoted from above, 'that there is de-
probation of approximately $500,000,-
600 in the value of the silver boards
and ornaments held in India. The pro-
posal of the Indian government is that
this depreciation should be perpetu-
ated. The sum is equal to one-half the
indemnity exacted by Germany from
France at the end Of the war; The
economic and political complications
which might follow the further devel-
opment of such a line of policy, there
fore. fill the leading London authori-
ties on the finance with apprehensions
which they are at no pains to conceal.
The drift of their argument is that the
fall in the value of the rupee has not
really injured India, which has been
vastly benefited by good government
md the development of its sources
through the inflow Of British capital.
The remedy proposed is, therefore.
gradual fall of the rupee so managed
by the government as not to disar-
range trade.-Bradstreet'
The Paramount Issue.