Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-01-27

Incorporate and hostile and somewhat
brutal utterances of the London press
| respecting the proposals Of the French
| and American representatives. The
| newspapers of London. like the news
papers Of many Of the capitals of the
world" he went on, "are dominated
by and allied with the banking ele-
ment and reflect their views and often
their expressions. The business of
! money loanlng Is an engrosslng pur-
suit, not always lending to the cultiva-
tion of the amenities of life, and 1t is
not to be wondered at that the Lon-
| don newspapers, voicing that industry,
should, In their hostility to policy of
which they disapproved, forget for the
| moment that courtesy which Is due to
the stranger within the gates. especial
ly when he comes upon invitation, and
that they should be led to character
ize proposals as 'impertinent which
We're made only upon the request of
their own government.
ut was perfectly realized from the
beginning" lie said, that blmetallism
for England was out of the question.
India was the vital point Of all the me-
gotiatlons with England. and all other
proposals We're Insignificant In COM
parison with that respecting the re-
opening of the mints of India to the
unlimited coinage of silver, and the
repeal of the order permitting gold to
be paid for government dues and to be
exchanged for government rupees"
Mr.. Wolcott spoke Mt some length
upon the conditions In India, explain
ing the value of the rupee since the
closing of the mints to silver in 1893
The closing of the mints had, he said,
''created wide dissatisfaction and there
was general impression that the In
dian government would be glad TO re-
trace Its steps.
| "Mnny English monomctallists of
wide influence believe the policy to be
n mistaken one" lie said. "and would
be glad to see the Indian mints re-
opened, II 1t could be done without
stimulating the cause Of bimetnllism
and rs separate and distinct action.
"There was general opinion not
limited to England that the Indian
government would be quick to avail
itself Of an opportunity to reopen Its
mints and would welcome another In
tcrnntIonal attempt towards bimetal-
| lism that would raise the value OF Sill
yer. and would be glad to cooperate
| with us In such an attempt. This be-
lief found expression In the speech of
| the chancellor OF the exchequer Of
March 18th. and am sure that vlo-
late no confidence when / say the an
swer Of the Indian government pro-
testing against rcopening the Indian
mints was ns much n surprise to the
English ministry as It was disnp-
pointincnt to us. While the protest
was not final. and while the English
government In London could have
overruled the objection from !ndin,
yet such action would have been con-
trary to NIL precedent. As matter of
fact, the home government, It Is said,
| unanimously upheld the report.
"FreQuent statements In our papers
assert that the answer Of India was
dictated from London. 1t may be that
the blind and unrcasoning fury Of the
city OF London directed against my
suggestion of contributions or conccs-
sIons to any International settlement
of the currency question which would
recognize silver, and which threatened
panic and the overthrow OF any min
istry which attempted II. may have
rendered the reply of the Indian gov
crnmcnt not wholly unwelcome: but
the. policy outlined In the letter of
September 10th signed by the viceroy
and his associates must stand as the
deliberate and uninnuenccd Judgment
OF that government"
"To u.s." MFR. wolcott continued, "thc
India situation Is inexplicable. MIL
lions of people. most OF them cx-
trcmely poor, have for years invested
nj! their savings in silver. These ac-
cumulntlors few years ago were
worth thousand millions of dollars
or more. To-day they are worth less
than half tha. sum. BY the closing OF
the Indian mints and the artificial gold
| a., oil, India 10 n syt.nn
disadvantage with the ncighborinG
countries. the exports of which are
stimulated by the higher premium on
gold, and they are robbing India OF
much OF her manufacturing and export
| tradc. The present policy inflicts upon
India MS well as the evils of nh unsuf-
flcient and steadily lessenirg currency.
evils which the vissitudes Of that de-
pcndency during the past twelve
months have served to enphnsize.
"The world has heard much OF the
famine IN India aud Of the great funds
subscribed for It's victims. II has not
I been. however. so generally known
| that the famine was one of money
rather than food: that the contribu-
tions were chiefly forwarded to India
| In the form of money and not grain.
and that during the whole period OF the
| famine rice was abundant where men
| were starving and Its price was but n
trific over n cent n pound. less than the
price OF wheat In England. For nll
these evils, the loss in value OF the
savings of the people. the disadvnn-
tngc OF different purchasing value
| for silver In India from that which pre-
vailed In China. the evils OF an insuffi-
Client volume of money and the enor.
nous injury which commerce suffered
through violent fluctuations In the rate
OF exchange we offered what we be-
lieved to he n remedy.
"Our offer was refused and the re.
fusal must be considered MS final until
the failure of the experiment upon
which the India government has enter
ed shall be demonstrated.
"Thcrc was one oversight In COM
municating the so-callcd proposals to
the Indian government. 1t was dis
tinctly understood at all of our inter
views to bc II condition of the assent
OF any country to any agreement that
It shall he entirely satisfied that the
plan proposed. because OF the adhesion
OF a sufficient number OF other nations.
or otherwise. would secure the main-
flamenco of the parity proposed. Had
this been fully understood. 1t Is pos