The record-union., 1898-01-18

W SAS iiol sui pilSluS that SdIiOtilUi VIZ"
should have prevailed in this country,
"a view based" he said, ION the intern
perate and hostile and somewhat brutal
utterances of the London press re-
specting the proposals of the French
and American representatives.
The newspapers OF London, like the
newspapers of any 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 or
money loaning is an engrosSing pursuit,
not always lending to the cultivation
of the amenities of life, and it is not
to be wondered at that the London
newspapers, voicing that industry,
should, in their hostility to a policy of
which they disapproved, forget for the
moment that courtesy which is due to
the stranger within the gates, especially
when he comes upon invitation, and
that they should be led to character
ize proposals as fmpertinent' which
We're made only upon the request OF
their own Government.
1t was perfectly realized from the
beginning, he said, that bimetalllsm for
England was out of the question. INDIA
was the vital point of all the negotla-
tions with England, and all other pro-
posals We're insignificant in comparison
with that respecting that of the open
ing of the mfnts of India to the unlim-
tied coinage of silver and the repeal OF
the order permitting gold to be paid FOR
Government dues and to be exchanged
for Government rupees.
Wolcott spoke at some length upon
the conditions in India, explaining the
value of the rupee since the closing OF
the mints to silver in 1893. The closing
of the mints had, he said, created much
dissatisfaction, and there was a gen
eral impression that the Indian Govern
ment would be glad to retrace its steps.
MANY of the English monometall1sts
of wide influence believe the policy TO
be a mistaken one" he said, ''and would
be glad to see the India mints re-
opened if it could be done without
stimulating the cause of bimetalllsm'
and as a separate and distinct action.
There was a general opinion, not
limited to England, that the Indian
Government would be quick to avail it
self of an opportunity to reopen It's
mints, and would welcome another in
hsm that would raise the value of sill
yer, and would be glad to cooperate
with us in such attempt. This belief
found expression in the speech OF the
Chancellor of the Exchequer on March
18th. and 1 am sure that I violate no
confidence when I say the answer of
the Indian Government protesting
against reopening Indias mints was as
y1,,-a ff. he m q s.
try as it was a disappointment to US.
While the protest was not final, and
while the English Government in Lon
don could have overruled the objection
from India, yet such action would have
been contrary to all precedent. AS a
matter of fact. the home Government
unanimously upheld the report.
Frequent statements were made in
our papers asserting that the answer of
India was dictated from London. 1t
may be that the blind and unreasoning
fury of the city of London directed
against my suggestion of contributions
or concessions to any international set
tlement of the currency question which
should recognize silver, and which
threatened a panic and the overthrow
of any Ministry which attempted it,
dia Government 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 uninhuenced judgment
of that Government.
ITO us Wolcott continued, "the In
dia situation is inexplicable. Millions
of people. most Of them extremely poor,
h. 20, a1 al fhpir Gavin
in silver. These accumulations a few
years ago were worth a thousand mill
lions of dollars and more To-day they
are worth less than half that sum. BY
the closing of the Indian mints and the
artificial gold value given to silver, In
dia is at a great disadvantage with the
nefghboring 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 trade. The present policy
infiicts upon India, as well as the evils
of an insufficient and Hastily lessening
currencies. evils which the vicissitudes
of that dependency during the past
twelve months have served to empha-
size. The world has heard much of
the famine in India and of the great
funds subscribed for its victims. It
has not been. however, so generally
known that the famine was one of
money rather than of food; contribu-
tions We're chiefly. forwarded to India
in the form of money and n@t grain, and
that during the whole period of the
famine rice was abundant where men
were starving and its price was but a
trif1e over a cent a pound, less than the
price of wheat in England.
For all these evils. the loss in the
value Of the savings of the people, the
disadvantage OF a different purchas-
ing value for silver in India from that
which prevailed in China. the evils of
an insufficient volume of money and the
enormous injury which commerce suf-
fered through violent fluctuations in the
rate of exchange. we offered what we
believed TO he remedy. Our Cffer
was refused. and the refusal mus. be
considered as final until the failure of
the experiment upon which the Indian
Government has entered shall be dem
onstrated.
There was one oversight in the COM
municatfon of the so-called proposals TO
the India Government 1t was distinct
~ understood at all of our interviews to
be a condition of the assent Of any
country to any agreement that 1t shall
be entirely satisfied that the plan pro-
posed. because of the adhesion of
sufficient number of other nations or
otherwise. would secure the mainten-
ance of the party proposed. Had this
been fully understood, it is possible.
though not probable that a somewhat
different answer would have returned
from India