The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-18

cheQuer on March IL, and l am sure
that / violate no confidence when l
say the answer of the India govern
ment protesting against reopening the
India minis was as much a surprise to
the English ministry as it was dis
appointment to US. While the protest
was made final, and while the English
government in London could have over
ruled the objection from India, yet
such action would have been controry
to all precedent. As a matter of fact
the home government, it is said, unani-
mously upheld the report.
DICTATED FROM LONDON.
Frequent statements in our papers
assert 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 any
suggestion of contributions or conces-
sions OF any international settlement
of the currency question which should
recognize silver, and which threatened
a panic and the overthrow of any min
istry which attempted it, may have
rendered the reply of the Indian gov
eminent not wholly unwelcome; but the
policy outlined in the letter of Sept 10,
signed by the viceroy, and his associ-
ates. must stand as the deliberate and
uninfluenced judgment of that govern
ment."
ITO US. Mr. Wolcott. the India sit
uation is inexplicable. Millions of peo-
pie most of them extremely poor, have
for years invested all their savings IN
silver These accommodations a few
years ago were worth a thousand MIL
lions of dollars and more. Today they
are worth less than half that sum. BY
the closing of the Indian minis and the
artificial gold value given to silver, In
dia is at a great disadvantage with the
neighboring countries, the exports OF
which are stimulated by the higher pre-
MUM on gold. and they are robhing
India of much of her manufacturing
and export trade. The present policy
infiicts upon India as we'll as the evils
of an insufficient and steadily lessen
ing currency. evils which the vicissi-
tudes of that dependency during the
past II months have served to empha-
size.
FAMINE OF MONEY.
1.-The world has heard much of the
famine in India and of the great funds
subscribed for its victims. 1t has not
been, however, generally known, that
the famine was one of money rather
than food; that the contributions We're
chiefly forwarded to India in the form
of money and not grain, and that dur
ing the whole period of the famine rice
was abundant where men were starV-
ing. and its price was but triffe 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 dill
ferent purchasing value for silver IN
India from that which prevailed in
China, the evils of an insufficient vol
ume of money and the enormous in
jury which commerce suffered through
violent fluctuations in the rate OF eX-
change, we offered what we believed to
be d remedy.
Our offer was refused and the re-
fusal must be considered as final until
the failure of the experiment upon
which the India government has
entered shall be demonstrated
There was one oversight in the
communication of the so-called pro-
posals to the India government 1t
was distinctly understood at all of our
interviews to be a condition of the
assent of any country to any agree
ment that it shall be entirely satisfied
that the plan proposed. because OF the
adhesion of a sufficient number of
other nations or otherwise. would Sc
cure the maintenance of the parity
proposed. Had this been fully under
stood it is possible, though not prob
able. that a somewhat different answer
would have returned from India
MANY OBSTACLES.
Mr.. Wolcott next enumerated the
obstacles with which the commission
had to contend, in which he included
the remarkable drop in the price OF
silver. the coincident tariff legislation
in the United States and the state
ments of New York bankers in Eng
land, who, he said. sought access to
the English officials and assured them
that any sentiment which had form
erly existed in the United States in
favor of bimetallism was dead Other
statements made By the bankers. ac-
cording TO Mr. WOlcott, were the fol-
lowing:
That the mission was sent solely as
a SOP to a few far western Republic
cans: that the country generally
favored the gold standard and that the
president of the United States shared
this view
@The statements were" Mr. VOL
colt said. ''Of course, untrue, but in
support Of them these people assumed
TO present interviews and statements
of the director of the mint hold
over from the late administration; the
late controller of the currency. an
equally precious legacy. now out OF
the public service and transp'7 - -
a Chicago bank; and pretended state
ments in letters ana ldterNless -----i
the secretary of the treasury TO the
effect that there was no change Tor
international or other bimetallism and
favoring the permanent adoption OF
the gold standard
CAGES ALLEGED STATEMENT.
Nobody in Europe cared a rap what
the two minor prophets thought or
said, as nobody in this country cares,
but the alleged statements of the sec
retary of the treasury were a different
matter. We insisted that the letters
must be forgeries and the Interviews
fictitious, and l trust they were. for II
was inconceivable that member OF
the cabinet would seek to undermine
the efforts of mission appointed by
the president and whose efforts he was
/ cordially and zealously secOnding-
The commission was, he said, also at
| tacked from time to time by statements
| from extremists in the other direction,
Insisting that our efforts were pre-
/ tended: that we had no hope or ex-
pectation of success; that the president
was secretly opposing us; that 1t was a
| disgrace TO or country that we were
/ permitted TO invite other countries to
| ioin us IN opening mints; that it was
| humiliating that we were even consult
| ing any other country on that subject;
/ that failure was inevitable, and the
sooner we came home the better; it was
| a new and somewhat ludicrous view OF
| tho silver question that made 1t humll-
| iating that this country should invite
other countries, like France, to join IN
| opening mints, or made it unimportani
to ascertain the attitude of India, with
| her thousand million ounces of silver
/ in bullion and ornaments changing
hands IL the baZaars at bullion Vaiue
/ and her five hundred and seventy NIL
! lion ounces of silver in silver coins do
! ing duty at the ratio of about Y TO L