Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-04-07
TREASURY TROUBLES.
The Movement of Gold Is Controlled
to "a Great Extent by the
Money Power.

now being made upon the treasury, and
| they sagely inform us that when there
| is no danger of the money standard be-
| ing tempered with the people don't care
| for the gold. They forget, apparently,
| that the heaviest runs upon the treas
ury took place in the very midst of Mr..
| Cleveland's administration, long before
the Chicago platform declared for free
! silver, when there was no indica ton
| that it would &c so, and when in fact it
looked as if the free silver cause had
received its death blow. They also for
get that the runs in great measure
! ceased in the summer and fall of 1896;
when Organism was sweeping like wild
| fire over the country and seemed to
stand at least an even chance of win
ming. What do these facts prove? Sim
ply this: That the great financiers can
either loot the treasury or stop lootin g
il, almost at will. Another bond issue
in the fall of 1896 would have landed
Mr.. Bryan in the presidential chair, and
the MorganRothschild syndicate saw
TO it that there was none. Nor would it
have done to have another Immediately
after the election, for it would have
belied every campaign promise that the
gold men had made. Shortly thereafter
the heavy exports of grain and bread
stuffs, turned the balance of trade this
way, and checked the outflow of gold.
Hence there was no occasion for runs
upon the treasury. Nobody wants gold
for internal use. Paper is almost uni
Sersally preferred. 1t is the foreign de-
mand that rakes the treasury. That
e. I l.
we have the gold standard or any other.
What that foreign demand may be will
always depend upon commercial con-
ditiops, subject to the great ability of
the money power of the two continents
to interfere with the free flow of gold by
manipulation of the exchange. But this
is a thing which will not and cannot be
continued indefinitely. The controlling
factor is primarily the course of trade.
But loans and other investments Great
ing a condition of indebtedness sep
arate and apart from that which arises
from the mere buying and selling of
goods will also have an important bear
ing. If our exports of merchandise
amount to $1OO,OOO,0OO more than our
imports, then with all other conditions
equal, $1OO,0OO,OOO in specie would come
TO us in settlement of the balance. But
if we had an interest charge of 800, OO0,-
900 to pay, or if we paid a like sum in
freights, or if American travellers used
the same amount in meeting the eX-
pcnses of their journeys-in any of
these cases the balance due us would
be absorbed and we would get no specie
from other countries, unless it were
sent here simply for investment. Hence
we see that in dealing with the move
ment of specie we cannot confine our
observations to trade balances alone.
If we had no foreign payments to make
except for current purchases of goods
we would have no trouble about our re
serves for either gold or silver, for the
balances are almost universally our
way. But we have heavy charges to
meet entirely separate and apart from
any matter connected with the mere
eXcange of goods. Our foreign debt
has been variously estimated at from
$4,000, 900, 900 to SIS, OOO, OCO, 900. Very lit
tie of this vast sum has been actually
sent here for investment. The great
bulk of it is the result of reinvestment
in profits which profit themselves from
the interest upon it has to be paid just
the same. So do the freight charges and
the expenses of the American travellers.
The aggregate amount of these can only
be estimated, but is certainly not less
than $35O,C0O,OOO, and it is probably con-
siderable i'll excess of that sum. During
the last year our sale of goods exceeded
our purchases something like $3.50, OOO,-
600. And yet the exports and imports of
gold very nearly balance each other.
This startling circumstance can be &C
counted for in no other way than by
reference to the demands which ELL
rope holds against us in the shape OF in
terest, freights and travellers expenses.
Hut commercial conditions during the
last year have been altogether abnor-
NAL. Our shipments of wheat and other
food products have been extraordinary.
Under average crop conditions abroad,
we cannot reasonably expect balance
Of more than half what it was last year.
With smaller exports and lower prices
as the London Financial News says, a
drain of gold will begin again. Runs
upon the treasury will be sure to follow
unless the banks furnish the gold for
export, which they probably will not
do. They will prefer to draw it from
the treasury, induce the administration
to issue more bonds, and then ascribe
it to the silver agitation. AS already
stated the great financiers can to a con-
siderable extent control the movement
of gold. They can guard the treasury
against runs by furnishing from their
own vaults the gold needed for export
as they did prior to 1898. They can, for
time, check the international movement
OF gold by manipulating the exchange,
or by not insisting upon the immediate
payments of their dues. But in the long
run gold is bound to go where the COM
mercial demand for it is the strongest.
A tremendous struggle for it is going
On all the time, and as the gold standard
is extended to more and more nations it
becomes more and more intense. In
such Il struggle the debtor states are
at such dreadful disadvantage. They
can only get gold by paying more for
il than the creditor nations will. That
is, they must put down the prices of the
things which they sell. The lower the
prices fall the more goods it takes to
pay a given amount of debt, and the
more goods are sold the lower the prices
are, until a point is reached at which
the debts cannot be paid at all, and
then comes national bankruptcy. Of
course, with our immense resources
such condition may not be immediate