The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-08-10
The MINIS SHOULD
NOT Be REOPENED
Report oil Committee on Indian Currency
Discussed
DIRECTOR ROBERTS IDEA.
Foreign Commerce Of the Country Should
Not Be Tempered With
POSSESSES NO GOLD RESERVE.
Decision Puts Wheat Producers of Two
Countries on Common Monetary
Level-Signifcance of the
Currency Document.
POSSESSES NO GOLD RESERVE.

Washington, August Accommodating up
on the Associated Press cable of the re-
port of the committee on the India curren-
cy, placing India on the gold basis, Direc-
tor of the Mint Roberts said today:
1.-The report does little more than to re-
affirm and declare the permanency OF the
policy adopted in 1893, when the minis
were closed to the free coinage of silver.
The mints were closed originally because
the decline in silver had become so great
as to embarrass the Indian government,
which. received its revenues in silver, and
had to make large share of its disburse-
ments in gold. The government makes its
remittance in London by selling exchange
on the London market, these being bought
by people who desire to make remittances
to India. Before the minis were closed
the public could either buy their council
bills or send silver, but by closing the
mints the government hoped to force the
purchase of the bills at a higher rate.
Hard times then followed in India The
committee has published several volumes
of testimony, and now gives its own con-
illusions.
1T is unanimous in finding that the
minis should not be reopened to silver.
The committee says:
Report of Committee.
Even apart from considerations affect
ing the government of India, 1t is not in
the interest of India that her foreign COM
merce, over 80 per cent. of which is with
the gold standard countries, should be
tempered with by the restoration of silver
monometaliSm.
The committee pronounces the efforts of
the government to hold the value OF the
rupee at 16 pence a success and holds the
sales of council bills at that figure to be
proof that India already has the gold
standard. 1t hesitates, however to recon-
mend the final step, viz: That the Indian
government shall give gold In exchange
for silver rupees current. They say that IL
their opinion 1t Is not necessary for the
government to bind itself to do this. 1t
would impose on the government liability
to find gold at moments notice to an
amount which cannot be defined before
hand and tine liability is one which, in our
opinion, ought not to be accepted.
This has been the puzzling question IN
the Indian situatio The government has
no gold reserve, nor has it the means to
obtain a stock of gold at once. 1t could
only be done by the issue of bonds or in in
stallments through taxation. and it is not
practicable to increase the taxes of India
to any considerable degree. The commit
tee concludes that the requirement of
reservation may be left to the future and
that the present silver currency of India
may be maintained at fixed value to gold
by supplying such quantities of gold as are
needed for foreign remittances.
That, they say, they required as the
principal use of gold reserve" In fact that
is precisely the service performed by the
gold reserve of the United States.
Refers to United States.
The Indian committee refers to the ex-
ample of the United States. 1t Is reconf-
mended that the India minis be opened to
the unrestricted coinage of gold, and that
the British sovereign be made legal ten
der upon the theory that gold will flow
in as more money is needed and that event
ually a considerable share of the currency
will thus come to be gold. The signifi-
canoe of the report is in the determination
not to open the minis. The policy of India
may now be presumed to be settled. Be-
ing asked If there was any reason to ex-
pect such a movement of gold to India as
might disturb money markets in worlds
centers. Mr.. Roberts replied: There is not
India cannot draw any more than she can
pay ,eand she Is not rich enough or like
ly to develop exports fast enough to make
her demands serious. She has taken nine
or ten million dollars worth of Australian
gold this year. She can't possibly take q
sum that will exceed the increase of this
years gold production over last"
Does the final adoption of the gold
standard by India have any bearing upon
our foreign trader
at puts the wheat producers of the two
countries on a common monetary level"
replied Mr.. Roberts, land disposes of the
gold argument that the Indian farmer has
an advantage over the American farmer
because he receives his pay in falling
currency. Whatever intricies there once
were on the subject and have been cleared
up for the India farmer like the American
farmer is now paid by the gold standard.
The alleged advantage was an illusory one,
for he only held it while the currency con-
tinued to fall and then worked 1t off ON
some helpless fellow countrymen at a for
mer value"