The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-27
A CURRENCY JUMBLE.
DepIorabIe Condition of Affairs in
the Philippines.

inc EniitUDkneHs
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
Washington. July PA dispatch from
San Francisco says that the largest ship
ment by the government OF coin to Manila
since the acquisition of the Philippines
was made to-day by the transport Tartar.
over $l,300,oOO was shipped, Of which up
wards of 10000 was silver. The use Of
silver in the Philippines is already work.
ing considerable trouble and entailing ma
terlal loss TO those upon whom it is orig
inally imposed by the government in pay
ment of obligations. This Is especially
true of the soldiers. The deploraDle con
dillon of the currency at Manila Is ex-
planned in a copy of the ManRa Times re-
Gently received here. For peryersitios
complexities. difficulties and impossible
ties" says the Times, Manila is ono Of
the most wonderful places on the face Of
the earth, and 1t would seem that an the
natural cussedness of the climate and all
the artificial eccentricities of the place
and people are concentrated In the cur
rency II was bad enough IN the old days,
and ii seemed as II IL could not be wor &C.
but now we are gwen practical proof that
1t could be worse, for il is. Under the
Spanish rule Philippine currency was an
extremely mixed up affair. so mixed up
that il constituted The study of a lifetime
and various people who devoted their lives
to the study OF IL used 10 make money out
OF IL al the expense of people whose time
was otherwise occupied Sometimes a peso
was peso, and sometimes It was a prob
lem in fractional equations; sometimes
the Philippine dollar was a NJ S'can and
sometimes a Spanish dollar was a Fiji
pino; sometimes there was sold cur
rency without any gold, but at all times
and under al circumstances the banks
hr0 mr. ff IL laIa ,,
nese and others managed to jueEle with
the fluctuations in change and currency
legislation so as 10 score oil ways.
Confusion Work COMPOUNDED.
'If the currency was puzzle before the
Americans came, what Is the present
meaning of the word dollarY There Is
no rule or law to decide what Is a dollor
whether a dollar Is 81, or whether 1t is
$3.50, or whether IL is 20 cents, or what II
it. There Is no currency law; there Is
supposed to be some mysterious system of
Calculation known only 10 bankers and
bimetallic experts, whereby the lucky
owner Of dollar loses 2, 3, 4, or cents
every lime, whatever ID Is. IL Is all right
of course, and very wonderful but cur
rencies ought not TO be in the category
of wonderful they ought 10 be pain and
straightforward. The authorities ought
to give the pubic a currency Of some sort
instead of leaving the Philippines at the
mercy Of excange fluctuations IN Hong
Kong or Singapore. There Is no dec!ara-
ton that anything Is a legal tender There
ought TO be. This, at any rate, Is one
Of the things that governments are for.
In absence Of a law, the currency ques-
ton IN Manila is ruled by the banks, and
the banks are controlled not by the re-
quiremeuts Of Manila, but by the cOnd-
tions IN China, or India, or Europe or
any part Of the world, rather than the
Philippines. We are not Blaming anybody
for this. Big banks having O big business
ia all The principal silver using countries
OF Asia cannot up 81 Their system and
alter their arrangements for the sake Of
a small our of the way place like Ma
Mia; they have 70 consider practically
Asia and Europe and the peculiar cir
cumstances Of Manila do not maternity
affect Asia and Europe in the matter Of
currency,
SiIver's Intrinsic Value.
NOW, throughout silver using countries