The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-30
THEY HEARD ADDRESSES.
Session OF the American Economic
Association.


session of the annual meeting of the
American Economic Association was
opened to-day by the discussion of
problems of organized labor. Henry
White, secretary of the United Gar
ment Workers of America, delivered
and address on The Union Shop"
The discussion was taken part in
by Samuel B. Donnelly, former presi-
dent of Topographic Union No. 6.
New York; Hamilton Carhartt. De-
troit, and John E. George, assistant
professor of economics, Northwestern
University
The aims of organized labor was the
| topic of the afternoon session. Frank
K. Foster of Boston, chairman of the
Legislative Committee of the Massa-
chusetts Federation of Labor. read a
paper on THE Ideals of Trade IN
| ions"
The discussion which followed the
reading of the paper was participated
| in by Simeon b. Chase. manager of
| the King Philip Mill, Fall River; Mel
! Vile j. Ford, member of the Executive
| Board of the Interna tional Association
of Machinists; Felix Adler, professor
of social and political ethics, Column
bia University, and George Gunton,
president of the Institute of Social
Economics, New York.
jeremiah w. jerks, professor of po-
litieal economy and politics at Cornell
! University was the chief speaker at
to-night's session of the convention.
His topic was Currency Problems in
the Orient"
Mr.. jerks address was, in part, as
follows:
The stoppage of the free coinage of
silver in India in 1898 was the result
not so much of a general business de-
preston coming from the depreciation
in the value of silver as compared
with gold, as of injury to the govern
ment in distinction from the people
and to certain classes in the ;eom-
munity. Together with this injury to
some classes went doubtless benefit to
others. The total benefit or injury to
a country from change in its currep-
cy system must be found by noting
it's effect upon the different classes and
by estimat ting the relative importance
of these different classes in the COM
munity In India, for example, dur
ing the period of the fall of silver, the
classes who were producing goods for
export, speaking generally felt
stimulus in their industry and made
cases doubtless, this increase in profits
led to increased investments of cap
ital brought over from Europe. This
increase in profits, however, was at
the expense, to a considerable extent,
of other classes in the community.
While producers for export gained,
the consumers of imported goods lost.
1.-The principle that gains coming to
certain classes in the community from
IAT tot npr CT from a
fiuctuating standard are accompanied
by corresponding losses to other classes
in the community, is to be eXemplifed
also in the other countries OF the
Orient In the Federated Malay States
the Straits Settlements, and in the por-
lions of Netherlands, India where the
British dollar is in circulation, one finds
generally that the producers have gain
ed from the fall in silver. The suf-
ferers have been the government where
its taxes are paid in deprecated CON-
and especially perhaps in the coun-
tries named, the 'laborers whose pay
has also been received in that coin. AS
in India, however, these laborers have
in many cases not themselves felt the
loss as they have been able to pass
the deprecated coins on in the purchase.
of goods whose prices had not gone up
on account of the fall and the loss
has come only to those who have
bought goods valued in the gold stand
ard. In many cases this loss has not
been felt within the country itself, but
in some foreign country.
I'm the Philippines the gamers by
depreciating standard are, speaking
generally, the bankers. who, when
their business is largely an exchange
business, normally gain from severe
Quotations, also the exporting and inn
porting business housese and the COM
paratively few large producers for ex-
port The losers are the government,
whose taxes would be received In the
deprecated money, the government Of
ficia1s, even though their salaries are
nominally fixed in gold, and the very
large body of the native Filipinos' whose
income is derived from local products
and from wages. The gain from the
stimulus to exports, as the Philippines
are situated will come in the great
ma jority of cases in all probability
rather to the European purchaser and
exporter than to the native Filipino
producer who is himself not in a posi-
ton to get the benefit of the falling
exchange. Heretofore. at any rate, the
competition among the buyers has not
been sufficient to give him that bene-
fit. and he has not capital enough to
engage directly in expectation.
''Inasmuch. therefore, as our govern
ment has the duty and has expressed
the intention of administering the Phil
ippines for the benefit of the Filipinos,
it seems essential both for their sakes
and for the sake of the government
itself that the gold standard be es-
tablished and maintained! $50 v@r
ION the other hand, in order to make
the change from the one standard to
the other as easy and beneficial to the
natives as possible, 1t is desirable that
the coin for common use in the coun-
try should preferably be one some
what smimilar in size to the present
Mexican dollar and one approaching
1t in value. The essential thing is
that. without attempting the impossi-
| BILE in the way of making over rapidly
| the habits of a people unaccustomed
| to commercial transactions one should
| also secure stability of exchange in
| foreign dealings in order that specula-
| ton may be avoided, and the interests
| of the people be conserved. The pres
ent bill before Congress seems on the
whole, to have been we'll drawn in or
der to accomplish these results