The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-13
a'sfExperIence

Professor jerks discusses in his report
with clearness the economic effects in In
dia of the cessation of the free coinage
Of silver. brought about by the law of 1893
Few acts Of the, government have been
more persistentlN debated. On one side
the success of the government in main
tanning it's rate of one shilling and four
pence for the rupee, has been set forth.
while on the other: it has been claimed
that considerable 11ardships are entailede on
the people Of India. The subject merits
careful analysis. Professor jerks shows
that the bankers have outwardly lost by
the fixity of the new order Their busi-
ness is much less interesting than before
and probably less profitable. Neverthe-
less, what they have lost in making ex-
change, has been in considerable part
made up by the larger volume of
their general business, brought about by
the better conditions. The exporters
have lost part of the profit which came
from the falling rate of exchange. On the
other hand. their customers in London
were then apt to postpone buying as long
as possible. making small purchases. when
they thought the rupees were: steadily fall
ing. The tea planters and the cotton
| manufacturers generally feel that they
have lost seriously by the decreased rate
of exchange under the new standard. The
hard times of the last two or three years
seem to have been. according to Professor
jerks. a reaction from the overproduction
| of tea induced formerly by the steadily
| falling rate of exchange.
Professor jerks, in his summary of the
| various classes Of India affected, notes
that the influence Of the government Off
| c1als who were living on fixed salaries,
had not little to do with the closing of
the mints to the free coinage. of silver.
| These men We're receiving q fixed number
of rupees per month part Of which they
RENTED to England, for the support OF
| their families. or the education of children
or the payment of life Insurance premiums
with the fall of silver they were con-
! tinually receiving less and less in sterling
| The effect of the new increase in the value
| Of the rupee has all been in their favor
| Probably no other class in the community
can be said to have prof1ted so directly
and to have SO few counteratcing evil eff
| fects to Offset the good.
| An evil resulting from the closing of the
| Indian minis has doubtless been some
scarcity of, rupees; notably at the crol
moving seasons This was inevitable
! from an endeavor to check the supply o.
| these coins so as to lift their value. The
government recognizing the evil as shown
in the high rates Of interest in the crol
moving season, has increased the coinag g,
somewhat, but further measures Prof
jerks believes, should still be taken Ii
it's relation to taxes, the lifting Of tn,
rupee has been important 1t was, in eff
feet a sort of indirect tax on India, AM
primarily on the agricultural classes VIII
pay the bulk Of the taxes. Some of TIL
high governmental officials, acknowledg
Ing that 1t has practically had this effect
say that this was necessary and that ha,
the cultivator, through the falling rate o
exchange, continued to escape his shar
of the burden, some other taxes woul
have had to be=devised.
An interesting by-product of the dis
; cussion has been the effect Of the CLOSING
Of the Indian minis on the use of silve]
i ornaments, as domestic monetary re.
sources. Formerly ornaments could B,
smelted into rupees and rupees into orna
ments, but since the government doe
/, the coming this has been stopped, excep
perhaps through loss of one third Of tn
value of the ornaments. SOL IS
1t is interesting to note that in tf
) Dutch colonies. while the currency is Of
the gold standard and the rate of ex
change substantially fixed, gold is not II
6 circulation. Even an English sovereign