The San Francisco call., 1906-04-15
NICKEL MADE
POPULAR coin
Minister Of Finance Over
comes the Prejudices OF
the Citizens of France
RESORTS TO A TRICK
RESORTS TO A TRICK
Starts Rumor That Certain
Pieces Bearing Name of
ROthschild Draw Prizes
SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE CALL

1 SPEClAL DISPATCH 10 The CALL.
PARIS, April AN Poincarre, the
Minister of Finance in the new Cabinet,
has already given striking proof of his
resourcefulness. When he assumed Of
| flee he found that the new 25-centime
nickel coin, which corresponds exactly
to the American nickel" was exceed
! ingly unpopular. 1t was in fact SO un-
| popular that there was serious talk of
calling it in again, for the small trades
people refused to accept it, and there
/ was a general feeling among the lower
classes that it would become valueless
some day and be as difficult to get rid
of as foreign coppers.
| Various methods were discussed
among the departmental officials for
pushing the circulation of the coin
which had aroused such unreasonable
prejudice. 1t was gravely proposed that
a pamphlet should be published for gra-
| tuitous distribution calling attention to
its advantages. citing its demonstrated
utility in the United States and appeal
| ing to the patriotism of the French
public to support it.
Just leave the matter in my hands, +"
said NJ. Poincarre, after these sugges-
tions had been laid before him, and
| I'll guarantee that within few weeks
the nickel coin Will be the most popu-
lar coin in Paris"
Had NJ. Poincarre laid his scheme be-
fore his colleagues they would probably
have rejected it as undignif1ed, unpre-
| cedented and contrary to all the red
| tape rules and regulations so dear to
the official mind. He said nothing to
them, however, about the plan he had
in view.
Nobody knew who started the rumor,
or the means that were adopted to
| 1@,1t oil iC nc
whispering that in the issue of these
| coins were five on which the magic
word "Rothschfld" had been engraved
in tiny letters. And everywhere the
1 story was told that the first per-
son who took one of these coins
to Rothschilds bank in the Rue
Lafitte would receive $4,000 for it,
! that for the second nickel similarly
| inscribed $4,000 would be paid; for the
third and fourth $1,000 and s400 for the
last of the five. 1t was said that Roths-
child had a large stock of nickel on
| hand which he wanted to get rid of to
! the Government, and had devised this
| sort of gratuitous lottery scheme in or
der to create such a demand for the
nickel coins as would force the Gov
ernment to buy the metal of him.
| The credulous French folk who dear
ly love anything that appeals to their
gambling instincts readily swallowed
| the story. Small tradesmen who had
| previously fought shy of the new coin
were eager to obtain it. The lower class
| es insisted on getting nickels with their
change. In a few days the nickel Is
centime was the most popular coin in
| Paris and the demand for it exceeded
the supply. Needless to say, no one
! has yet got hold of a coin on which,
| even by the aid of a microscope, the
name "Rothschild" can be discovered
But there are still thousands of people
in Paris who are convinced that with
! good luck they may obtain $4,000 for
5 cents.
1t must not be inferred from this
that NJ. Poincarre belongs to the
! mountebank type of politician. He is
one of the ablest lawyers in France.
His practice chiefly lies in financial af-
fairs of the first magnitude and brings
! him an enormous income. He is one of
the hardest and most conscientious
| workers al the bar. But in his younger
days he was a Journalist. In that
capacity he learned how easy 1T is to
fool the people. And he believes that
| in a good cause, fooling the people is
/ justifable. His colleagues are of the
same opinion now-at least as far as
regards the new French nickel