The Daily Alaska empire., 1931-06-02
Low Silver and World Trade.
(skillingss Mining Review, Duluth


 Hardly month passes without bringing fresn evidence from foreign countries particularly from China India, Mexico and Latin America, or the Irapid progress in these countries of the nome manufacture of many articles formerly purchased from the United States The newspapers and the authorities in these countries constantly point out to their people that the low price of silver in which wages are paid really confers bonus on the nome manufacturer in the Orient and in some Latin American countries because their American and English competitors must still produce goods on relatively high price level with high wages whereas the low relative price level of these silver using countries is so far below what 1t was two years ago tha tit confers bonus on the Far East ern manufacturer of 50 per cent. to loo per cehC in
 Thus due to the unfortunate experiment of attempting to put Oriental and some Latin Ameri- can countries gold basis before at least over 80 per cent. of their domestic business is on an adeouate banking basis in which gold could be used in the usual way as a basis of central bank credit the gold has now been forced into theT currencies the confidence in silver weakened US use threatened and the price of silver driven down As the price of silver has declined the purchasing power sf these countries from abroad has propor- tionately declined. However regards their pur- chases from each other at home these people nave been but little affected for prices of home products have not as yet risen in China and Latin America and small amount of gold buys large amount of silver and therefore a large amount of labor AS regards home manufacture, the tables are largely turned in their favor due to this great advantage that now little gold buys large amount of silver and therefore wages which are paid ln silver And the gold is also steadily advancing in price as its monetary use increases in the face of it's prob able decline in production In changing world . trade channels this low price of silver is more ! important than high tariff which, however, angers all nations
 We are probably witnessing the growth Of a natural trade alliance between these countries which may in the end result in a consortium of silver using countries which Russia may naturally join After these low cost countries have captured ther own markets through cheap labor, there remains the threat to our higher priced markets It is true that the American importers will welcome chance to buy all manner of goods very cheap y from foreign countries, but this will be at the expense of the American producers and wage earners. To be fully employed and reasonably prosperous America must sell Thus the western gold basis countries by attempting to force gold l basis countries which have not yet developed a banking system. hoping thus, by short cut, to prevent the wide fluctuations of exchange, have permanently injured not only the foreign trade Of the United States and England, thus increasing unemployment here, but still, they have also laid the basis for further competition here from
 the cheap labor of the Orient.