Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11


course dear money and cheap commod-
tiles, and a diminishing volume of gold
will result in declines in property values
and increases in the values of securities
and all forms of obligations, national.
corporate or individual. It is to the
advantage Of the creditor to maintain
the gold standard, because his rewards
will be greater, each day adds to the
value OF his security by diminishing
the value Of all commodities, and Of
course labor and service from which
the obligation Is to be liquidated. A
great chancellor of the excheouer of
Great Britain a number of years ago
said, That the world requiring British
gold must pay for 1t and pay for it in
cheaper commodities"
But what value will there he IN
securities II reputation comes. or In
dustry Is destroyed and property values
are lost. Lord Bradbourne. chairman
Of the South American Consolidated
Goldfields Co., states that the sun
ply Of gold is even now insufficient To
meet the worlds credit requirements /"
and that lin 10 years time the pres
ent gold production will have fallen
from $400000,000 to $275 900 900, and
in Is years the South African produce
ton will not exceed $4,000 .OO0'' with
~
duction it follows as the night the dav
that gold will appreciate in value
and bring increasing economic and in
deed political disasters to the world,
Sir Henri Detering one of the great
financial figures of the world. has re-
Gently declared that the destruction Of
silver value will defeat trade revival
He criticizes those who declare that
gold should be the only standard for
fixing relative values for everything
and asks whether gold in itself has
any practical use. He states that lust
SaS all monopolieS are certain tn ki1I
themselves If the idea of MONOPOLY is
too vigorously inforced so it is with
gold. 1t has become an unbesrabIe
ruler who neglects all duties and even
common sense. Under its rigorous
rule it has tried and almost succeeded
in ousting the competitor with whose
assistance and from whose existence
gold could hope to maintain its ruling
position, namely. the other Compare.
lively rare metal-silver"
Can't Meet Payments.
He states that so long as gold and
silver were in cooperation things went
well. but that governments, governed
by theorists and Sheltering themselves
s.,
ed gold as their sole standard OF value
and have ouSted silver by paper
whether paper is represented by bank
ers bills or by bank notes, the only
reason Tor its value is credit, and credit
is the same as every other commodity
or faculty in that the more there is of
IT the less valuable it becomes.
The accuracy OF this statement is
exemplifled by the credit situation in
the United States. Upon the narrow
base of gold, credits have been extended
amounting to tens of billions of dol
lars. These credits, payable in gold.
cannot be met and the creditor.
through forced sales and bankruptcy
proceedings is becoming the possessor
OF real and personal property the value
OF which has Shrunk to the vanishing
point. commend to those who are
opposing the restoration of silver the
words Of British statesman. Earl
Balfour, who, in a speech in Parlia-
ment in 1892 said:
q" OF all acceptable systems of
currency that system is assuredlv the
worst which gives you a standard
steadily, continuously and definitely
appreciating and which by that very
fact throws the burden upon every
man Of enterprise; upon every man
or the industrial resources Of the coun-
try and benefits no human being what
ever"
I have referred to the effects upon
international trade with China II the
present gold standard policy is pursued
II silver occupied its proper place in
the money systems of the world the
Orient would purchase from the United
States and other nations commodities
of the value of billions Of dollars an
nually; the standard of living OF the
Orientals would be materially improved
and their demands for commodities
from Occidental nations would reach
enormous proportions The Oriental
nations, if the gold standard is persisted
in, will be driven to set up their own
industrial and economic life; forced to
the low level Of living brought about by
the destruction Of silver they will ac-
commodate themselves to the situation,
and will erect factories and modern
plants and enter into competition with
the Occidental nations. They will de-
and produce commodities with their
cheap labor, far below the prices of
production in gold standard countries;
and sooner or later will manufacture
commodities which Occidental nations
produce, and under-sell them in the
markets Of the world. The gold stand
ard policy will drive the Orient into an
economic and industrial system of its
own, which will be a menace to the
economic and industrial systems of Oc-
cidental nations This will result in
c real yellow Peril" not political as
indicated by many chauvinistic writer's,
but one which will seriously menace
the industrial system of this and other
nations. The people of the Orient de-
sire contacts with the United States
and ether nations; they would like to
markets for commodities which this and
other countries desire, but the destruc-
ton of the monetary qualities end
! functions of silver will create tangible
and effective embargoes.
have spoken of the inadequacy of