Evening star., 1932-12-27

currency would AID TO StaDluty In many
quarters Of the world
1T Is well recognized that there can
be no permanent increase in commodity,
prices throughout the world when 26
nations are off the gold standard and
the value of their currencies vary from
day to day. On invitation of the Brit
ish government the Worh Economic
Conference will be held in London next
Spring or Summer and return to the
gold standard will be one of the most
urgent and most vital problems consid-
cred. This time of stress has proven
that there is not gold enough in the
world to serve as money for all the
world, hence the numerous departures
from that standard.
For over three thousand years Of
recorded history silver has helped to
perform part Of the service rendered
by money to mankind. There are men
now living who can remember when
silver was demonetized in 1873. Within
the past IL years the worst damage has
been done to its use as money. 1t Is
not possible that we have been too
hasty in discarding the wisdom of the
anclenb - scorning silver as money
and even as a value storing commodity?
Why not consider how silver can be
used to help get 26 nations. among
them Great Britain, away from fiuctu-
ating paper currencies and back to the
gold standard?
Must Add Silver.
Certain fundamental facts must be
recognized as the basis for any IN
ternational monetary conference. The
first is that in all history no nation
which sought to pay its debts by print
IT,, r,,-t -I,or
to stop the printing presses. The
American continental currency and
greenbacks, the French assignatS, and
the German marks are typical examples.
The only way to pay Is with goods and
services or with metal that all ma
tions can use as money. The fault Of
managed money Is that the manage
ment is prone to make mistakes.
Il quote Joseph Caillaux. ex-premier
and former finance minister Of France,
in saying that:
Man cannot. in the present state
of his knowledge, establish a sane
monetary system which has not at its
foundation a metallic mass. We think
that to gold, whose scarcity we fear.
We must add silver
The total metallic mass of monetary
gold, used as the most important yard
stick to measure values, is estimated
to be $50. .551 900 ounceh, valued at s12.-
000,000,000 If melted into one cube,
it would be about 80 feet square on
each face
The amount of silver is also limited.
have checked the figures Of experts
and am convinced that there is not
available for possible use as money
more than $500, 900 900 ounces Of silver
in the entire world. Seven and one
half billion ounces Of silver would
make 9,108, SOC, 900 standard silver dol
lars.
1T will thus be seen that if by inter-
national agreement all the available
silver in the world were added to all the
available gold in the world the metallic
mass that could be used as money
would not be doubled. The base upon
which the monetary structure rests
that nature has fixed quite definite
limits to its expansion which man can
not change.
THE first result to be accomplished
by an international monetary confer
ence IS that the governments of Europe
shall agree to restore their subsidiary
silver coinage to the basis which ex-
listed prior to the World War and by
annual purchases keep an adequate sup
ply Of that kind Of money available to
their people. As I have said, Great
Britain needs approximately 100 mil
lion ounces of silver for such purpose.
In France and In her colonies and man
dates at least 100 million ounces Of
additional silver could readily be used
as money.
Can Use More Silver.
ar oet Yrna ~ wv ~on,,ae< ;oo,,iriac
were made, through the Departments
Of State and Commerce. Of all of the
countries indebted. to the United States
to ascertain how far they have departed
since the World War from the CUSTOM
ary use Of silver coinage. The replies in
every instance show that there is no
debtor nation which cannot legitimately
make use of much more silver In its
coinage None of them are minting
silver coins OF prewar fineness.
THE second way that nations which
are now or have been on the gold stand
ard can stabilize the price of silver and
make that metal carry part of the bur-
den now borne by gold is to return to
its use as supplemental reserve
against issues of paper money. In the
United States Treasury today there are
over 400 million silver dollars against
which silver certificates circulate at par.
The silver, in which they are redeem
able, Is doing the work OF gold. The
present per capita circulation Of silver
certificates Is over $3.50. If each OF
the debtor nations would gradually use,
as a reserve against paper money, the
equivalent Of $3.50 in silver for each
Of their inhabitants, just as the United
States now does, more than 500 million
ounces Of silver would be required.
''It has been estimated by Mr.. Francis
H. Brownen of the American Smelling
& Refining Co. that, taking into con-
sideration the normal demand for silver
by Oriental peoples who have for many
centuries used 1t as a store Of value, only