Evening star., 1935-05-14

Continued From First Page)
held bv the variols nations snow no
alarming changes. We had All per
cent, of all the monetary gold in 1927
and now we have 1873 per cent.
France had 8.4 per cent in 1922 ana
now she has 24.6. Great Britain loSt
gold heavily bef0re she SUSPENDED
gold payments in 1881. but since then
has Increased ner share from 81 per
cent to 10 per CEN.
Seeking to Restore Silver.
"Uith increasing gold production and
hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of the yellow metal Icing brought oNV
of hiding, surely some OF 1t can De
used to pay balances. We are also
endeavoring to restore silver TO greater
usefulness as a monetary metal. IL
is the money Of large part Oh the
worlds population.
objection to our course is some
times based upon the assertion tnat
we would bring vast quantities OF the
worlds gold and silver here, only to
be locked up in the United States
Treasury. The phrase commonly used
is that the gold and silver thus be-
come sterile. At least, however, 1t
goes to swell our monetary reserves.
Loans in default ale not very GOOD
backing for currency; indeed they
might. without Undue asperlty. De
described as also sterile. 1t we must
choose between the two. tbs ADMIN
istration elects payment of interna-
tional balances in monetary metals.
You have heard the argument that
we should stabilize by declaring that
we will not change the present eo'd
content of the dollar. Some even go
so far as to say that the other nations
would certainly follow if we took the
lead. If we launched out alone on
such a course, it would put us right
hack where we were in 1882. and offer
a tempting invitation for the others
not to follow, but again to take
advantage Of our disadvantage.
We realize the Importance OF world
prosperity, and will evade no oppor-
tunity to assist in that direction
EXCEPT the ever present opportunity 10
donate prosperity at our own expense.
u. S. Held Saved From Disaster.
Another theme running through the
Secretary's speech was his contention
that the Roosevelt monetary policies
saved the United States from disas-
ter. Hitting the Hoover administra-
ton on the ground that it "stubbornly
refused to take action when gold
left the United States in alarming
amounts" in 1882, he said:
THE monetary policy OF this
(RoosevelD administration rescued us
from chaos. held the fort through the
most trying period of our recovery
program and is now the spearhead
as we advance steadily toward our
goal"
He indicated the Government, in
the absence of international action,
would decline to declare that the
present gold content of the dollar
shall remain fixed. There is school
of thought which urges such pegging
strongly. For instance, only yesterday
Prof. Edwin w. Kemmerer, Princeton
University economist, told a Senate
Banking Subcommittee:
"If the President would make dec
laration that there is going to be no
further reduction of the gold con-
tent of the dollar, if Congress would
Ak the value of the dollar at SO cents,
If Congress would say that all infiu-
ences of the Government would be
used to keep the gold standard, If the
Government practices economy and
sets up balanced budget, you would
see such a revival of confidence as we
have never seen before"
r0Hn0N TrNJUNdppESSEn