Year: 1877

In 1875 Switzerland declined to coin
anv more silver, on the ground that sit
was dishonest TO put deprecated cur
rency in circulation In the early part
OF 1876 the same subject was brought up
in the French Senate, and there it was
maintained in debate that "in the pres
ent state of the silver market, it would be
wrong for Frfhce to coin any silver at
ALL


In our discussions good deal of stress
is laid upon the proposition that we should
adhere to our old double standard. There
is no insurmountable objection to that. =
But if we do this, we must do what we
always have done-rndintdin the inter
chdngeobiHty OF the tpo standards and


their equ;rdtent poiue. Thus, if man


has .e'. siver dolla,s, they must always
contain so much silver that they will
buy ten dollar gold piece. This is
the state in which. we have hithelto


maintained onr double standard. The
silver has been kept equal Co gold. Now


nobody pretends that gold has grown more
valuable than it was of old, But silver
| b9S rapidly increased in volume, and has
| therefore deprecated. We cannot cofig
| tinue to use it honestly as a stands'd


otherwise than by keeping Of equal value


the cL.n Of the two metals. So long as


This is done, nobody win object TO the


double standsrda The only objection is
against two standards which are not
equivalent and interchangeable. This is


is a thing we have never had, and we
| may safely say we hever shall have. 1t


would lead to sfeat confusion and EN-


barrassment in trading circles; and jus


to the extent the ore kind of coin was
below the other in value, it would be a
fraud if forced into circul":ion.


We do not now need to 20 into any de-


tailed elucidation of the relation of silver


to gold. 1t is a plain subject, and we


have often discussed it. Silver is not so
valuable metal as it was, simply because
of It's increased plentifulness, This has
arisen from the great productiveness OF
the Silver mi ,es in the Con stock lode,
which within few years have doubled


the average nual project of that metal


for the VIII world. But beside this,


less silver 7anted, owing to the fact
that 1t isr 1ger used as a standard of


value, II al European countries, ,sucf-
as u 80 sweden, and Germany; and


Other IS, like France and Holland
and ara :, are considering the wisdom
OF 70 - their example. These COM
bine s have produced great fluc-
tuat the market price Of the


meta very serioas and even alarm
ing Va its permanent value.


T1is a condition of things which
render ne future of the metal very un-
certai and makes prudent and Drovi-
dent 'yislators and financiers wary in
the's AslioasA IEthet Nevada mines % on


as they have begun, it seems probable
that the result will ultimately be that all
countries will follow the action of Den
mark and Sweden and Germany. But


whether this happens or not, the situa-


alton Is such as TO excite great solicitude


in regard to the part that silver is here


after to play in the money circulation of


the world. If it should so happen that
silver should become twice as plentiful as


it now is in comparison with gold, it


must inevitably occur that the difference


in the value OF the two metals will be
largely increased, and corresponding


change must be made in the coinage; or
the double standard must be abandoned.
Meantime, the last thing prudent G ov-
ernment should do is to try to force the


cheaper and falling metal circulation at
its old price. This is to initiate
the example Of numerous short
sighted rulers in the past history of the


world, who have thought to improve


their financial condition by debasing the
coinage. 1t is plan that has always


ended in embarrassment and disaster,


and always will.