London, May 22.
Has Mr. E. F. Mackay turned bimetallist? His friends will certainly be asking him that question a reading his letter today in "The Times."
The correspondence began two or three weeks ago with a perfectly unprovoked attack on the silverites by tone of the gold standard fana There are some on whom the mere mention of silver has exactly the Same effect as Gladstone's name had on otherwise inoffensive old Tory gentlemen of the last century, making Highness and beg him if possible to come on the Whit Monday.
Only to-day has the most curious part of the story come out, namely, that the Prince's decision was sent Maj-Gen, Maurice ten days ago, He did not reply to it nor apparently show it to anybody, but sat upon the letter and sprang ition the conference in the manner described. A' com= Jmuniqué issued to-day Prince is much distressed by what has happened.
Everyone knows the story of Queen Victoria's "We "are not amused." It them almost inarticulate and purple tooks it Maj-Gen, Maurice "may allover. have a taste of the The Chinese Peasant Sir Henri Deterding replied in silver's defence and. incautiously argued how much more of British goods the Chinese peasant would be able to buy if silver were higher.
"Mr. Mackay, with a' good deal of knowledge of" the Chinese peasant, replied that he was far too poor to, buy an appreciable quantity of British imports at any price of silver, Sir Henri Deterding withdrew about the peasant, but quoted a letter from Shanghai to the effect that low silver paid the land speculators and all their efforts were directed to keeping it low. Meanwhile higher silver would pay China in lowering the cost of all equipment bought from abroad, of Toans payable in gold out of revenue collected in silver, and of the running of railways.
Stable Exchange Mr. Mackay was unable to follow ~the b Sir Henti's argument about land speculation, but—now we come to the real point—he urged that what China really needs is "a stable ex-value of silver." He goes on:—
"it countries having large server would. retain, 20 vor per cent. of their holdings in sliver, that Would" absorb" the surplus stock, Gemand for the metal being otherwise
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.