Oct. 14.
"The Financial Times" of September 23 devotes special attention to the meeting held under the auspices of the Chinese Government to consider the silver question. A full report of that meeting was published in the "North-China Daily News" on October 12. "The Financial Times," commenting editorially on the meeting, commends the 1 to call' a conference on "Proposals which find such solid support are certainly deserving of the earnest attention of the authorities of all the countries concerned whether in the capacity of producers or users." Fortifying the interest taken in this subject, this important London financial paper has a series of special articles in the same issue by various authori ties on the subject of silver. For instance, Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen advocates an attempt to} fix the maintenance of a minimum price for silver. Sir Hugo points out that this would arrest the trend away from silver standards towards gold and set up in the East a demand for silver which, in. course of time, would absorb existing stocks and re-establish confidence in the ancient standard. He adds:
To the process of cleaxing existing stocks the gold standard countries would make a valuable contribution. ~The light-hearted abandonment of silver as a Standard in India has been accomplished by severe diminution of the quantities used even in token coin. We ourselves have reduced the silver content of our tokens, and similar action in the direction either of a largo content of alloy or of the substitution of a different metal has been Widespread. A restoration even of the pre-war composition of silver coinable in Western Europe would go a considerable way towards "absorbing the existing stocks of silver.
[Sir Hugo then concludes that this Would not be bimetallism be= cause it does not suggest a widespread dual standard, It has further advantage in that it could be brought about by a very simple means of regulation. He fervently commends this subject for the consideration of the new Government in England, Mr. L. S. Amery, continuing in similar lines, argues that the producers could help to keep up the price by agreeing among themselves on a quota of export. But the Government of India's cooperation would have to be secured, Sir William Dampier suggests that the Central Banks of the world should replace a certain proportion of gold in their reserves with silver taken at its market price and that the Government make it legal to pay gold debts by gold and iver in the same proportion, Sir Henri Deterding demands the abolition of the dictatorship of gold. Sir Robert Home maintains that an increase la the price of silver would have an appreciable effect in mitigating the high price of gold and would effect some augmentation on the general level of commodity prices. In support of this view he quoted the evidence given by Mr. Montagu Norman "and Sit Charles Addis to the Hilton Young Committee:
I think that one also has to bear in minnd the interaction between gold and silver prices, There is a reaction ngan gold Prices when an extreme fall or rise takes place in the value of which ig none the less serious because it is indiveet and pot very apparent on the surface, consequential changes generally and in. trade which would be pro-the disturbance to the economic peace and con-interference with the long-established social habits of the people of India in the use of silver} the shock to the relinnee of a great country like China upon silver as a medium of cur-ye ney and a common store of value, could not fail to have important effects upon the gold prices of countries in Europe and, indeed, in America, Colonel Francis Harden, writ~ ing from China, demands drastic action in controlling the slive sales of the Government of India, Mr, Colin D. Brodie demands the' repudiation of Whitehall's alleged action in depreciating silver. Mr.
Denny, of Toronto, is lyrical in his praise of the Mexican Government's recent gesture in favour of wilyer, and conclud itself create an enormous and immediate demand, and on that score. there is no ground for doubt.
The stage is thi set for greatest transformation scone ever.
designed—and even the reluctant gold fanatic will find himself caught up in a wave of prosperity:
that will cary conviction in 80 tangible a form that his wavering doubt: will be entirely dissipated. While the pamphlet issued by, Mr. Francis H, Brownell, of the American Smelting and Refining Company, early this year, is drawn upon in exposition of the following three elements in the! stabilisation of silver:
First—and most _important—~ an informal understanding between the United States, England including India, France' including Indo-China, and as many other. Governments as possible, that no. sale will be made, for a stated period, say three years, or until further notice, of any silver now ox hereafter owned by each Gov-at Tess than some fixed price, say, for example, 50 cents PeSecond—An understanding that those Governments will put-,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.