BI-METALLIO STANDARD. 



61 



M. Denoraandie, Senator and head of the Bank 

 of France ; and M. Cernuschi, the well-known 

 advocate of the bi-metallic standard. Ger- 

 many accepted the invitation, with the reser- 

 vation that it would not be bound by any de- 

 cisions of the conference, and selected Baron 

 Thielraann as its delegate. Austro-Hungary 

 named three delegates : Count Kuefstein, Coun- 

 cilor of Legation; Ministerial Councilor Ni- 

 bauer ; and Herr Hegudus, of the Reichsrath. 

 Their instructions indicated a leaning toward 

 bi-metallism, but practically required them to 

 hold a neutral position. There was much dis- 

 cussion in Great Britain regarding the pro- 

 priety of sending representatives. There were 

 memorials in favor of appointing delegates ad- 

 dressed to the Government by the Liverpool 

 Chamber of Commerce, the merchants and 

 bankers of London, and some others, and re- 

 monstrances against it from Manchester and 

 other quarters. The Government assumed that 

 the terms of the invitation were such that it 

 could not be accepted without committing those 

 participating in the conference to a support of 

 its conclusions. On the 7th of April Sir 

 Charles Dilke, in the House of Commons, 

 stated that England could not consent to dis- 

 cuss the principle of bi-metallism, and had de- 

 clined to take part in the conference ; but the 

 Indian Government would send a delegate, who 

 would not, however, participate in the discus- 

 sion. The other colonies might also be repre- 

 sented. 



When the conference met, on the 19th of 

 April, fourteen governments were represented ; 

 viz., those of France, the United States, Ger- 

 many, Austro-Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, 

 Holland, Belgium, Russia, Norway and Sweden, 

 Denmark, Switzerland, and Greece. Several 

 of them had but one delegate. Sir Louis Mal- 

 let and Lord Reay, the delegates for India, had 

 not arrived, and it was understood that Sir A. 

 T. Gait would appear in the interest of Canada, 

 and that Mr. 0. W. Fremantle, deputy -master 

 of the British Mint, would be present during 

 some part of the proceedings. The delegates 

 were welcomed by M. Barthelemy St.-Hilaire, 

 the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who 

 said that the object of the conference was to 

 establish a normal monetary standard instead 

 of the shattered equilibrium^ of the past, and to 

 consider the best means for preventing a recur- 

 rence of the disastrous crises. He concluded 

 by declaring that, if the conference did not 

 achieve immediate success, it would, at least, 

 have raised controversies which are indispensa- 

 ble to the discovery of truth, and established 

 principles which will bear fruit in the future. 

 On motion of Mr. Evarts, delegate from the 

 United States, M. Magnin, French Minister of 

 Finances, was elected president of the con- 

 ference. M. Magnin reviewed the different 

 phases of the question, and showed the incon- 

 veniences which the system established in 1867 

 of a gold standard, with silver as a transitory 

 companion, had brought about in Germany. 



He dwelt on the recommendation in favor of 

 bi-metallism by the committee of the United 

 States Congress in 1876. He explained the 

 causes of the non-success of the Monetary 

 Conference in 1878. As regarded the objects 

 of the present conference, it was indispensable, 

 in order that silver shall regain its former 

 value, that it should again be freely coined 

 side by side with gold. A committee of fifteen, 

 one for each state represented, was appointed 

 to draw up and report a list of questions to be 

 considered. Dr. J. C. Kern, of Switzerland, 

 was made president of the committee as the 

 senior member, and HerrVrolik, of Holland, 

 was chosen to act as chairman at its sittings. 

 There were several meetings of the conference 

 and of the committees prior to May 5th, when 

 the following questions, prepared by the Dutch 

 delegate, M. Vrolik, were submitted as the re- 

 port of the committee : 



1. Have the diminution and great oscillations in tho 

 value of silver, which have occurred especially in lato 

 years, been injurious to commerce and consequently to 

 the general prosperity ? Is it desirable for the ratio of 

 value between tne two metals to have a great fixity ? 



2. Are the phenomena indicated in the first part of 

 the foregoing question to be attributed to tho increase 

 in the production of silver or to legislative measures ? 



3. Is it probable or not that if a large group of 

 states accords free and unlimited coinage of legal 

 pieces of both metals, having full paying power in a 

 uniform proportion for the gold and silver contained 

 in the monetary unit of each metal, a stability ? if not 

 absolute, at least very substantial, will be obtained in 

 the relative value of those metals 3 



4. In case the preceding question is answered affirm- 

 atively, what measures should be taken for reducing 

 to a minimum the oscillations in the ratio of value be- 

 tween the two metals ? For instance, would it be 

 desirable to impose on chartered banks of issue the 

 obligation of always accepting at a fixed price ingots of 

 gold and silver offered them by the public? Could 

 the public be insured the same privileges in coun- 

 tries where there is no chartered bank of issue ? 

 Should the mintage be gratuitous, or at least uniform, 

 in all countries for the two metals I Should there bo 

 an understanding to leave free of all obstruction inter- 

 national commerce in the preceding metals 3 



5. In adopting bi-metallism, what should be the ratio 

 between the weight of pure gold and silver contained 

 in the monetary units ? 



After this programme had been submitted to 

 the conference, Baron Thielmann made the fol- 

 lowing statement on behalf of the German 

 Government: ""We admit unreservedly that a 

 rehabilitation of silver is to be desired, and 

 that it might be realized by tho establishment 

 of the free coinage of silver in a certain num- 

 ber of the most populous states represented 

 in this conference, which, with that view, 

 would adopt as a basis a fixed ratio between 

 gold and silver. Nevertheless, Germany, whose 

 monetary reform is so far advanced, and whose 

 general monetary situation does not seem to 

 demand so radical a change of system, does not 

 see that it is possible to consent, so far as she 

 is concerned, to the free coinage of silver. Her 

 delegates can not, therefore, subscribe to such 

 a proposal. The Imperial Government is, how- 

 ever, quite disposed to second, so far as it is 

 able, the efforts of other powers, which might 



