FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



287 



equalizing them at a relation to be fixed by interna- 

 tional agreement ; and, secondly, by granting to each 

 metal, at the relation fixed, equal terms of coinage, 

 making no discrimination between them. 



These propositions were discussed, but did 

 not become the subject of a general vote. The 

 English and French delegates prepared an an- 

 swer to be made by the European to the Ameri- 

 can delegates, which was adopted, as follows : 



The delegates of the European states, represented 

 in the conference, desire to express their sincere thanks 

 to the Government of the United States for having 

 procured an international interchange of opinion upon 

 a subject of so much importance as the monetary ques- 

 tion. 



Having maturely considered the proposals of the 

 representatives of the United States, they recognize : 



1. That it is necessary to maintain in the world the 

 monetary functions of silver, as well as those of gold, 

 but that the selection for use of one or the other of 

 the two metals, or of both simultaneously, should be 

 governed by the special position of each state or group 

 of states. 



2. That the question of the restriction of the coin- 

 age of silver should equally be left to the discretion of 

 each state or group ot states, according^ to the particu- 

 lar circumstances in which they may find themselves 

 placed, and the more so in that the disturbance pro- 

 duced during the recent years in the silver market has 

 variously affected the monetary situation of the sev- 

 eral countries. 



3. That the differences of opinion which have ap- 

 peared, and the fact that even some of the states which 

 have the double standard, find it impossible to enter 

 into a mutual engagement with regard to the free coin- 

 age of silver, exclude the discussion of the adoption of 

 a common ratio between the two metals. 



Notwithstanding that the proposition of the 

 United States was declined with thanks, in 

 which expression even some of the nations hav- 

 ing a bi-metallic currency joined, though their 

 interest in maintaining a fixity of value in the 

 ratio between the two metals would seem at 

 least to have been as great as that of the United 

 States. Here, for some time, the matter rest- 

 ed, but the continued depression in the price of 

 silver and a threatened stringency in monetary 

 affairs, kept the subject under discussion, and 

 in February, 1881, the Governments of France 

 and the United States extended a joint invita- 

 tion to the European nations to take part in a 

 conference between the powers chiefly inter- 

 ested in the question of establishing tho use of 

 gold and silver as international money.* 



The conference was to examine and adopt, for the 

 purpose of submitting the same to the governments 

 represented, a plan and a system for the establish- 

 ment, by means of an international agreement, of the 

 use of gold and silver as bi-metallic money, according 

 to a settled relative value between these two metals. 



The conference assembled in Paris, April 

 19, 1881, and delegates were present from 

 Austro-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, 

 Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Swe- 

 den, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United States 

 of America, and from France. The delegates 

 from Germany, Great Britain, British India, 

 Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, Greece, 

 Austro-Hungary, Sweden, Norway, and Switz- 



* See BI-MEFALLIC STANDARD, p. 60. At the hazard of 

 Borne slight repetition, further proceedings of the Bi-Metallic 

 Conference are here Inserted and considered. ED. 



erland, respectively, announced at once im- 

 portant reservations on their part. 



The delegates from Germany stated that 

 between 1865 and 1870 a considerable quan- 

 tity of gold found its way into the treasury of 

 the German Empire, and that the Government 

 took advantage of the occasion to firmly estab- 

 lish its monetary system upon the basis of a 

 gold standard, and that this reform was now 

 in a very advanced state ; that almost 1,747,- 

 000,000 marks had been struck in gold coin, 

 while 1,080,000,000 marks in silver coin of 

 earlier mintage had been demonetized, the last 

 of the operations amounting to 44,000,000 

 marks. They also stated that there still re- 

 mained in Germany at most only 500,000,000 

 marks in silver thalers, and declared that this 

 reform had sensibly bettered the condition of 

 the monetary circulation in Germany ; but, 

 although they considered the monetary system 

 of Germany as established upon solid founda- 

 tions, still they had not failed to recognize the 

 import of the fall of silver which had since oc- 

 curred, and, to relieve the Latin Union from 

 the apprehension that half a billion more of 

 marks in old silver thalers would be thrown 

 upon the market as silver bullion, Germany 

 had, in May, 1879, resolved to suspend its 

 sales of silver, and they had not since been re- 

 sumed. The delegates, however, recognized 

 without reserve that a rehabilitation of silver 

 was to be desired, and. that it might be at- 

 tained by the re-establishment of a free coin- 

 age of silver in a certain number of the most 

 populous states represented at the conference 

 of these states, to that end should adopt as a 

 basis a fixed relation between the value of gold 

 and that of silver. Nevertheless Germany, 

 whose monetary reform was already so far 

 advanced, and whose general monetary situa- 

 tion did not seem to call for a change of sys- 

 tem so vast in scope, did not find herself in a 

 position, so far as she was concerned, to con- 

 cede the free coinage of silver. Still, having a 

 disposition to assist the other powers which 

 might unite for the purpose of a free coinage 

 of silver at a fixed ratio with gold, Germany 

 would agree for a period of some years to 

 abstain from all sales of silver, and during 

 another period of a certain duration would 

 pledge itself to sell annually only a limited 

 quantity, so small in amount that the general 

 market would not be glutted thereby. It would 

 also engage to eventually retire from circula- 

 tion 27,750,000 five-mark gold-pieces, thus giv- 

 ing to silver a greater field for circulation at 

 home; and it would, perhaps, melt down and 

 recoin 172,000,000 old five- and two-mark 

 silver-pieces at a ratio between the two metals 

 of about 1 to loi, whereas at present the ratio 

 is 1 to 14. 



This remarkable proposition, stripped of all 

 technical verbiage, was as if Germany should 

 say : " Gentlemen of the other powers, believ- 

 ing you to be in earnest in your proposition to 

 establish a fixed relative value between gold 



