-;;,!•:• . diver as the medium of commerce: 



gold standard. Iicr )n ' -ted. no doubt. b\ the 



suspicion that the difficulties of accomplishing the desired change would 

 be largely aggravated should others take the initiative of discarding 

 sihtr iu favor of gold. England and the United States already had 

 the single gold standard in practical operation; for, as before shown, 

 the legal use of silver with us had been in theory only, while gold was 

 practically our standard, and had been so for forty years. 



No doubt the theory of the doctrinaires is true, that a measure of 

 value cannot be constructed out of two commodities, each of which varies 

 in value in relation to the other. No doubt, it is true, that in such 

 case, the real measure for the time being will be the cheaper of the 

 two media, where both are left to unobstructed action, and either are 

 equally freely accepted. 



The French school of finance accepts this conclusion as to gold and 

 silver, and boldly bases its coinage upon the equal acceptability of both 

 metals at the fixed relative value by weight of fifteen and one-half of 

 silver to one of gold. The mint is opened to unlimited coinage of both 

 metals to all comers. It freely offers in practical effect and theory, 

 the exchange of all the coin of one metal in the country for an equal 

 value of the other, at this fixed ratio. All the world may come and 

 satisfy its wants of either metal in exchange for the other so far as the 

 stock of either lasts. This is the theory of French monetary policy. 

 The coinage compact of the Latin Union is based upon this theory. 

 It is quite probable that Germany, in originating her late monetary 

 policy, hoped to avail herself of this means of supplying herself with 

 -•old iii exchan-e for her silver. If she had formed the policy of adopt- 

 ing the bt-metallic system, and purposed to discard sufficient of the 

 silver for that purpose only, doubtless it would have been welcomed, 

 as that action would have placed Germany in entire harmony with the 

 system of France and most other European nations. But with the 



