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Show A NATIOMAL Oi'l'OUIt'NITr. A French financial riter, in speaking speak-ing of the great production of gold that followed tho discovery of the mines of California and Australia, says: "In the outset, tho prodigiously rapid ra-pid development of the gold producing countries of California and Aus ' at once stimulated the industry and commerce of the wi.ole world. In exchange ex-change for each milliard of gold that was sent lrom the mines to Europe an equivalent value in merchandise was taken which, having been fabricated, had to be transported, and thus new cults wcro opened for increased labor." This is a feature of the gold era that our American financiers should study. There can be no doubt of the enormous enorm-ous benuht that accrued particularly to English trade by rensou of tha position held by her majesty's government throughout that period. The vast Hood of gold was accepted at a fixed rate as money. England was a Btanding customer cus-tomer for all of the precious metal that sluices aud the mills could turn out. Tho direct effect was an immense in-creaso in-creaso of commerce while the gold was sec.ircd for uso in after years in maintaining main-taining her pre-eminent position in the commercial world. The suriifl result would certainly follow fol-low to the United States if this country should enter the field as a customer for all tho silver product of the world. We produce nearly half of all that is mined, while the countries that furnish the bulk of tho other half, Mexico, South America aud Australia, are so situated that they would naturally become purchasers of American products in return for the silver purchased. Tho mono-metallists will insist that the silver would be sent here to exchange for gold, but that is a preposterous proposition. propo-sition. The point is ore that tho gold men will not yield until they are forced to it by actual demonstration. It is not worth while to discuss it iu this couneo-tion. couneo-tion. The Times rsts it upon the ab soiute conviction of all bimetallisii that !iiue auu uuiiuiumi i;uiuuu nuum establish es-tablish the parity of the metals, and proceeding from that basis j it asserts its belief that tho enactment ' of a free and unlimited coinage law would secure bene'its to this country in the way of increased trade far iu excess ex-cess of anything that has been dreamed of. That trade would turn the trade balances strongly in our favor and compel Europe to settle its accounts with us iu gold. Thus we would not only get the bulk of the silver of the world but would control tho supply of gold also and mako the United States tho financial and commercial master of i the world within a decade. |