| OCR Text |
Show American Statesmanship IN the current Review of Reviews is an article, headed: "Burma Rice and American Gold," which congress, the President, the money changers and the editors of New York ought to read. The substance of it is that this year's crop of rice in Burma is an extraordinary one, about double the usual crop. This caused a mighty demand de-mand for money to harvest and move the crop. The Bank of Bombay and the Bank of Bangal advanced ad-vanced all the money they could spare. Then Egypt was drained of gold. Then the demand reached England and the continent. The English banks have been loaning all the money possible to buy Rhodeslan mining stocks and rubber shares, and her great bank at once raised it3 rate of discount. France refused to advance the gold needed. The Indian council in London was obliged to sell 150 lacs of rupees, ?7 500,000 worth, to get the gold to send to India. Where could it be obtained? Why, New York, of course. So the first week of last month gold amounting to $7,500,000 was sent to London from New York-just York-just the amount that the Indian council had sold the 150 lacs of rupees to obtain. In that way, as usual, this country got the double cross. She had sold the Indian council the silver for those rupees at about GO per cent discount thanks to our wise legislation between 1873 and 1893 then when the council sold them our banks had to furnish fur-nish the gold to buy them. And all the gold goes to a country that has known only silver money for more than 3,000 years. Was ever financial imbecility more perfectly per-fectly exemplified? The Review of Reviews thinks that all the trouble is that we, on this side, have no central bank through which to raise the rates of discount and thus prevent the exportation expor-tation of gold. But, suppose the silver legislation between 1873 and 1893 had been dispensed with. No gold would have been required. Nothing would have been asked for except silver, and the Indian council to obtain it would have paid one per cent premium instead of obtaining the needed silver at 60 per cent discount. Then, too, If our country wants any portion of that rice she will have to pay for It In gold or its equivalent, as we have nothing to exchange for it, our silver legislation leg-islation having c'osed all those east Indian markets mar-kets against exports from the "United States. And there is not a vo'co raised In Congress in protest. President Taft thinks silver fell in value in terms of gold, not through legislation, but because of over-production, though it never depreciated a penny an ounce until it was struck down by legislation, leg-islation, and the eastern journals, those wise-ass leaders and framers of public opinion, look upon the destruction of our export trade with half the inhabitants of the earth and are as dumb as sick oysters. But enterprises are halting on this side because so much gold is being shipped awaj, and men who have to borrow money to carry along their business have to pay more interest on it. - That increased interest reconciles the money-lenders and so long as they are happy what does it matter what becomes of the rest of the s county. And the great unwieldy masses of oui; people look-on. What was 'it Puck said about the people? - ' - i |
