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Show oo MONETARY STANDARDS AFTER THE WAR. Predicting that the subject of monetary mone-tary standards will engage the attention atten-tion of the world for several years after peace, the head of the American Exchange National bank says: "Gold is scarce, yet tho industry of mining gold is depressed because the metal as a Btandard of value decreaecs In purchasing power when other commodities com-modities rise in price. This anomalous anomal-ous situation has provoked world-wide discussion of monetary standards. Some theorists advocate tho abolition of gold or any other metal as a standard stand-ard of valuo and the substitution therefor there-for of a group of important commodities commodit-ies such as wheat, steel Ignots, raw cotton, copper, etc., the averago price of which shall be tho barometer of the exchango valuo of legal tenders. "Many have expressed great Interest Inter-est in tho posBlblilty that European nations will use silver to help sustain th&r immense paper Issues. This question has acquired fresh Interest since the treasury department announced, an-nounced, that it had fixed tho price of silver at $1.01 per flno ounce and made it a condition that purchasers of Bllver Bhould not pay a higher price for it In other markets than those of the United States. "Prior to this announcement the fed-oral fed-oral reserve board freely granted licenses li-censes for tho export of silver. At present, export licenses for silver, are granted only for purposes of Importance Impor-tance In connection with the prosecu-, tlon of tho war, and only when the exporter ex-porter certifies that the price he paid for the silver does not exceed Sl.Ol1 per fine ounce and furnishes other details de-tails of the transaction. "Tho federal government practically controls the supplies of silver that are being added to the circulation mediums me-diums of the world and has stabilized the price in this way. Exchange on British India and the Far East usually follows tho price of silver and the rates have been stabilized by setting a fixed value measured in terms of gold. "While the nleltlng down of American Ameri-can silver dollars and the fixed price for silver bullion are war-time expedients, expe-dients, the success of these efforts to reform the exchange situation in India In-dia and the Far East has revived world-wide interest in silver and the discussion cannot be regarded as academic." |