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Show Discard ol Silver Called A Mistake NOTE : The following, taken from Sklllings Mining Review is one of the most comprehensive, comprehen-sive, logical and timely discussions discus-sions of the silver question to come to our attention. We are, therefore, passing it along to our readers in the belief they will appreciate it as we do Ed. With the scarcity of gold and the decline in the price of silver assign-, ed as important causes of the worldwide world-wide economic depression, the old problem of gold versus silver as media of exchange Is enjoying new popularity as a subject of discussion discus-sion In financial circles, said the Xew York Evening Post a few weeks ago. According to a leading New York authority on silver, mankind may discover , that the discarding of silver sil-ver was a gigantic blunder and that efforts to extend the dominion of the gold standard while the source of the metal is as limited at is is now are a mistake. "leaders of finance", he said, "are decrying the growing scarcity of gold nnd preaching the gold standard all in the self same breath, 'seemingly oblivious or ignorant ig-norant of the fact that they are treating more demand for the yellow yel-low metal. . Gold Advances Sharply. "Gold in turn is reflecting this scarcity and is soaring by leaps and bounds when expressed In terms of securities and commodities in all the markets of the world." Silver, he pointed out, has been chosen as the medium of exchange in the Orient because it Is the only on-ly practical yardstick. The lowly status of the average man in the East is such, he said, the gold is Impracticable for the resaon it can not he minted into the small unit needed by the Orlentol for his modest mod-est transaction. "Preaching the gold standard to the Orient may be fine in theory, but it is unworkable In practice," he contiued. "Thrnstlng the gold exchange ex-change standard npon the "Orientals "Orient-als is extremely dangerous to the (Continued on last page) DISCARD OF 8ILCVER CALLED MISTAKE .. (Continued from page one) Occidental nations because the malntalnenance of the gold exchange ex-change stamlurd Implies reserve of yellow metal ; these In turn must needs be acquired from their present pres-ent possessors who themselves realize real-ize the hopeless Inadequacy of visible vis-ible stocks upon which rests their enormous structure of credit. Iliclln Is Cited. "No more striking illustration can be found than the utempt by the Indian government to maintain the gold exchange stnndnrd at an unwa'rarnted level by sales of silver, sil-ver, by the Imposition of silver Import Im-port restrictions and by the Issuance Issu-ance of rupee notes, all obnoxious to the people of India. "The implication of tliese measures meas-ures Incidental to the maintenance of tbe gold exchange standard has resulted In the total loss of gold In mounting Indebtedness and In the wrecking of the market for silver sil-ver nietal, already undermined by the debasing of the fractional currency cur-rency of many nations, with all that this Implies to the purchasing power pow-er of the Far East and to the commerce com-merce of the silver producing nations. na-tions. Yet the protagonists of the gold standard go marching onward, not content merely to preach their gospel, but, llk the crusaders of old, ramming It down the throat of the unwilling and the helpless-witness helpless-witness England in Indlu France In Indo-China! "Gold and sliver are not commodities commod-ities In the accepted sense of the word and must not be treated as such. They stand apart from all other commodities because they are media of exchange. The value which men have set on the precious metals met-als Is illusory and highly psychological, psychol-ogical, but In this very psychological psychologi-cal quality lies the Importance of these metals as yardsticks of value. val-ue. If that quality Is destroyed In one metal, mankind will desert the one so debased and reach out for the other one to which value Is still nttached. "Neither gold nor silver can cause men to work If they do not choose to work but so long as the Occident uses gold and the Orient uses silver as means of exchange ho long will those precious metis either facilitate or Impede International Inter-national trade In accordance with their degree of adjustment or maladjustmentone mal-adjustmentone to the other. "If the stocks of gold are Insufficient Insuf-ficient to sustain the mounting edifice edi-fice of credit and the flannnclng of the ever growing volume of trade within and between nations, then silver must be utillMl, hence the necessity of maintaining a reasonable reason-able ratio between the two because such a ratio Is absolutely essential to proper equilibrium. Any reslons dislocation of a reasonable ratio between be-tween gold and silver disturbs the fundamental bassls of trade In that readjustment must be effected In nil the human activities. "Unfortunately governments proceed pro-ceed with leaden feet but mankind suffers through their mistakes; they will etnmbl along until they come to the Impasse, and until they realize that the discarding of stiver sti-ver wns a gigantic blunder. The Its own unless, In the meantime, white metal must then come Into the philosopher will have discovered discover-ed his stone." |