THE DEPRESSION IN RELATION TO GOLD AND SILVER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2109, 14 January 1886, Page 4

THE DEPRESSION IN RELATION TO GOLD AND SILVER.

(From the World.) < j Tiik rates for money in the City are . almost phenomenal. Last week, on the Stock Exchange settling day, money on loan was ofTeied in vain at a quarter per cent per annum— quotations almost with- < out parallel. Unfortunately these rates are but additional evidence of the deplorable condition of business ; evidence which, however, is by no means necessary, for the fact is already sufficiently patent. Exports and imports have declined, the revenue has diminished, railway traffics are bad, wheat is low, sugar has lost its late moderate advance in price, wool has fallen disastrously ; even dairy produce, which has, thus far, kept pretty steady, is beginning to participate in tho general collapse, while cattle and sheep can only be sold at ruinous prices. A Koyal Commission is sitting, not a moment too soon, for the purpose of investigating the causes of this universal depression. These causes, after all, arc not very difficult to find ; every practical business man knows at least something about them. Theorists of an obsolete school of economy, and sophists alone fail to trace them, or to grasp the true bearings of the subject. The real cause of depression is, we maintain, the continued decline of prices, Who will be bold enough to buy when experience shows that each succeeding day rights in its course against the buyer? Who will continue to manufacture when the finished production will not fetch cost price? And here arises the important, yet complicated question : What is the cause of this fall in prices ? One superficial reasoncr answers, "Over-production," forgetful or ignorant of his mill ; another, Freetrade ; another, politics ; while others attempt to supply special explanations j for individual cases. But these special explanations somehow fail. When we find, for instance, that the price of silk has fallen, notwithstanding the diminished production, we are told that the fashions have changed from silk to wool ; but when we turn to wool, we find that its price has fallen even more than that of silk. The fall, in fact, is universal. Somebody, of course, must meanwhile profit by this condition of things, and there are those who regard it with satisfaction as a season of cheapness and plenty. But cvi bono ? So far, no doubr, the working classes have been the gainers, and wo are far from grudging them the exceptional favours they have enjoyed. But, almost in fear and trembling, we nsk : how long may we expect the present rate of wages to bo maintained ? and what will be the position of the working 1 classes if mills and mines cease to work because profits have disappeared ? But what, then, is the trne cause of this universal collapse in prices? It is the task of the Commission on Trade to suggest a satisfactory answer to this question ; but while they are groping for a solution amid the conflicting testimony of a crowd of opposing witnesses, wo may be pardoned for attempting to forestall their reply. It is bnt simply the disturbance of tho currency legislation of tho whole civilised world at a time of a diminished production of gold. Tho demonetisation of silver has virtually destroyed part of tho wealth of mankind. An immense amount of silver, which might be profitably employed in facilitating business exchanges, is now lying useless in the vaults of banks and financial institutions. The world is afraid to coin more silver, because their metal is depreciated ; meanwhile the depreciation increases day by day, because the world is thus afraid. Restore the position of silver, and the strain on gold will at once cease and matters mend. But where shall we find a statesman sufficiently courageonB to grapple independantly with the question ? Were such a one to arise from the ashes of our commercial prosperity, now being consumed by the prevalent depression, he would at once create for himself a monumont cere pcrennius. Meanwhile, it seems to us to be clearly the dufcy of the Press to educate, as it wore, and guide the publio on the subject of the relation of silver to prices ; for, as Sir Louis Malet has said, "no Government can act in the matter until fmblic opinion (to which they have to ook) has so far advanced as to enable I them to take up the subjects as a practical question. A persistence in the laisscz- alter policy advocated by the Times, the Economist, and the adherents of the gold standard, bids fair, after all, to* aid rather than to impede the aims of the silver party. It has already called up the ghost of Protection in the guise of fairtrade, and if — as Mr Moreton Frewen seems to hold — it can once bo shown that the manipulated deprecation of silver is breaking the back of freetrade, the bimetallists will very quickly find a strong fighting force behind them both in Parliament and throughout the country.

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Paris has one hundred markets for the excusive sale of horse flesh for food. In 1884 there were slaughtered and sold in these shops 14,548 horses, 346 asses, and 32 mules. According to Mr Labouchere, M.P., all plate at Windsor Castle, valued at two million pounds, is Crown property, and Queen Victoria would be obliged to replace a missing spoon. Edwin Booth tells the following anecdote of his father : " Playing in Boston leng ago the elder Booth was seized with a sudden fancy for taking long night walks, on which he made Im sol accompany him. One night they started out after midnight, and for three hours walked about the docks and quays. Not a sotil did they meet until on their return to the hotel they saw a dark figure following them, skulking in the shadows of the warehouses. Edwin was somewhat scared, but his father Btepped forward and in a loud voice said: 'Good evening, my friend.' The man did not answer, but came forward into the light and showed himself, in looks at least a thorough ruffian. With a curse he came toward them. The old man drew himself up and asked : ♦ Who are you, my friend ? Who are you?' 'I'm a thief, that's what I am, 1 said the fellow. 'And I,' said Booth, in a voice of wonderful sweetness, 'and I am a pirate,' and he shook the astonished ruffian warmly by the hand. The effect waa electrical, Edwin Booth said, and the man troubled them no further."