THE SILVER QUESTION,

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1779, 5 November 1886, Page 2

THE SILVER QUESTION,

(Sydney Morning AeraltL)

The announcement that a Royal Commission is to be appointed to con* aider the general depreciation in the prioe of silver is no more than was anticipated. Leading commercial journals have for some time heen urging this method of throwing light on a qnestion involving serious conse qnences on the course of trade. In Eugland the appreciation of gold is thought to have had a prejudical effect on the industrial operations of the country, especially by those who regard an abundance of money as an indication of the general wellbeing of the community. But England internally is not very much concerned by the depreciation in the value of silver, her currency being almost entirely of gold. Her chief interest in the subject lies in her trading relations with her Eastern empire, the great consumer of silver. Within the past fifteen years silver has depreciated from 60d to 42d per ounce. According tv Mr Mulhall, the decline is not so much the result of overproduction as of diminished use in manufacture, electroplate having in a g<-eat measure superseded it During the past thirty-five years the production of gold has been relatively greater than that of silver ; and the quantity of the former was thirty two times that of the latter. The relative price of silver and gold is not regulated !by the existing stocks. If it were, silver should now he over lOOd per ounce instead of 42d. Within the past quarter of a century India and China have absorbed nearly all the Bilvt>r produced. The coinage in India has been almost exclusively in silver rupee and decimal parts thereof being the ordinary money of the country with which commercial transactions are conducted. The rupee has fallen from the nominal value of 2s to Is 6d, and at time* even lower, the fluctuating value being a source of inconven* ience and loss. How this arises is evident. The rupee as a piece of money is valuable only as a means of exchange, For its own sake it can be of no value to other than a miser. Other productions have a real and essential value — food to eat, clothes to wear, land to till, paintings to admire. But money is only useful as a means of exchange ; and it is useful because it is the measure of value. To serve its purpose most effectively it should of course have a fixed value. But jinforjunately it has not a fixed value: and in consequence it produces disturbance of trade and industrial pursuits. The wrong done to a nation by the depreciation of its currency is very apparent in the case of India. The inhabitants ot that country may one year produce rice, tea, jute, and other produce for export to the value of £50,000,000 sterling. The next year they may produce a like quantity, but because the value of the rupee has fallen say one penny, they will only get about £47,500,000 for their produce. That may be a very good thing for those who deal with them, or those who get the benefits of the trade ; but it is certainly not a very good thing for the producers.