THE CURRENCY QUESTION.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9117, 30 May 1895, Page 5

THE CURRENCY QUESTION.

Press Association—By Tclej-raph—Copyright " Londox, May £3. Sir W. V. Harcourt has expressed his concurrence with tho views contained in tbe memorial, drawn up by merchants, bankers, and o;_2rs, paying for adhesion to si shig'.a gold standard. He says i_3 Govcrnuic-nt will give no coantenanc- to any change in the fuadam_2it_l prineipis cf t_c existing monetary standard.

In replying to the baakars' momorial, Sir W. V. Harcourt said any departure from the gold standard would involve national disaster. Bris-axk, May 29. Sir S. Griffiths, speaking "at the Technical College, said that the fixing by law of the relative values of silver and gold would have, at the most, only a temporary effect, as the values did not depend on the will of lawgivers, but on production. Its effect on exchange and the practical difficulties in the way of inducing the whole world to fix relative values were enormous, if not insuperable obstacles. The opening out of Asia in competition with the rest of the world brought the rest of the world down to Asiatic values, and an attempt to realise the proposed result would cause infinite confusion and disaster in the East. He admitted that tbe existing state of things was most alarming, owing to the depreciation of gold and the stationary condition of prices in silver countries. He strongly urged careful consideration of the question by financiers.