DISSENT FROM REPORT OF COMMISSION
"We cannot doubt that if the system which prevailed before 1873 were replaced in its integrity most of the evils which we have above described would be removed; and the remedy which we have to suggest is simply the reversion to a system which existed before the changes above referred to were brought about—a system, namely, under which both metals were freely coined into legal tender money at a fixed ratio over a sufficiently large area.
"The remedy which we suggest is essentially international in its character, and its details must be settled in concert with the other powers concerned.
"It will be sufficient for us to indicate the essential features of the agreement to be arrived at, viz.:—
"1. Free coinage of both metals into legal tender money.
"2. The fixing of a ratio at which the coins of either metal shall be available for the payment of all debts at the option of the debtor.
"We submit, therefore, that the chief commercial nations of the world, such as the United States, Germany, and the states forming the Latin Union, should, in the first place, be consulted as to their readiness to join with the United Kingdom in a conference, at which India and any of the British colonies which may desire to attend shall be represented, with a view to arrive, if possible, at a common agreement on the basis above indicated."
Such a report was claimed as a victory for either side, but its doubtful tenor only confirmed the rooted
suspicion of the English administration as regards any change of the currency system. And when, on the occasion of the Paris Exhibition in 1889, a free International Monetary Congress was held, as one of the numerous special congresses connected with the celebration, Great Britain was not represented among the 194 members who attended on the invitation of the organising committee. M. Magnin, governor of the Bank of France, presided at the sittings, which covered from the 11th to the 15th September. Like its predecessor, the international conference, this congress closed without direct or practical resolution. Putting out of view this congress as of a more informal nature, a period of eleven years elapsed between the still only prorogued conference of Paris of 1881 and the conference of Brussels in 1893. This—as yet the last—conference was summoned on the initiative of the United States, but from the commencement a distinct difference of tone and method made itself felt; the Government of the United States recognising that some European countries might not be willing to adopt the remedy which they would prefer, namely, "the establishment of some fixity of value between gold and silver, and the free use of silver as a coin metal, upon a ratio to gold to be fixed by an agreement between the great commercial peoples of the world." The invitation to and purpose of the conference were conveyed in quite general terms, namely thus, "For the purpose of considering what measures, if any, could be taken to