gations payable in gold, the effect is serious. Take our South American republics to illustrate it: During the last 30 years they have been getting deeper and deeper into debt to England, and during the last 25 years these debts have been made payable in gold.
"Each year, with the advance in gold it takes more and more of their products, or silver, to pay the gold bonds; they must give up in silver $1.25 to pay $1 in gold—$1.50 in silver to pay $1 in gold—$1.75 in silver to pay $1 in gold, and so on, as the purchasing power of gold advances; and at the present time $2 in silver to pay $1 in gold.
So that a bond for $100,000 executed by them when silver and gold were at a parity, payable in gold, must now be met by the payment in principal of $200,000 in their money. That is—to raise the $100,000 in gold, they must sell 200,000 of their silver dollars. You will notice in the London Financial reports the price of Mexican dollars as 50 cents or 49 cents as the case may be; which means that about two Mexican silver dollars are accepted in payment for one dollar in gold settlements.
"The bonds of these countries both national and private are held in England for large amounts, and the enhanced value of gold is having a very serious effect on their prosperity. We are now an ally of England in depressing the price of silver and enhancing the value of gold.
"We are paying England 200 million dollars annually in gold in the payment of interest on our bonds, national and private, owned by her people, and to meet this annual interest we are giving up about 400 million dollars in property that is required in the market to secure the 200 million in gold.
"Our silver dollars are at par with gold by reason
