Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/764

736 of regulating the metallic currency was established in England, as it were, accidentally, and deliberately adopted only in 1816. The practical good results which followed made all English economists of that period warm advocates of the composite system. Thus, M&lsquo;Culloch and Tooke agree in supporting the English system, as also does J. S. Mill. On the Continent the weight of authority was more divided, and the existence of the French bimetallic system gave support to the advocates of a double standard. The result of the gold discoveries in Australia and California was to greatly increase the supply of that metal, and, under the action of Gresham's law, to change the French currency from silver to gold, while Holland, to avoid the evils which were anticipated from the reduced value of that metal, adopted silver as the standard. The movements in favour of a universal currency described above, combined with the course of events, brought the standard question into greater prominence. The proposal of the Paris conference of 1867 for a single gold standard, and a universal coinage on that basis, raised the question to great prominence. Wolowski and Courcelle Seneuil strongly opposed the recommendation, the former predicting that a disastrous appreciation of gold would follow. This view seems borne out by the result, for, although a universal coinage was not created, yet Germany and the Scandinavian Union both changed from a silver to a gold standard, while Holland and the United States both made movements in the same direction by demonetizing silver and making preparations for adopting gold. The Latin Union at the same time restricted their silver coinage, which had nearly the same effect as the adoption of a gold standard. The result of these extensive changes was to cause much confusion. The more ardent advocates of a double standard, too, attributed most of the continued trade depression to this cause. The altered condition of opinion on the question was seen at the monetary conference held at Paris in 1878, where the universal demonetization of silver was considered to be dangerous. The &ldquo;Bland Act&rdquo; of the United States, which theoretically decreed the double standard (1878), was another instance of reaction. The great depreciation of silver, which resulted mainly from its having ceased to be money over a large part of the civilized world, severely affected the Indian finances, and thus the advocates of a double standard were able to command some attention in England. The conference held in Paris in 1881 reflected these changed views. The supporters of the double standard took the initiative and proposed a treaty based on the double standard at a fixed ratio, but no conclusion was arrived at—England, Germany, and the Scandinavian Union upholding the gold standard.

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