The long contest between the President and the Senate of
the United States over the repeal of the Sherman Ad will, it is stated; end next week in the repeal of the Act without any compromise whatever. The silver-men belonging to the Demo- tratic party have yielded to the fear of losing their seats, and the Republicans alone cannot carry on the contest, lest the President of the Senate should declare that the vote must be taken, which, it appears, in extreme cases he has the power to do. The Act once repealed, it is believed that the hoarded gold will reappear and flow into the Treasury, while silver will be circulated at its "natural" price, which is, it is asserted, about 30d. per ounce. That is to say, the richer mines will resume working at that rate, while the poorer mines will be finally shut altogether. The market for the metal will then be made up of the Asiatic demand, which increases rather than diminishes, the requirements of the arts, and the consumption always going on of the token-money. This, at least, is the best calculation, though, as yet, there is no certainty, the silver dealers having absolutely no experience of perfect free-trade in their metal. It has never been let quite alone by legislation avowedly intended to affect its price. If the world could only find out what it is worth as a product, like coal, calculation would be indefinitely simplified.
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