In a late issue of the London Economist, that of April 26, 1890, I find an editorial article relating to the recent discussion on bimetallism in the British House of Commons. That article comments somewhat sharply on Mr. Smith's assertion that "a conspiracy had been formed among the financial class in Europe and America to get rid of silver as full-valued money in order to increase the value of gold, in which their revenues are paid." In the course of his comments the editor, by "confession and avoidance," admits our whole contention as to the rise of gold and the fall, as a natural consequence, of the prices of commodities. He says: It may not be amiss, however, to point out that the increase in the exchangeable value of gold has been by no means such a gain to the financial class as he in common with many others suppose; for advantage has been very largely taken of it to cut down the return upon the capital which the financial classes have invested. It has favored debt conversion schemes, and it has been one of the influences that have caused the rate of interest in general to decline so decidedly, that, all round, the yield of investments is now very appreciably lower than it was fifteen years ago. The idea that the creditor class have realized unmixed gains and the debtor class have suffered unmitigated losses by the alteration in the purchasing power of gold is thus altogether fallacious. There has in their case, as in all others, been a species of compulsory give and take. Each has gained and each has lost something, and now that the process of readjustment has been carried so far it would be unwise to the last degree to unsettle everything again by such legislation as the bimetallists propose. The editor of the Economist is to be commended for at least one thing. He does not quibble as to the most important point in the bimetallic controversy. He frankly admits that gold has risen, and does not, as some others do, attribute the fall of prices to improvements in methods of production. He also admits that coincidently with and caused by the rise in gold there has been a great decline in the rates of interest, and, strangely, claims that the debtor is compensated for the rise in the value of money by the ability to convert the debt into one bearing a lower rate of interest, or, as he calls it, resorting to "debt-conversion schemes."