28 MODERN MONETARY SYSTEMS 
between silver and gold standard countries accordingly 
began to fluctuate ; for in the absence of a sufficient quantity 
of drafts it was now necessary to export silver, which was 
no longer convertible at a fixed rate either directly or in- 
directly, through bimetallist countries, into the currency of 
a creditor country and only represented in this currency an 
amount which varied with the market price. 
This uncertainty was considerably aggravated by a 
rapid decline in the value of silver after 1873. Public 
opinion was much disturbed by this depreciation, both in 
countries where it took the form of an exchange crisis and 
in countries such as the United States, where it affected 
the interests of a powerful group of producers. An impor- 
tant monetary phenomenon, it was the object of countless 
inquiries and heated discussions which soon spread from 
the economists to politicians. 
These discussions do not, however, appear to have re- 
sulted in any clear explanation of the phenomenon. The 
advocates of a return to bimetallism merely accused Gov- 
ernments which had suspended the coinage of silver of 
having restricted the market for the white metal—an argu- 
ment which was not conclusive, since the recent statistics 
showed that the market for silver had not shrunk after 
1873. The real cause of the depreciation of silver lay, not 
in the suspension of coinage, but, as we shall see, in the 
suppression of freedom of coinage. 
Certain attendant circumstances prevented people from 
seeing at the time that this was the true explanation. In the 
first place, the depreciation of silver after 1873 seemed to 
be a mere continuation of the fall which had been taking 
place since 1867. Again, before the suspension of coinage 
by the Governments, administrative measures had been 
taken to relieve the pressure on the mints. Lastly, even be- 
fore the decision to suppress free coinage of silver had been 
officially taken, its market rate had been affected by pro- 
longed delay in coining and even by the fact that further 
ad libitum minting of silver had become comparatively 
uncertain. Nevertheless, it is the suppression of free coinage 
which marks the radical change in the conditions of the market.