CHAPTER III 
THE DEPRECIATION OF SILVER 
Tue disappearance of Bimetallism, which was the result 
of the final suppression of the free coinage of silver, did 
not do any direct injury to those countries which took 
their decision in good time. They proceeded to adopt 
the régime already described above, which, although called 
partial or “limping ”’ bimetallism in France, is hardly 
more than a variation of the monometallist gold-standard 
system. But the world was thenceforward divided into 
countries on an effective gold standard (monometallist 
gold standard and limping bimetallist countries) where 
gold was alone accepted for free coinage, and countries 
on a silver standard (monometallist silver-standard coun- 
tries or countries which were theoretically bimetallist but 
now only used silver), with the addition of a few which had 
a paper currency. Most European countries, 7.e., Eng- 
land, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Hol- 
land were in fact on the gold standard, while a few still 
had a silver or paper régime. In America, the United 
States, formerly bimetallist, had in fact adopted the gold 
standard, like France; but Mexico and various other 
countries of the New World were on a silver standard. 
The Far East, China, Japan, British India and the Straits 
Settlements, the Philippines (in effect), French Indo- 
China, etc., were also on a silver standard. 
From 1873 onwards not a single great power was effec- 
tively bimetallist and in a position to act as intermediary 
so that transactions between gold and silver standard 
countries could find a stable basis. Silver, being no longer 
accepted in countries hitherto bimetallist except in the 
form of bullion, varied in price, and the exchanges 
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