402 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
enlarged as it was by additional members, naturally desired to take precautionary measures against being flooded by the influx of this depreciated silver. Nor was this fear unfounded, for the silver tendered for coinage at the Belgian Mint in
1873 was three times greater than what was tendered in
- Rather than be embarrassed, Belgium, by the law of December 8, 1873, suspended the free coinage of her silver five-franc pieces. This action of Belgium forced the hands of the other members of the Union to adopt similar measures. The delegates of the Union met in Paris in January, 1874, and
“agreed to a treaty supplementary to that originally framed in 1865, and determined on withdrawing from individuals the full power of free coinage by limiting to a moderate sum the silver five-franc pieces which should be coined by each State of the Union during the year 1874.*
The respective quotas fixed for 1874 were slightly increased in 1875, but were reduced in 1876.† But the actual coinage did not even reach these small quotas. So greatly was the Union perturbed by the silver situation that during 1877 the coinage of silver five-franc pieces was, with the exception of Italy,‡ entirely suspended. This action was, however, only a preliminary to the treaty of November 5, 1878, by which the Latin Union agreed to close its Mints to the free coinage of silver till further action. Though at first sine die, the closure proved in the end perpetual.§ Simultaneously with the precautionary measures of the Latin Union, Russia suspended, in 1876, the free coinage
- Laughlin, op. cit., p. 155.
† The quotas fixed at the Conferences for the several members of the Union were :—
In Millions of Francs.
1874 1875 1876
France ... ... 60 75 54
Belgium ... ... 12 50 36
Italy ... ... 40 15 10
Switzerland ... 8 10 7 ... Greece ... ... ... ... ...
120 150 110
In 1874 Italy was allotted an extra 20 million francs. Ibid., p. 155.
‡She was allowed to coin 10 millions of them.
§ Ibid., p. 158.