' qualities, accordingly suffered a loss of value. It followed, therefore, sa i il the English Delegate, that the limiting or restrictive measures token by the Latin Union as to the mintage of Silver, had assuredly contribute« 1, in a certain degree, to a depreciation which other, anterior, and more active causes had provoked. As to the possibility of the establishment of a fixed international ratio between the valne of the two minted metals, if he had correctly understood Mr. Horton's proposition, it was a question of a discussion of principle and not of au examination of practical difficulties. AVLat Mr. Hortou had asked was that the Conference should pronounce on tin-utility of the relation, irrespective of the present possibilities or impossibilities of establishing it. Xow, he did not consider it necessary to give a categorical reply to a question thus hypothetically put; but it' tincharacter of the question were changed by the question of principle being no longer separated from the question of execution, he \vouM modify also the character of his answer and would not in that case hesitate to affirm, as Mr. Feer-IIcrzog had done, the entire and absolu r iimpossibility of the establishment of a fixed ratio, and this fur many reasons of a scientific and economic nature which he need, not enter into in detail. ТПЕ President, Mr. Say, asked whether, considering the point at which the discussion had arrived, it did not behoove the Conference, if not to fix, at least to forecast, as it were, the conclusion of its labors Î All the members of the Conference were present aud had had the opportunity of being heard, the discusión seemed exhausted, at least on tho main question, and several members had expressed a desire to kuow ar once when they would be able to return to their respective counrrii-^. The Conference might perhaps to-day decide the question whether it •would finish what it had still to do iu one or two sessions, Me. Поток was authorized to say that the Delegates of the United States Government did not think the limits of the discussion could be fixed in advance. They were convinced that it was of the greatest utility for Europe and for the United States of America that not only their own propositions, but the incidental propositions which had already arisen in the course of debate, should be thoroughly discussed. lie would recall the fact that the Norwegian Delegate, Mr. Broch, the representative of a state bound to the Single Gold Standard system, and himself, an avowed partisan ofthat system, had expressed a desire tluit the discussion on all these points should be full and exhaustive. Пчч~iiild it be supposed that nil the other Delegates did uot also dcsin- u Î В. GosoirEN was of opinion that if there were any hope of arriving practical agreement by prolonging the discussion, the advantage Jiat agreement would bo well worth some sacrifice of time; but from , moment when no eventuality of this kind could be foreseen, wlut purpose would be served by expatiating on the questions and lengthening out the debates t The Conference might last weeks and months if all tbe questions connected with money were to be academically discussed; a goodly number of long speeches would have to be made on a variety of pointa; but he did not think this was the object of the Conference. It had been convoked by the United States Government with a view to formal propositions on the relation of the two metals, and on free mintage. If it was already evident that under the instructions received from their respective governments the majority of the Delegates could not acquiesce in those propositions, no utility would be seen in prolonging a discussion which would necessarily lead to nothing. A purely scientific argument might cause much waste of time. The President, Mr. Say, thought that each Delegate having expmwed his opinion on the root of the matter, and the general discussion having in fact terminated, the time had perhaps come to make a summing up of it, endeavoring to extract from it, as it were, in a clear and concise form, the ideas which all the Delegates, to whatever system they belonged, found themselves in accord. It would then be considered whether the joint expression of those ideas would not furnish the means of making a reply, although without expressing adherence, to the propositions of the United States Delegates. This, in his view, was the only tangible result which could now be drawn from the Conference, and apart from that endeavor he saw nothing to justify the prolongation of the discussion. Mb. Fentckt hoped to be allowed to explain himself with entire freedom on the question of the duration of these discussions. It seemed to him that the subject submitted by the United States for the consideration of the Conference was of too great an interest not to be treated with the most serious attention. Much less important questions had often engaged the attention of Congresses, Conferences, or Parliaments during several months, and he could not readily suppose that all tho attention its grave importance demanded would not be accorded to this. Tin- United States representatives had come from far to confer upon tho matter with the Delegates of Europe, and as not much more had been done than to touch on the preliminaries of the question, they hoped the Conference would not stop midway, but would agree to prosecute to the end with them the inquiry already commenced. He thought that if the propositions offered by himself and his colleagues did not appear acceptable a committee might be directed to formulate others on which it might be easier to obtain an agreement. There were also, he added, several accessory points on which the American Delegates were desirош of learning the opinion of their colleagues, and which they would indicate if ¡KTinitted. On all these grounds it seemed to him that even ;i tin; dJM'.tiíísiou on tho original propositions terminated at the next meeting, there should still be two or three more sessions. Tite President, Mr. Say, observed that there was nothing to prevent the Conference from deferring to the desire just expressed by the Chief Delegate of the United States by virtue of the principle that с-\ч-;у assembly had the control of its own proceedings. He asked the Conference to fix the date of its next meeting. After a conversation in which Mr. Groesbeck and Mr. Baralis took principal parts, the Conference decided to meet on Monday, the i'Ctb. instant. The session terminated at 5.30 p. m. EXHIBITS TO THE FOURTH SESSION. KXHII3IT A. The monetary system of Austria-Hungary is based upon the Silver Standard. The foriu ¡в the unit of coinage. Florins are coined 45 to the pound (£00 grammes) of fine nlver. The florin is divided into 100 kreuzen. Current coint. The coinage of 3 florins and 1^-flnrin pieces has ceased since 1668. Bemdes these coins the notes of the national bank (their denominations are 10 florin», 100 florins, and 1,000 florins) and the Treasury Notos, "Staatmotm" (their denomination 1 florin, 5 florins, and 50 florins), are Legal Tender throughout the monarchy. FRACTIONAL MONET. SOttr coins Legal Tender between individúale up to 2 florins), 80-kreurer pieces (.500 fine), and 16-kreuzcr pieces (.400 fine), coined 750 and 1500 to the kilogram of flne Silver, respectively. ttfprr coins (Legal Tender between individuals np to 50 krenzen), pieces of 4 kreaten, 1 krenaor, and 4 Urcnzer. 8. Ex. 58 7 |