The friends of Free-trade will, it is telegraphed, be dis-
appointed with Mr. Cleveland's government. He declares, it is said, that there is no hurry for reductions in the tariff, though reductions will be made, and that he does not wish to interfere with the interests which have grown up under it. He considers the Currency Question much more pressingly important. His plan appears to be to stop the monthly pur- chases of silver, to withdraw all paper currency whatever, making the currency purely metallic, and to treat gold and silver as "equivalents "—we presume, of course, at a fixed ratio —the nation paying any difference that may arise. To meet the charge, an "Equivalence Fund" will be created, to consist originally of 228,000,000 in gold, and to be fed from the seigniorage on silver, and possibly by slices of the surplus revenue. The plan is not yet clear, but its basis seems to be that silver shall be used instead of paper on national security. If that is really the notion, its success as a means of fixing the price of silver must depend wholly upon the demand for the coined metal, which, as a heavy and inconvenient currency, is not likely to be great. It must be remembered, however, that the President can only propose a plan to Congress which the Houses are in no way bound to accept, —though, if they do not, he can veto their alternative plans.
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