Charles Francis Bastable

“ Both by its situation and its currency system, France was the country that was first led to aim at the establishment of a currency union, in which French ideas and influences would be predominant. A preliminary step was the formation of the Latin union, whereby the currencies of France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland were—in respect to their gold and silver coins—assimilated. In 1867 the Paris Exhibition furnished the occasion for summoning a monetary conference, to which the principal countries of the world sent representatives. ”

“ Germany and the United States reformed their currencies, without reference to any international considerations.
The meeting of the next international conference took place under very different conditions. A great fall in the value of silver as measured in gold, in progress from 1873, had affected the relations of silver-using countries, and disturbed the level of prices. Indian interests as well as those of American producers of silver suffered, while the management of all double-standard currencies became a task of increasing difficulty. ”

“ These assemblies were one of the features of the latter half of the 19th century, due to the decided tendency towards securing reforms by concerted international action. The disorganized state of the European currencies, which became more serious in consequence of the great expansion in trade and industry, came into notice through the great gold discoveries and their effect on the relations between the two precious metals. ”