The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-09-29

to loan eight hundred thousand dollars In treasury
notes at par 10 SUFFICIENT to satisfy most specu
stors in Wall street that IL will be made One Of the
parties interested In this loan has gone Washington,
and upon his return the amount will probably be
drawn from the Independent treasury. day or
two will decide all donbts.
Spectators in government stocks, treasury notes
and other securities in Wall street have for sometime
past been growing and grumbng about the operation
OF the independent treasury act and its restrictions
upon the money market For sometime past the dis
bursements Of the government have been limited COM
pared with Its receipts and the accumulation Of specie
In the vaults Of the subtreasury has been large On
the LIST OF July last the total to the credit OF
the government In the different repositories WAS but
$l63S1l2 Of which but sl59037 was in the hands or
the assistant treasurer in this city Since that time bv
the payments on account Of the loan and the
receipts from duties imports, the deposits in this
city have increased to nearly three millions OF dollars,
and In the country to between four and five millions Of
dollars the whole Of which conists of gold and silver
This accumulation particularly at this point has pro-
duced great scarcity Of money 1t is merely tho
withdrawal Of three four millions of dollars in spe
Gle from the banks from circulation that causes this
arrangement In the market but 1t is the effect Of this
withdrawal upon the of the banks and con-
sequently upon individual credit It contracts the cur
rency three four times the extent of the specie drain
and produces dstrust in commercial circles and eau
ton among the moneyed institutions of al our large
cities Such has, undoubtedly, been the effect Of the
operation Of the Independent Treasury act during
the past sixty days. and will continue until something
is done to arrest the accumulation and reduce the
deposits 1t cannot be denied that the operation Of
this financial system sometime past been any
thing but that intended by its projectors and the
same ignorance has been exhibited by those ntrusted
with It's management attended former financial
systems of the government and which led to those
explosions which heretofore proved disastrous to
every interest of the country
1t intended by the trainers of this financial
measure that there should be surplus hand,
that there should be accumulation Of specie in
the hands of the assistant to prevent
the possibility Of any such thing occurring, tariff or
what was called revenue tariff, simulta neously
adopted twas intendedth the reduced tsria would
enable the government to carry into operation
successfully and with less injury to the financial and
commercial classes the Treasury act, and
that when that system of finance established
the tariff would equslze tho receipts and expsn-
ditures of the Treasury Department. that 1t would
not, by any possibility, produce those expansions and
conractions in the money market, which had hther-
to been so frequent and 80 ruinous The tariff was,
therefore, called revenue tariff and supposed
to be graduated in tr provisions to give an in
just sufficient to meet the ordinary expenditures
government 1t has been In operation nearly
two Year,, and the result has certainly been different
from that anticipated by the public generally. For
tuitous circumstances have increased foreign
trade, and the importatons have been larger than
usual; the from customs was, therefore, the
first year. exceedingly large exceeding by several mil
lions of dollars the expenditures Of the for
ordinary purposes. L hus far, this year, the
venue from customs has been large, even with a.
pnod iunpo at;o CHI hat he
per cent duty, required by the present act is above
revenue point. This is cause Of the accu.
mutation Of surplus; and the Independent
Treasury act and the tariff are nor less
than part Of the same system they hould be regu-
lated as to work more uniformly together. II any
alteration modification Is required, it is in the
commercial system of the government rather than in
its financial system; and there is doubt from the
experience Of the past twenty months that important
changes might be made in the tariff by which the pub
lie finances would be more equally regulated. The
surplus produced within the past two years,
by a tariff, cannot be much less than ten mil
lions of dollars; and although the extraordinary ex
pendtures of the government during that time made
such desirable, new that they have been
duced nearly to any ordinary standard any surplus is
calculated to inure the operations Of trade and
duce contactions from time to time in the currency
by withdrawing from the channels Of commerce the
precious metals locking them up in the vaults Of
the public treasury.
This is the only government in the world which
cumuates surplus. The expenditures Of aim ost all
others exceed the receipts and their debts annual
ly increasing 1t is inconsistent with the duties md
object of any and every government to interfere
with the financial affairs of its subjects, by
annually draining them Of portion Of tneirr
and resources. Whatever is drswn from
them to carry on the government should be re-
turne ed again at the earliest moment and every pub
lie should be framed to me accomplishment
of that end. For this purpose, me financial and COM
mercial systems Of this ce.ontry should harmonic
and all should be made subsidiary to that policy
Since the adoption Of the ndepe ndant Treasury Act,
several large loans have been made; and while tho
Mexican war continued the disbursements largely
ceeded the receipts The enforcement Of the specie
provisions of that act had injurious influence upon
financial or commercial affairs, and the opponents OF
the system believed that they had magnifed its sup
posed evils 1t is true that those entrusted with it's
establishment had taken the responsibility, from time
to time Of devating from its true and legal construc
ton, and have been governed by circumstances
than by the law but to the closing of the last loan
no one connected with commerce experienced any in
convenience from the existence of such system and
had 1t been properly managed since, should have
had no complaints relative to s injurious effect all
would have progressed smoothly and satisfactorily
thatwe should hardyhave known that any change had
been made in the financial system Of the government
The government owes enough to enable the Secretary
Of the Treasury to keep down the deposits without
resortng to illegal measures and It is only by proper
administration ofthe business of that department that
the different measures Of the government can be made
applicable to the best interests of the country The
effect of the recent operation of the Independent Trea
sury act upon the money concerns of ths courtrv.
particularly of this city has revived all the opposition
of Its enemies Some Of the organs Of this class Of
'peculators opposed to specie currency have recent
~ been loud in their nvectives against the system
and have attempted to show its fallacy by comparing
it with the State bank deposite aystem The nnsra-