The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-11-25

the sub-treasury system, and argues that the
country is benefited by the withdrawal from
the channels Of trade of thirty or forty millions
of specie. Such line Of argument lie well
worthy Of politicians of the Pierce school.
Printing, said the old monks of the Inquisition
when they condemned Da Fedc, is dana bic
invention of the devil think Of all the bad
books that will be pr nted And so they burnt
the poor printer, and smashed his press, lest
harm should ensure therefrom. Ia the Ike
spirit the government organs tells us Money
is fatal invention of spectators If it be al!
lowed to circulate among the people, failures
are sure to take place: better lock it up at
once, and remove it from the reach Of man
kind. Because money stimulates enterprise,
and enterprise is sometimes unsuccessful, the
sub treasury buries one half, or nearly as much,
of the entire coinage Of the country in wants,
and leaves the commercial community to make
shift with the balance. More than this, writer's
are found to congratulate the people on the
privation, and to say to our merchants, who are
driven within an ace OF bankruptcy for want Of
specie All! gentlemen, You are indeed happy
to live under such q system
Has it never occurred to the defenders of the
sub treasury that the arguments they Ese with
regard to specie might be applied with equal
effect to grain, land or any other representative
of value? There can be no doubt for instance
but speculation is stimulated by large harvests:
how would it work should we try to guard
against the dangers Of over-speculation by re-
fusing to gather one-half our corn, or thro wing
halt our wheat into hole to rot? Yet this is
precisely what is done with our coin which is
only another representative OF value. What if,
Of fertile land fosters speculation, as every one
knows it does, we were to enact that half the
lands cleared should not be sown or turned to
any useful purpose Yet this is precisely
what the ub-treasury law does with another
commodity.
Either specie is good and useful thing, and
none OF it should be allowed to lie idle in
vice to the country: or it is bad and perni-
cious thing, and it should all be made away
with. There can be no reason for burying half,
and leaving half
All the service rendered by the sub.treasury
in recording the presence or absence Of coin
could be performed as thoroughly by bank
statements throughout the country. 1t would
be the simplest matter in the world to extend
our plan Of bank statements to the other
States and these would furnish far more
complete and more accurate chronicle Of the
specie movement than returns from the sub.
treasury.
We are told that the subtreasury system is
beneficial inasmuch as it preserves within the
country quantity Of specie which would other
wise be exported. Those who say this presume
largely upon the simplicity Of their readers. In
the first place, one may without inordinate Gu
riosity inquire what Is the use of retaining spe-
Gle in q country to bury it in q vault? Might
not the thirty millions now in the treasury be
just as well in England, or France, or japan, 30
far as trade is concerned! Indeed, If it were in
the former countries which some people seem
to think would be so lamentablc misfortune
it would help our correspondents there to wea
Their the hard times, and thus indirectly benefit
US: whereas, in Mr.. Guthries strong box it does
no earthly good to any one, and only serves to
lure political jackals and vultures to. Washing
ton. But secondly, suppose these millions
were in the banks: why should they be export
edf Specie only goes abroad when the mer-
camille community here is extravagant: when
more money Is spent in houses and furniture
and dress and railroads and other enterprises
than we can afford: and when the precious me-
tails are worth more elsewhere than they
are here. When these contingencies occur
simultaneously, specie must go abroad,
in obedience to . fixed law of trade:
and for the subtreusury to step in and
say-we will prevent these millions from
being exported-is just as foolish and as
injurious to the country as it would be to pro-
hbit the export of corn or the manufacture of
CLOTH The action of the sub treasury,
viewed in this light, appears one of the most
repulsive fruits of an exploded narrow, despotic
system.
Among thinking men there can be but little
question Of the injury at present wrought to
our commercial interests by the accumulation
Of nearly forty millions (for we must still In
clude the Mexican money which was acciden-
tally stolen by the administration of specie in
the sub-treasury vaults We regard that injury
as parallel to the enormous evils inflicted on the
nation by the accumulation Of money in the Trea
sury during General Jackson's second term.
A distinction is attempted to be drawn between
the two periods because the crisis Of 1887 was
directly precipitated by the removal of the de-
posits from the U. s. Bank into the State banks;
while the crisis impending at present is aggrar
waited by the boarding Of specie in the Treasury
vaults. This is mere puerile bubble.
Wherever the money was or is, the fact Of
its accumulation was the same in both
cases; and herein lay the danger and the
evil. Indeed, wherever real contrast
appears between the two periods, 1t is to the
advantage Of the earlier one. The deposits
ah Lnls H. .loaso L. In