The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-12-08
rrom The journal q commeree.
a1Is1SEss BEFORE ooNaREss.


There IL question be presented before Congress- at
A ooenng Of the session, which is not only Of very
1u,ve Importance but which must from the circum-
.nos Of the case take precedence of all Others We
Iude 10 the provision for the immediate expenses OF
,oyernment The treasury is exhausted OF available
s.ns the balance now hand being insufficient 10 IA
ts the receipt and coinage OF bullion, and is only by
o,f management and outstanding of resources that
neut OF government dues he continued until Con
- can provide some measure Of relief The Of
,s embarrassment must be well understood by most OF
Our readers The surplus Ia the treasury had been d.
vanished by large appropriations for various expenses
and by considerable redemptions of the public debt in an
uaon Of It's maturity, while the receipts for duties for
some time past have been but little more than onethird OF
ne total for the corresponding period of last year The
large payments account of the public debt may seem
q The light of the present deficiency, to have been
si for and mpolitic but have heard from business
man Of all parties the unqualified commendation Of
SECRETARY Cobb for his in this respect IL is true that
,b government under obligation TO advance the
opey at so large premium and II the Secretary Of the
Treasury in the Of the wise discretion given him
by Congress had locked the government vaults, and
made no disbursements not absolutely demanded by &C
tus appropriations he could not have been legally inn
peached Such a course, however, would have called
down upon him weight Of public eensure from which he
could not have escaped His predecessors, under the
sanction OF Congress- and the unanimous approval OF
the country had called in large portions Of the debt
At time when the accumulation Of coin in the sub
treasury had created no uneasiness in financial circles
and If Secretary Cobb had refused to continue the
redemption in the midst of prevailing commercial dis
treas when such disbursement eagerly demanded
. measure Of relief he would have been charged per-
hans Justly with selfish disregard of the interests OF
that large class through whom the revenues OF the eoun
rv are more Immediately derived But have reason
10 think that the motives which actuated the Secretary
in continuing the redemption went beyond the mere
question of popularity and dictated by profound
Judgment OF and effect 1t was obvious that the
commercial embarrassment had reached point where 1t
must seriously interfere with the from customs
and that II it were to increase much further it would
cut Of these receipts altogether render the amount
merely nominal IT. with this prospect before him, the
Secretary by legitimate disbursement of the surplus in
the treasury could arrest the progress Of this financial
ruin and thus limit tho decline in the revenue, judi
co regard for the national finances would surely dictate
such policy if there had been other considerations
present to his mind And confident that the end
has fully justified the measure adopted considered in
either light The few millions which thus disburs
ed afforded great relief to the community at most
critical moment while if retained in the treasury they
could not have prevented deficiency even had the re-
eepts shown no further dimnution and the government
would not have found the facility in borrowing in
the hour of its need
How long the receipts for customs viii remain at the
present standard foretel but there is no in
dication OF any speedy improvement The decrease in
duties has been large at all OF the ports but of course il
most conspicuous at New York. although the ratio OF de-
crease here is by means the greatest. We annex
brief comparison Of the monthly revenue from customs at
this port for the last four months:
Cash Dais Received at New FORK,