The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-12-20
The Treasury Note Bili-What tho Govern.
ment Requires and the Country Needs.

We publish in full to-day the bill reported to
the Senate by Mr.. Hunter from the Committee
on Finance, az passed by the Senate in an
amended shape, authorizing the government
to issue twenty millions of Treasury notes
to meet the exigencies of the public ser
service. caused by the decrease in the revenue
since the financial revulsion which has recently
swept over the country. The bill in its amended
shape passed the Senate by vote of 81 to Is.
The amount of issue authorized by this bill Is
twenty millions Of dollars In sums not less than
one hundred dollars and limiting the time of
issue to the 1st Of January, 1859. Six millions
are proposed to be issued by the Secretary OF
the Treasury, to meet the requirements Of the
government, with rate Of interest to be fixed
by him, not exceeding six per cent per annum;
and the residue to be sold at par to bidders who
shall agree to exchange them for specie at the
lowest rate of interest; also not exceeding six
per cent. We would here remark that this bill
is drawn in the same loose and disconnected
style that forms so marked feature in the lite
rary productions of Congress; and which leads
the public very often to wish that some indie
pendent wood-sawyer had the drawing Of all
our legislative enactments, rather than the gen.
tlemen whose business il now is. The second
section Of this bill is as pretty piece Of invo-
luton as can be found in the celebrated inter-
twined scroll work on the walls Of the Moorish
Alhambra at Granada.
The bill has been warmly discussed In the
Senate, and on one side has been met with the
objection that the amount Is too much, and
should be cut down to ten millions of dollars;
while on another ii is proposed, in view Of the
existing wants Of the community pr some me-
dunn of general circulation and exchange, to
limit the rate Of interest to three per cent per
annum. We do not agree with either Of these
objections, which probably emanate solely
from a desire to dissent from the proposed
measures Of the administration. So far
as regards the amount TO be issued we can
find no difference, so long as the Treasury Is
limited In the issue by its needs under the ap-
preparations of Congress. If this body had au-
thorized the issue Of only ten millions now, and
II had been found afterward that ten more were
wanted to comply with its own enactments, It
would certainly authorize the increased issue;
and If the twenty millions are not wanted by the
Treasury, Che Secretary will have no call TO
issue the notes We therefore regard the objec-
ton to the amount as puerile in the extreme.
In regard to the rate Of interest which the
notes shall bear there is much to be said, and
great want Of knowledge as to the practical
effect Of the issue Of Treasury notes by the
federal government. But we shall not 90 into
any abstruse argument Of this old question in
finance at this time. We will deal only with its
principal points In the first place. the object
Of the measure is to relieve the wants Of the
government by temporary loan from the pub
lie. If that were the only end desired, il would
certainly be best attained by the sale Of the
Treasury notes In the manner proposed In
Senator Hunters bill for the sale Of tbc four