The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-11-15
Resumption OF speeie Parmenr..

| n Europe E4tluuBu Is lct is AuNoGalc- AT
only s few advanced thinkers, most o
whom yet retain sone grain Of the error
| and prejudices OF the past.
The evening Post contains q very abl
letter on the resumption Of specie payments
addressed TO Mr.. MeCull0ch BY one OF tn
| intelligent thinking merchants Of eur city
Mr.. John D. VanBuren- He presents somt
1 Of the principal points in regard 10 thi'
! question in clear and forcible manner. HI
says:
% For the redemption Of these (the lega
tender notes. respectfully suggest shi'
| plan:
&" First-That the internal revenue be
N ade sufficient to meet all the expenses Of
Governments and to pay all its interest, in
Guiding the interest which IS payable in
| god. The interest now payable in gold 70
be paid in paper, adding the premium on
1 gold al the time Of payment.
"Second-That the whole Of the customs
| revenue for the next two years payable as
now in gold, be pledged TO the redemption
Of the legai-tender notes. After the two
years there msy or may not be, a small
annual appropriation, say Sl6,000, 600 each
year, for the same ultimate purpose Of ie-
deeming the notes.
"THird-rhat the notes be not actually
redeemed as fast as the gold comes in, but
that the gold be Simply set aside and retain
ed by the Government, or in the haaGs Of a
commission, pledged exclusively TO this one
purpose Of redeeming the notes.
"My proposition Is, instead Of taking in
our irredeemable paper money, 10 leave 10
all out, and 70 make it redeemable; to bring
up our money 70 q specie value without les
seniug its abundance, instead Of squeezing
it down to the specie standard by making
money scarce.
81 submit this 10 your consideration As a
plan by which We may get back to specie
payments al an early period and at The
same time avoid the evils and distress which
have always sttended a return to specie
payments by the ordinary methods of con
traction. Great evils have, unditestionablv,
attended the expansion Of the currency. the
interests Of many perIoi =have severely suf-
fered, but this past mischief will nos now be
remedied by the new distress TO result from
contraction.
By the plan I propose there will be no
contraction Of the quantity OF lawful money
in use during the whole process Of getting
back 20 specie payments. We begin with
$3.50, 900 900 Of lawful money in use, during
the time in which the gold fund is aecumu-
lating the quantity Of lawful money in use
none Of it being redeemed during that pc
riOd) remains undimiuished; and when the
process Of accumulation has reached the
point where the Government can offer 10
pay out coin for the notes (redeeming its pa
per, lawful money! gold aud the legal ten
der notes and the two kinds of lawful mo
ney) will be at par with each other, 50 that
they viii circu ate side by side and the
gold, if any, paid out in redemption Of the
paper, viii, being Of equal value with the
paper, 60 into general circulation, only
thus still keeping our lawful money undi-
minl-hed in quantity
Il will be seen by this that Mr.. Van Blu
ren's plan is virtually that which we have
been advocating, exceptthat instead Of bold
ly resuming specie payments on the first o.
January next with so, GOO, 900 or SIS OuO, 000
Of specie in the sub-treasury, Mr. Van Blu
rem advocates that It be postponed until the
accumulation reaches $3.50, 200, 900 in coin,
which he estimates viii take two years.
Now, the great objection to this putting
of resumption for two years, is that il is al
most certain that We shall never again fed
the country, on the whole, so well prepared
for resumption as at the present moment. Our
mercantile and industrial classes are at
present almost ent rely out Of debt, having
kept 80 from fear of the unforeseen events
which the war aud the subsequent peace
might produce. These two events being
pissed, our merchants and industrial classes
viii soon launch out again into their former
large operations, based on long credits. The
moment they do this, resumption Of specie
payments becomes impossible except
through one Of those terrific commercial and
monetary crises which engulphs the earn
ings Of years labor, strew the land with
wrecks, and retards the progress Of the whole
community. To-day, 1--WE act properly,
We can return 10 specie payments almost
without an effort, and without disturbing
the natural current Of commerce and indus
try.
Another objection TO Mr.. Van Buren's
mod Ihcation o. the plan proposed by the
Commercial, is the withdrawal and hoard
ing of 50 large an amount Of gold a. $780,
100000. He seems to have overlooked the
important fact that to obtain this large
amount Of gold, the people Of the United
States must part with $50, 600 900 Of the
products Of their labor without receiving IN
exchange anything applicable 10 their own
well-being and enjoy ment. Aud they must
do this at the very moment tina. they will
feel the full burden Of the oppressive sys-
ten Of taxstion 10 which Congress has 30 un-
wisely IesOrted 10 raise the amount necessa-
~ 10 meet the Government expenditure.
Who can estimate fully the extent Of the
sacrifices which all this will entail on our
people Will they submit to them ?
Mr.. anBureu, in regard to the plan Of
gradual contraction Of the currency, says
very correctly:
1.-THE ordinary process Of C ntrastiou, by
funding and cancellng from time 10 Time
certain quantities Of the legal tender notes,
will not, I submit, bring Us 90 quickly b per
manent specie payments ss viii the process
have proposed. We have $3.50 000 900 Of
irredeemable paper money, representing and
sustained on nothing butGovernment credit.
Suppose we fund and cancel $50. 600 900 Of
these. We then still have 100000 900
iredeemabls paper cut, unchanged 10 quai
ity, representing still nothing but Gov
eminent credit and 50 on as we con-
tinue to fund and cancel. On the other
hand, the accumulation Of gold for
their future redempt on counts daily add
hourly on the value Of every one Of the legal
tender notes; raises 10 value the whole
mass Of them, BY giving 10 each one Of
them a partial gold value in addition q
their value as Government promises. N6r
can We, a. ] submit, take in and cancel the
whole or even The greater part Of these
legal tender notes within the short period Of
two years, without producing BY 50 Bpid
contraction, most severe distress. A with
drawal Of the $3.50 ,00S goo Of lawful money
now scattered among the people must be the
same in its effects a. if. in other times. we
had had scattered over the country $780,
600 900 Of gold coin, and that had been
rapidly drawn away from among US"
And he points out that the legal tender
notes when made equal % gold will take
the place Of gold in al the transactions OF
our Interior trade, so that any demand for
their redemption, except n case Of an adj
verse balance Of trade with foreign coun-
tries, which rarely, IL ever. exceeds twenty
i've OF thirty miihonsof dollars We quote +:
The legal tender notes are nov the only
lawful money IN aCtusl use they sre exelu-
sively used in she internal business Of the
country % lawful money, o. that medium
which finally liquidate8 al balances and
debt. Fer although gold is still legal ten
der, yet we know that when two substances
are both made lawful tender, the cheaper
Of thetwo viii be used to the exclusion ofthe
other. The only exception is the payments
Of duties az the Cusiom-house. f5r which
coin is used These payments are ia proper
ton b the aggregate payments and eNchan-
ges Of the business d the country, too iufig-
nifcstt in amount 10 be regarded. THERE'S
no use for gold now in the internal business
ofthe country nor will there be after the
legal tender notes shall have been brought
up, by the process ] propose, % par with
gold. The hquidati0ns Of the inierual ex-
changes ef the country viii continue % be
made, . they are now, in legal tender nc. Is
Bnd not IL coin, aiter The notes are at par
with gold. Legal tender notes viii continue
. be used for this purpose alter they shall
have been brought up % par with gold, DO
cause it j. cheaper and safer, and more con-
veaient for bankers and banxs 10 eep them
on had thsu 10 keep gold, and because they
ars less expensive 20 transport from place u
place There Will be no more need II actu-
ally handling gold IN the internal business
Of the country than there j. now. There
will be 20 use whstever for gold anywhere
IN the country { ? the pu7poses Of cur vast
internal trade, except 81 the central point Of
redemption, a. the depository itself
We are each day mere and more eouvin-
ced thft the only snvantas mode Of re-
summing specie payments : % do SO on the
frat Of January Or first Of Fadruarv new =
By that time the 6oFernueat can aceunu-
lac a sufiielent amount Of coin 10 enable ID
% offer 90 redeem the legal tender notes IN
gold, on demand, sid when the Govern
ment does this no one viii accent eoid-eva-
- one viii prefer 10 retain the legal ten
dors, thus following the lead Of our Gold
Board, whose horror Of being forced - ha1-
de gold, induced them 70 pass resolution
Z that az gold cQEtructs must be executed By
[ ne delivery o. gold checks on TIE Bank u
New York thus YirtuallV refusing o aoeeut