The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-10-20
THE NATIONAL FINANCES.

THE NATIONAL FINANCES. j
Important Speech by the Secretary
-..z Of the Treasury. .@. ~ ~
A banquet was given to the!Hon. HueH
McOUILooH, Secretary Of the Treasury at
Fort Wayne, Indiana, on the 1 1th instant.
Mr.. MoOULLooH madela speech heartily
endorsing President JOHNSON reconstruc-
ton measures, and in regard to the na-
honal finances, he said 80 ,1p 50
q You know that did not seek. as did not
expect to be, Secretary of the Treasury. To
this fact I attributed In q great degree the good
feeling and indulgence that have been mani.
tested towards me in the very trying and re-
sponsible position that occupy. I accepted
the Office of Secretary Of the Treasury with
great distrust of my ability to meet the
public expectation, but with sincere desire so
as to aid in restoring the credit of the Govern.
ment which had been damaged by the great
ness of the public debt, and the uncertainty in
regard to the duration, if not to the result OF
the war, and in bringing up the obligations OF
the Government to the specie STANDARD
! am not of those who seem to disposed
to repudiate coin GAS measure Of valae and
e make secured paper currency the standard.
On the contrary, belong to that class Of per
sons, who, regarding an exclusive metallic cur.
rency as an impracticahle thing among an en-
terprising and commercial people, neverthe.
less look upon an irredeenable currency as an
evil which circumstances may for time rem.
der necessity, but is never to be sustained as
policy. By common consent of the nations,
gold and silver are the only true measure OF
value. They are the necessary regulators OF
trade. Ihave myself no more doubt that these
metals were prepared by the Almighty, for this
purpose. than have that Iron and coal were
prepared for the purposes in which they are
being used. favor wellsecured convertible
currency. No other can to any extent be q
proper substitute for coin. OF course, it is not
expected that there should be dollar in coin
in reserve for every dollar Of paper in circula-
ton. This is not necessary. For all ordinary
home transactions paper currency is sufi-
cent, bat there are constantly occurring pc
RODS when balances between countries, and in
the United States. between its different sec
tons, kmust be settled by coin. These balan-
ces are Insignificant in amount, in comparison
with the transactions out of which they arise,
and when vicious system of credits does not
too long postpone settlements, they are ar
ranged without disturbing movements of coin
Whenever specie is needed for such purpose.
or for any other purpose, the paper currency
of the country should be convertible into il,
and circulation which is not 80 convertible
will mot be, and ought not long to be tolerated
by the people The present inconvertible cur
rency of the United States was necessity of
the war, but now that the war has ceased, the
Government ought not to be longer borrow
nIx<
specie standard, and see no way Of doing this
but by Withdrawing portion Of it from circu-
lation.
have no faith, Sir, in q prosperity which is
the effect of deprecated currency, nor can I
see any safe path tor rs to tread but that which
leads to specie payment. The extreme high
prices which new prevail in the United States
b an unerring indication that the business OF the
country is in an unhealthy condition. We are.
measuring values by false standard. We
havea circulating medium altogether larger
than Is needed for the legitimate business-Lae
excess is used in speculations. The United
States are to-day in the best market in the
world for foreigners to sell in, and among the
poorest to buy in. The consequence is, that
Europe Is selling Us more than she buys of Us
Qncluding our securities. which ought not to
90 abroad and there iso debt rolling up
against Us that must be settled in part at least
with coin. The longer the .tioo CONTINUES
the more difficult will it BE- Tor Us to get back
to the solid ground of specie payments. to
which we. must return sooner or later. 1t Con-
gress shall early in the approaching session,
authorize the funding OF legal tenders, and the
work of reduction is commenced and carried
on resolutely but carefully and prudently, we
win reach it probably without serious embar-
rassment to legitimate business-f not we
shall have brief period of hollow and seduc-
tive prosperity, resulting in widespread bank
ruptcy and disaster.
There are other objections to the present in
1atiOn. It is, l fear. corrupting the public
morals. 1t is converting the business of the
country into gambling, and seriously diminish
ing the labor OF the country. This is always
the effect of excessive circulation. The kind
of gambling which IL produces is not confined
to the stock and produce boards, where the
very terms which are ussd by the operators
indicate the nature of the transactions. but il
is spreading through our towns and into the
rural districts.
Men are apparently getting rich while mo-
rality languishes and the productive industry
of the country IL being diminished. Good mo-
rails in business and sober, persevering indus
try, if not at discount, are considered too old
fogyish for the present times. But / feel that
this Is not the occasion for croaking, and per.
haps ought to apologize for the train of re-
marks into which have been led.
Whatever financial troubles may be before
us, Fort Wayne will suffer as little from them
as any other city in the country. Good inan-
cial seed was sown here at an early day.
If property is high here, there are no in
cumbrances upon il. If expensive buildings
are being erected, the owners are not indebted
for them. Business is done here on the cash
principle. Our merchants generally. buy for
cash and sell for cash We shall dou6tless
wake up SOME fine morning and find our pro
perty worth apparently good deal less than
at present. but if we have no debts to nav in q
dearer currency than that in which thew were
contracted, we shall have little TO fear from
any crisis that may occur.