Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-01-04

the. officers Of the children of Israel came
and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore
dealest thou thus with thy servants7 There
is no straw given unto thy servants, and
they say to us, make brick and behold, thy
servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine
own people. But he said, He are idle, We
are IDLE; therefore We say, Let us 60, and
do sacrifice to the Lord. Go therefore no,c,
you, yet shall We deiiUer the tale of bricks"
Mr.. Mccullough has doubtless read the
history of Pharoab, and his dealings with
the Israelites in the case of the manufacture
of bricks; and it is somewhat TO be feared
that the relation has made an unfavorable
impression upon the mind. For he seems
to have settled down under the the convic-
tion that plethoric currency is producing
idleness, waste and extravagance, with all
their attendant moral evils; and that il is
striking blow at the root of our material
prosperity by diminishing labor The peo-
pie "are idle;" we will require them to
make their usual amount Of bricks without
straw. They shall gather stubble." This
will require more labor, and, to that extent,
promote industry, prevent idleness and
vice, and promote good morals Under this
|
having anything left after paying our taxes,
to waste or destroy. What happy con-
dition
But, to return to the subject of rapid
reduction Of the currency. The Secretary
is Of the opinion that it cannot be injurious
| ly rapid, owing to the influences of funding,
upon the money market. That the only
limit there should be in the case should be
in mis- ability to dispose of Government se-
curities. To this end be makes the follow.
ing recommendations
First, that Congress declare that the
compound interest notes shall cease to be a
legal tender from the day Of their ma
turity."
Now, where the necessity for this action
of Congress? But few of the compound
interest notes are now circulating as money,
and none will be against they mature and
become payable. They will doubtless, on
IN aturity, with the umulated interest, be
presented for payment.
Second, that the Secretary be authorized,
ia his discretion, to sell bonds Of the United
States, bearing interest at a rate not exceed.
ing six per cent, and redeemable and pay
able at such periods as may be conducive to
the interests of the Government, for the
purpose sfretiring not only compound in
terest notes, but the United States notes.
Now it is to be hoped that, whatever
Congress may see proper to do on the sub
ject Of retiring the currency, it will not be
guilty Of committing the indiscretion of con-
ferring on the Secretary Of the Treasury any
such discretion as that asked for. Our cir.
culating medium is large, doubtless greater
than the interests of the country demand !;
but its contraction should be slow, and
gradual Whether it takes FIVE, ten or fif-
teen years to take up and retire the Govern
ment currency, the time and manner should
be fixed by act of Congress, that its provis.
ions may be known and read of all men
Business men and all Others would then un-
erstand how to accommodate themselves 20
the workings Of tha Treasury Department,
and currency question.
The discretion asked for by the Secretary
would place it within his power, or that of
any sensation correspondent at Washington,
to produce money panic at his pleasure ;
and the bare fact of his having that power
would probably disarrange and injurlously
affect the business interests of the country.
The Secretary says, :" it will not be ue-
cessary to retire more than one hundred or,
at most, two hundred millions Of United
States notes, in addition to the compound
notes, before the desired result will DO at
tained." What desired resuhp Certainly
not the resumption of specie payments; for
he tells us that that time cannot at present
be estimated with any degree Of accuracy.
de must mean then, as he has argued
throughout, return to the good old times,
of low prices for labor and productive in
dustry: or, to say the least of it, a reduction
from present prices, produced by unnatural
and arbitrary causes Do we need low price.
very badly just at this time? We have a
public debt of some three thousand millions,
contracted mostly under an inflated curren
cy, and at prices corresponding with gold
at $50 to 275. Should we make unneces.
sary haste to find dearer currency; in which
to pay the debt than the enc in which it
was contracted? The policy would be more
than doubtful. Ii ever there we're time
when prod uctive industry should be well re-.
warded, that time is now. Labor is the
great source Of national wealth, as the Sec
retary very truly remarked. Let it, then,
be fostered and cared for. Whatever de-
tracts from the wages of labor, directly or
indirectly, postpones just in tha, degree the
payment of the public debt. and creates the
necessity for tho application ofa greater
amount of labor to that purpose.
An idea has prevailed with some, and the
Secretary of the Treasury seems to be un.
happily afflicted with the same opinion,
that the extravagant prices which many ar
ticles Of consumption have for few years
past commanded, have been solely caused
by an inflated currency; and that legislation
} is necessary to correct the evil. Such rea.
soners forget the inevitable laws OF supply
and demand.
The country has been subject to an i'm.
mense drain upon its active, productive 10.
Dor. Not less than q million and half of
hardy sons of toll were taken from the pro.
ducing classes to defend the country, and
thus added to the consuming class. Could
any system Of labor be expected to Withstand
such o drain as this upon its effective
laborers for the term Of four years, and sui
fer no arrangement, nor dimunition of sup.
plies2 Certainly not. The only wonder is
that the arrangement was not greater, and
the ordinary supplies less. The effects of
this large drain upon labor was not fully
realized until about the close of the war.
The return Of the soldiers last spring and