Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-12-07


officers charged with their execution. That
1t is the will of the people that it should be
paid and not perpetuated, Is clearly indi-
Gated by the favor with which its rapid re-
duction during the past year has been re-
garded. f "01 n.H tJtHa
! Nothing in our history has created so
much surprise, both at home and abroad,
as the reduction of our national debt. The
wonder excited by the rapidity with which
1t was created is greatly exceeded by the
admiration of the resolution Of tho tax
payers themselves that it shall be speedily
eXtinguished. The conviction is becoming
fastened upon the popular mind that it is
important-for economy In the national
expenses, for the maintenance of true
democracy in the administration of the
government. for the cause of good morals
and Of public virtue-that the policy OF a
steady annual reduction Of the debt should
be definitely and inexorably established.
Nothing short Of this, and that economy in
the national expenditures which will rem
der it practicable, will reconcile the people
to the burdens of taxation. A national debt
must ever be severe strain upon our re-
publican institutions and ours should not
be subject to it one day longer than il nee
essary.
SPECIE PAYMENTS.
The Secretary regrets, notwithstanding
the large reduction of the national debt and
! the satisfactory condition, in other respects,
of the national treasury, that little progress
has been made since his last report towards
specie payments. The views presented by
him in that report, although indorsed in
the House of Representatives by a nearly
unanimous vote, were not sustained by cor
responding legislation. Instead of being
OaU Nhr
of the country, according to his reconmen-
dations, the amount of United States notes
which he was permitted to retire was limit
| ed to $l0,0O0,000 for the six months ending
| October II, and to $4,000,0O0 per month
thereafter. In the meantime, the reduction
| OF these notes and of the notes of the State
banks has been nearly balanced by the in
crease OF the circulation of the national
banks, and specie commands about the same
premium it did when the last treasury re-
port was prepared. Having been thus pre-
vented from taking the first important step
toward a return to specie payments, the
Secretary has mainly directed his attention
to measures looking to an increase of etli-
cheney in the collection of the revenues, to
the conversion of interest-bearing notes
into ofive-twenty bonds, and to areductlon of
the public debt. Ail tE
the Secretary is of the opinion that specie
payments may be resumed, and ought to be
resumed, as early as the first day of July,
1868, while he indulges the hope that such
will be the character of future legislation
and such the condition of our productive
industry, that this most desirable event
may be brought about at q still earlier
day. ..r. .....r...
THE POLICY OF COIN RESERVE.
The Secretary has also deemed it to be
his duty to use such means within his con-
troll as were, in his judgment, best calculat-
ed to keep the business of the country as
steady as possible, while conducted on the
uncertain basis of an irredeemable curren-
cy. To accomplish this, he has thought it
necessary to hold handsome reserve of
coin in the treasury. For doing so he has
been criticised by many very Intelligent
persons, some of whom have condemned
the policy as involving heavy loss to the
country in the way of interest; others have
objected to it as failure on his part to avail
himself of means within his control for re-
ducing the price of coin, and thus approx
mating specie payments; on the contrary,
not a few have pronounced all sales of gold
by the government unwise, on the theory
that if the coin received from customs, and
not required for the payment of interest,
should be permitted to accumulate until 1t
should reach about the same proportion to
the outstanding United States notes that,
in former days, the coin in the vaults of
well-managed banking institutions sustain
ed to their immediate liabilities specie pay
ments might be resumed, without a Teduc-
ton of the currency, and without regard
to the condition of trade between the United
States and other nations.
The Secretary has regarded steady mar
ket as of more importance to the people
than the saving Of few millions OF dol
lars in the way of interest; and observation
and experience have assured him that, in
order to secure this steadiness in auy con-
siderable degree, while business is con-
Quoted on paper basis, there must be pow
er in. the treasury to prevent, successful
combinations to bring about fluctuations
for purely speculative purposes He has
permitted gold to accumulate when the use
or the sale of it was not necessary for pay
ing government obligations, or to prevent
commercial panicS or successful combina-
tions against the national credit; and he has
sold whenever sales were necessary to sup
ply the treasury with currency, to ward off
financial crisis, or to save the paper circula-
tion ofthe country,as far as practicable, from
unnecessary and damaging depreciation.
For making sales he alone Is responsible.
If, in conducting them, any favoritism has
been shown, or if the interests of any par
ticular class have been especially regarded,
it has heen without his knowledge, and in
violation of his instructions.
! CAUSES OF FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY.
1t may be hardly necessary for the Sec
retary to remark that his opinions have
undergone no change in regard to the i'm
portance of restoration of a specie stand |
ard, or the means necessary to effect it. |
He trusts, however, that he has not been
understood as entertaining the opinion that
a reduction of the currency would of itself
necessarily bring about specie payments, |
although the chiefand essential means to |
effect the desired result. He regards re-
dundantlegal currency as the prime
cause of our financial difficulties, and a
curtailment thereof indispensable to an in |
crease of labor and a reduction of prices,
to'an augmentation of exports, and dim
inution of imports, which alone will place
the trade between the United States and
other nations on an equal and satisfactory
footing. lL s.f.s ,a
-I91 THE BALANCES OF TRADE. a. rs
Ever since trade commenced between the
people of different nations, gold and silver
have been the only reliable and recognized
=, !, ~, &c ,,alna an n fnadit,rn nf