Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-03-27
The LOAN BILL.
SPEECH OF HON. J. s. MORRILL,.

OF VERMONT.
In th- House of Representatives., March 10, 1856.
On The Ill { II. r. No. 297) to amend an act
entitled - In act TO prOUide rays and mans
10 support the Gouernment, Gpprored March
3, 1865.
Mr. MORRILL, Mr.. Speaker, perhaps there
has been, and there may not be, any II ore impor-
tant measure before this Congress than the one
now under consideration. W hen the Secretary
OF the Treasury, at the commencement of this
session, announced his purpose not only to pre-
pare a once for paying off the public debt, but
70 retire in due time the immense amount OF le-
ga tenders ahoat, II made the country proud Of
our financial condition, electrified our friends
abroad and astonished our enemies. Ii awak-
cned Europe to the American idea of doing
,hings-thar is to say, of doing great things IN
the shortest time-not TO wait for the slow
tion Of centuries before the nation can be
liev-i OF public debt and the miseries OF an
exclusively paper currency.
Inc gentleman from Pennsylvania Mr. STR-
vgNs) in the course Of the deb.le this afternoon
undertook 10 inform the House that 1t was the
purpose OF the Secretary Of the Treasury to
tire, as | understand MIN to say, 500 900 900
Of the legal tender currency annually. That
statement was calculated to very much mislead
the Hou-e. ! propose to read exactly what the
plan Of the Secretary of the Treasury was on
the It Of d Zee mber. and wha' it Is to-day. |
read from hls annual report:
business oi the country rested upon stable basis
could be kept rom beng It'll further noreased
would less OCCASION ior socitude on his subject
But such not the fact business - not IN healthy s3n
di'iou speculative eFerish, uncertain Ev-ry dAy
venting nuaucal coispse Puces and credits viii not
Nout the exercise at the controlling power al
Congress
Tne Secretary ;hen states the following prop
ositi0ns a. tie subs.a g. Of his policy
H. That Cons--s declare thai compound
sua To te legal tender from The day oi their
Thar Secretary authorized, h. discretion.
Uu-d states bearing utere,
exceeding 81, per cefj pay
periods sy Tho inter ests OF the county,
purpose refining only cona upd ntsr-st notes
but the United ~tate- notes 4"
And ,nIs poliJy earnestly recommended by
the Secretary ls embodied IN our bill before
the House.
The Secretary goes On to say
1t the opinion the Secretary has already
rapid it VIII be more than
hundred most hundred millions Of Unitsd
state, saduon tie compound before
desired result st DO attained But nethe the Of
that will be required To bring the
currency to he specie standard can no" be estma cd with
any degree "f sccuraey'
That last portion of the statement WAS wholly
omitted by the gentleman from Pennsy ylvan,s,
and the idea which he would attempt 10 fasten
upon the House entirely without foundation.
The Secretary had not any such purpose as
charged. The Secretary goes on to say
The nrst thing establish the policy of
concentration"
And that is the purpose Of the present bill
ID is 70 establish policy, and say the world
that resumption OF specie payments shall not be
indefinitely postponed. Nobody expects that
the Secretary OF the Treasury is goiag to retire
Immediately any considerable amount of the
legal tender currency. Ii cannot and will not
be doae for wears. But it is necessary that he
should have the Iower in order to facilitate the
TRANSACTION OF the remaining part OF the bus-
ness The interest bearing obiIE atIons must be
hrs; taken care OF. And warn gentlemen that
If this House shall take the responsibility of
reversing what may be considered to have been
hitherto the national policy, the policy enuncis-
Ted by the Secretary OF the Treasury, and which
received the endorsement, as my colleague on
the Committee Of Ways and Means MIR. W KNT-
/ WORTH stated IN his speech, OF all but SIX men,
bers this House in the early part OF this
/ sIon-If the House shall do that, lt will, In my
opinion, be utterly impossible for the Secretary
OF the Treasury TO maintain the price of gold
even where II now Is, and consequently the
prices of all the articles of merchandise and all
productions which enter INTO the cost of living
will be increased. Consumers have some rights,
the right at least to hope in the future. md
warn gentlemen further, that a matter of pol
icy cannot afford TO make the issue of con-
tinuing these high and extravagant prices in the
way of living any longer than may be absolutely
necessary. And | say to them further, that as
a matter of political policy we cannot afford it,
W e cannot afford to throw the financial ques-
tions of the day into the vortex of politics. l
was happy to hear the gentleman from Pennsyl-
vania announce the idea that there was to be no
politics in questions of this kind that each
man should vote for himself, I hat Ger tainly is
my idea as to the policy of Congress, and the
true policy of the party to which | am proud to
belong.
Mr. Speaker, the finances of the country are
not yer beyond peril. Tne time when we may
look with the most apprehension in relation to
our financial affairs is yet to come. The process
OF generating an inflated paper currency gives
some pleasure hut to be safely delivered Of it is
generally attended by grief. If gentlemen will
look back to the times of our financial disasters
they will see that they have always occurred in
taies OF the greatest initiation Of the currency
Take the I'm ancial disaster of 1887 we had
then increased our bank currency to an enorm-
ons extent In 1880 the currency of the coun-
try Was but SOL 900 900; in 1887 it had been
increased to $4,000, 900, and then occurred
that tremendous CONFUSION that was felt from
the center 10 the circumference of our land. 1t
fell to SOS, ,000, 900 in I843. In 1857 it had
again Increased to $2l4, ,000, 900, and then oc-
Cured, as gentlemen will remember, another
and great CONFUSION.
! Now, gentlemen may say that we have not got
a redundant currency. | should like to have
time to investigate that fact, and to trample it
! under foot as feel, humble as | am, fully COM
petent to do.