The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-03-16
FINANCIAL.
MANUFACTURE OF PARTISAN CAPITAL IN A
FISCAL BUREAU-REMARKABLEL LETTER OF
COMPTROLLER CLARKE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF CURRENCY,
WAsHINGTnN March 10 1S6G

WASHINGTON. March 10, 1886
DEAR SIR: Your letter of yesterday
is received. My letter of the oath ult.,
in answer to yours of the same date,
was so altered before it was published as
not to indicate TO whom it was addressed,
and had no other object, and / think
no other effect, than to simply express
my objections to your loan bill. 1 do
not see any improperly in my giving
publicity to my dissent from your views
of public financial policy. In accepting
the office hold, did not surrender my
independence of judgment nor my free
dom of action. ! have made no con-
cealment from you, or any one else, of
my views in regard to the bill from the
time it was first proposed by you.
After lapse of twelve days you notice
my letter to you of the oath of Febru.
airy, and quote my statement therein
that " suppose there must be at that
time, including deposits in national
banks, at least one hundred and fifty
millions of dollars in the Treasury of
the United States" TO this you now
reply that the actual amount of money
on the oath in the Treasury and in
national Repositories, to the credit of
the Government, exclusive of special
gold deposits, was one hundred and
eleven million one hundred and forty
nine thousand six hundred and thirty
two dollars and twenty-nine cents
t$111, 149, 83229.)
cannot see any valid reason for your
making distinction between gold de.
posts and deposits made in currency.
Both alike are stated in your monthly
ia nj ,f1
have the right by law to use portion of
the gold, as yOu can safely use but a
portion Of the currency deposits; be-
cause you must be prepared, by having
a reserve on hand, to respond to the
calls of depositors. In this view of the
case, there is no reason why you should
not add your gold deposits to the SILL
i49, 632.20. The special gold deposit, as
appears by your statement of the first
day of this month, was $l2,627 600
This, added to the amount that you state
was in the Treasury &C., on the oath Of
February, will make $l23, III, 1929.
Giving you the benefit as 1 have, oil
gold deposits swelling the aggregate OF
money on hand, ] now unhesitatingly
state that your statement just made tt
me, as well as your published statement
showing the condition of the Treasury
and the public debt on the first of this
month, is inexcusably erroneous.
You state the amount of coin in the f'fea-
sury TO 900, 1856, VIZ
Currency. 60,2s27 67I2
s1l6,Ols 95924
Your monthiy statement made the
first Of this month shows that you have
retired Sc, 1885, $50 of compound interest
and United States legal tender notes.
This amount must have been paid be-
fore the date OF nay letter, and as there
is no law authorizing you to retire any
of the compound interest notes in any
other way than by converting them into
500 bonds. and no law authorizing the
retirement Of any of the United States
egal tender notes in any other way than
by converting them into compound in.
terest notes, and no appropriation or
provision made by Congress other than
that now mentioned, L cannot under
stand why these compound interest
notes and United States notes should not
be counted and included as currency on
hand. You have just as much right to
reissue them as TO pay out any other
Government notes, and no right or AL
thority to cancel them.
1t also appears by yonr last monthly
statement that you have sold during the
month, without any authority of law,
$40, 672, 700 of $50 bonds, and purchased
81 1856 600 of 7-30 notes, making your
purchase 81 ,283, 300 more than your sale.
This sum should also be included as
money on hand. | will remark in pass
ing, that while you have the right to
convert $50 notes into $40 bonds as the
former mature, you have no right what
ever to buy or sell them.
You have omitted entirely from your
statement of the LIST of March, as you
have uniformly omitted from your
monthly statements for several months
past, the amount of money on deposit in
the national banks. The amount so
held on the Oath OF February, the date
of my letter, must have been about $2S,-
600, 900. Taking, therefore, the amount
stated by you as on hand on the LIST of
March
in coin and currency $50 "a
Add the amount Of United States and com :
pound interest notes retired........-. 6456Sj0 90
AMI $50 notes purchased over the amount
Of go bonds 1,2sa 800 90
Ana also amount Of deposit in national
100000 90
Yo1 must have had an amonnt hand Of 15l,7es,oA q
Add to this the premium on the balance of
the coin on hand after d,lucting the
amount of Coin to be returned to lepos-
Itors 100000 90
Making total currency value Of money in
your custody the lst OF March inst l6676s Oh "a
This is manifest from your own show
ing, in your published statement of
March 1st, excepting the item of deposit
in the national banks. The report of the
banks will show that / have not over
stated the amount of those deposits.
L will now state the amount of money
that suppose was in the Treasury and
on deposit in the banks as set forth in
my letter of the 24th of February, de-
rivipg my knowledge from other sources
than exhibits from your Department.
The regular report of the Assistant
Treasurer in New York, published with
In three or four days after the date of my