The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1866-11-30
FlnnncIaI PernIk xlties.

hXtreme ~taXatlon, q denfeelAteu cur
rency, IN enormous public debt, anC
IN extravagant Government, constitute
a complication o~ffnancial evils, .undei
which, however skillfulth fiscal agent,
of the State, .he people must suffer-
One oftbe most valid reasons Ct those
who were opposed to the war, was The
belief that its prosecution would entai.
this very complication of calamities.-
Whether the Secretary of the Treasury
is pursuing the policy best adapted to
work justice to al theparties concerned
under the circumstances, is n question
upon which there are doubtless as ma
my different opinions as there are diff.
ferent forms of interests to be affected.
That no has an abundance o fvolunteer
advisers, aud a great variety ofoounsel,
ard that, under the conflicting pres
sures of class interests, personal in
f%ueuce, and official obligation, his
measures are sometimes inconsistent
with each other, and with appsoyed
maxims of public economy, is, to say
the least, highly probable. The Socrc-
tary of the Treasury Of the United
States is exposed to tho same species
Of criticism TO which all financial Off
GERS have been exposed, who have had
the misfortune to be placed in equiva-
lent situations; and who, unable, from
the pressure of circumstances over
which they have no control, to meet
the expectations Of any, have fallen
under the censure of all, and been uni
versally pronounced inefficient and
incapable.
From a section of the organs Of the
Radical party, there's a strong press
upon the Secretary for a speedy return
to specie payments. In our opinion,
just to the extent to which he gives
way to this pressure, and adopts the
policy which these organs prescribe,
be will fall into those errors Of which
psnics and fluctuations are the natural
consequence. Believing, as we do,
that the only true money s that having
an intrinsic value, and that all that ap.
probation Of apparenayalues and nc.
tivity in the channels 0 fbusiness which
an inflated currency produces, are de-
ceptivc and illusory, still W. Gre. con-
WINGED that all attempts to return sud-
denly to a specie basis will not only
prove abortive, but will produce great
and sudden prostration and distress, in
all the branches Of productive and dis
tributive industry. The evil is, inthis
respect. like the individual body: vio-
lent changes are destructive. There
must be time for preparation, Each
condition, however artificial it may be
in itself, has its natural laws, and these
should be observed. We are unhappily
in a state in which to stimulate or to
deplete 10 equally hazardous. We can
not afford either to have the currency
considerably increased, o. considerably
diminished. No return to a specie ba-
sis is possible until the currency has
been reduced to IN equality in amount
with the specie on hand for itsredemp-
ton: until, IN fact, paper has sponta-
neously risen 10 the metallic standard,
and is exchangeable for metal in ordi-
nary business transactions. This state
of things is one which we are compelled
to contemplate as far in the future;
and whether it can ever be reached
with the present debt hanging over US
and the present burdens upon trade
and industry in the form Of taxation,
is a problem whose solution must be left
to experience, Our manufacturers are
all ofthem heavily taxed. The tax
gatherer is memorable, and, when the
month comes round, the manufacturer
must be ready with his hundreds or
his thousands to meet the demand
No imaginable amount Of capital is
sufficient to enable him to do a credit
business, For his purpose the credit
must be furnished in another quarter.
He must do what, for the want Of a
better term, he calls "a cash business
that is to say, he must buy with and
sell for those shadows of cash which
banks and the Treasury supply; and
every curtailment of these is to thatex.
tent a depreciation in the value of his
goods, a clog upon his operations, and
a warningof impending bankruptcy
/ Il $1,000 Ennntnnn