Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-12-12
CONTRACTION SUSPENDED.

The House of Representatives has pass
ed the bill reported by Mr.. Schenck from
the Committee on Ways and Means, de
priying the Secretary of the Treasury o
the power to further cGrtaii the currency.
The vote in favor OF the resolution wa:
nearly unanimous-only twenty-five Rep
resentatives voting against it. 1t not ea
tirely certain that the measure will NEE
with so much favor in the Senate, however
We hope Congress viii not consider its
duty done, even should the resolution pas:
both its branches. rs measure of tenn.
porary reiief-to allow the mercantile and
industrial interests of the country a respite
from the exhausiing policy of Mr.. McCul
loch-it may serve a purpose. Bat it j:
not all, nor half, that should be done.
What the people want, and expect Of
Congress, Is, LIST, Relief from Taxation
.. A Sound Currency. These may both
be secured in a manner perfectly consistent
with the pledges o. the government to its
creditors, and tax ridden, over-burdened
people are demanding them at the hands oil
their Representatives. VIII suspension
Of the contraction policy attain these ends:
Everybody knows it win not, and the adj
vocates OF the idea may always be found
to have interested motives. Its only effect
will be to arrest the decline in prices. The
seller will doubtless approve it, bat we car
~0k hot htrx. xx-sn 40 lir0vrfSQ
When we say the country demands re-
lief from taxation, we wish to be under
stood as fayorins of an Immediate repeal
of all National taxes upon trades, business
and the necessaries of life. OF course, il
this Is done, we must abandon the idea OF
this generation paying off the National
debt. Nor do we hold it desirable that we
should pay it. Having put down the rebel
lion, and placed the National credit on q
firm basis we have doIe enough. and pos
terity will not thank Us for cIhau sting the
country in the vain endeavor to present a
spectacle at which Europe will stare. \
tariff for revenue, together with tax on
liquors and tobacco, will furnish revenue
sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of
the government and pay the interest on the
public debt, and will leave margin out of
which the principal could be gradually re-
duced.
We hold that confidence will never again
be restored until the government makes its
promises to pay eqnal to their face in gold,
and, we think, the time has come when it
Is amply able to do so. A bare statement
of the facts will establish our assertion ::
The Secretary has in the Treasury specie
sufficicntto meet one fourth of all demands
that could be made upon him, while in
specie-psying times the banks never had
on hand more than one-eighth as much as
their liabilities amounted to. How is i,
that the United States cannot pay specie
when il has gold on hand in double pro-
portion to that held by the most solvent
banks? Resumption is Only delayed by
lack of financial courage. II is demanded
by everybody but the gold gamblers. Until
1t does occur capital will shrink from in
vestment, the cost Of living will not be re-
duced, and all the evils Of an unstable and
deprecated currency will weigh upon in
dustry and commerce.