The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-18
On 10 RichmOndi

on TO RichmOhdi
'ur New York Tribune of Saturday declares
,ts invinoible hostility to call plans of ultimate
resumption through gradualContraction, and
says:-
IVybue we base resumption on neither ex
,oanslon nor contraction, we would raJher at
iempt it accompanied by moderate expansion
than by any contraction whatever"
We regard this avowal as of much import
ance to the country. 1t is in marked contrast
with the Tribune'S past views, and we rejoice
at its conversion as asearnestly as we deplored the
intensity of the invective with which it de-
nounced the clear sighted Republican members
of Congress who resisted Secretary McCul-
loCh's ruinous policy of contraction. Judge
its doctrines of to-day by its former theories,
and they are horribly immoral-the doctrine
Of the thief who promises to abandon his
cri minal course when he shall have become
sufficiently rich by crimel This and host
of like delicate compliments were hurled daily
at the Republican delegation from this State
because it resisted alike contraction or expan-
sion, and strove to supply the vacuum in the
volume of currency to be created by the with
Srawal of compound-interest notes with an
mount of greenbacks equal to the amount of
he interest bearing notes held by the banks
Is part of their reserve.
The country would be 500, 900, 900 richer
han it is had it not been for the IriJune'S
l'On to Specie Payment assaults on the
"Pennsylvania expansionists" and the Repub-
Hcsns from the West who voted with them on
financial questions. They said that oontrac-
hOn would destroy confidence, suspend labor
reduce the price while it diminished the pro-
ductiOn of our staples, aud thus prevent or
delay resumption. Needless of all such sug-
gestiOns, the Tribune still cried "On to Resump-
tion va Contraction ~ "Tbus, and thus ONLY,
dishonest Pennsylvania expansionists, can the
value of paper dollar be made to equal that
of one Of gold," shouted the Tribune, and
doubling or timid members, inf uenced by its
daily assaults and the herceness OF its denun-
Citations, consented to the policy of contraction
The absurdity of this theory is abuudantly
illustrated by the following paragraph from
the 1,tbune'S money article of Thursday last
Indeed, the demonstration is so perfect that it
has compelled the conductors of that journal
to become the co-laborers of those it so per
sistently vilifed:-
;'Amount OF Legal. tender and other Short Debt
calling for Legal-tendeE counted as Currency,
and the Price OF Gold.
United States Notes ..... S400 5000 $j57 i6iSii
One-Y ear CertiticateS.... lIG 5jj C9
Compound Notes"..."..... 10 1850 " 900 OOO
Total rrency~.........s7j2 536 OD9 sI29, 1854
Price OF Gold 1914 HOS
With a decrease of what at it's issue was Cir.
culation and legal-tender OF 1928 37l,l6j the pre-
mium on gold is not reduced. Nor Is ii likely
10 be by contraction of leRatender not pre-.
ceded by political harmony"
The proposition this table presents is this:-
If the contraction of as per cent. of the cur
rency puts gold up 81 per cent, how much
must we contract to enable us to resume
specie payments The answer to which is,
that by this process you cannot reach re-
sumption except through universal bank
ruptcy.
In support of its views, the Tribune says
"We are making enormous quantities OF
cheese, and its consumption by the laborng
class. especially of Great Briiain is rapidly
forward. which even ut The present reduced
prices, will bring OOOoOOOO in Europe after
supplying our own wants. Our tobacco and
petroleum sell largely aud rapidly abroad"
We have no means at hand of ascertaniug
the comparative value of tobacco on the 18th
of November, 1866 and 1867; but the whole
sale prices of cheese, cotton, and petroleum
Al N0W lOIh az luOo6 Qdb0S are u
proof of the wisdom of those members who
had the courage to resist the persuasions OF
the Secretary of the Treasury and the denun-
Cations of the Tribune. II now takes l2O
pounds of cheese to pay as much OF our debt
as 100 pounds would then; II takes nearly
two pounds of middliDg upland cotton to pay
the sum one pound then paid and with
two gallons of petroleum we cannot now pay
30 much as we could then with one-as the
following, from a carefully prepared compare
tive statement in the Commercial Bulletin
proves
1866. 1867
Cheese, Prime Factory q pouud ..........l9 Il
Cotton, Middling Upland, q pound..,..3l Il
Petroleum, Standard White, in bond,
Had the Tribune selected other articles, the
ease would have been the same. Factories
are closing, prices are declining, and the
laboreTs OF the country are living on Their
hard-earned savings. Contraction Is produc.
Ing bankruptcy, and we trust that Conores,
will, at the earliest day, prohibit the Score
tary OF the Treasury from proceeding furtbe,
In that direction. Meanwhile, we congratulata
the country on the Tribune's conversion.