New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-12-26
RESUMPTION IND THE COIN INTEREST

RESUMPTION IND TIE COIN INIEhESI'
A correspondent at Alton, H., asks the fol-
lowing question relative to our capacity to re-
sumo specie payments:
when Government resumes. 70 must receive ia notes
Tor customs II the banks do not at the Same time re-
sumo. which believe you do not think Immediately
practicable oak how the Treasury "a 10 get tho 'd re-
qured TO pay rs coin inerest-oyer SloooOo annually
II not single grcenback should be presented for re-
emptiou the payments for interest would exhaust
tho Treasury and h. the absence Of tho steady supply
now furnished only from duties. how the Treasury to
be supplied
We see no reason why the banks should not
resume specie payments at the same time that
the Government shall. When and so long as
the Government stands ready TO give the banks
gold at par for grecnbacks. the banks will find
it as easy to redeem their notes in, gold "a In
greenbacks; the banks cannot fail to resume
Immediately upon the Governments resuming,
because their notes are always redeemabe in
greenbacks, and the greenbaclis, by the act OF
resumption by Government, become redeema-
bic in gold.
Suppose the Government needs SlOO,OOOOOO
in gold 10 pay It's coin interest. Resumption
by the Government will either force gold down
to par, or it will not. If it forces gold down
10 par or. more properly, brings paper up to
par with gold, then the Government can as
easily collect It's customs in gold as now Any
premium on gold is a physical imposslbility so
long a. Government is redeeming its paper
dollar for dollar in gold, for who will pay the
broker a premium for gold which the holder
Of grecnbacks can get from Government at
parq Yet. conccdng for the argument that
Resumption would leave gold still at a pre-
MUM the Treasury would, of course, Use Its
greenbacks in buying the gold needed to pay
the coin interest or pay the interest on that
portion Of the debt held in this country in
greenbacks including the premium. Whether
this would be a loss compared with the
present system depends on whether the
premium on gold would be lower after
Resumption than it is now. For if it
would. then every dollar received by the
Government in grcenbacks would bo en-
HANGED by so much in gold value. Now, as the
internal revenue, collected almost entirely in
greenbacks, exceeds the customs, collected in
gold, il would follow that the gain made by
the Government on the gold value of the
greonbacks collected under the internal revenue
laws would exceed the amount of premiums 1t
would have to pay if it collected its customs
also in grecnbacks and bought lis gold in the
market. In any event therefore, Resumption
would profit the Government, provided it low
cred the premium on gold. Aud that 1t would
not merely lower but wholly remove the pre-
MUM on gold, at least until the gold in the Treas
ury should be exhausted, and the Government
forced again to suspend, seems too clear for
argument. That the Government would find
its gold exhausted, or very considerably re-
duced in its effort to resume. we do not be-
lcve. And if it should, the trial and the good
results which could not fail to flow from it
would be worth the effort. Even should 1t be
obliged TO suspend again, we would be only
exactly where we now are, except that, as
there would be less gold boarded and moro in
the market, the premium would DO lower
When the Secretary had but S3G,OOOOOO gold, the
premium stood at 49, When he had Sl30,OOO,OOO,
the premium rose to A.. Now that no has re-
duced il somewhat. the premium is reduced
proportionately. Resumption is tho very best
way to secure the gold needed for our coin In