The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-16
Our Treasury Policy.


Our Treasury Policy.
From He ". Y. Tribune.
The price of gold for the week ending No
vember g. 1866, varied from 145s to l4S4.
During the past week it has stood at about
141. During the week ending May 20, 1865,
soon after the surrender of Lee, and before
any policy of contraction had been inaugu-
rated, the premium on gold stood at about 80,
with tendency to still further decline. We
see no event in the political history of the
country that should have since raised the pre-
MUM from 80 to AZ cents, and kept It steadily
at this higher figure.
One would think, from the persistency with
which gold keeps up, that some enormous
"gold bull" was engaged in boarding all the
gold he could keep out of the market. Our
reconstruction questions are progressing as
satisfactorily as could be expected. Their dis
cussion has no more effect to retard industry
than political discussions usually do. Nobody
seriously anticipates danger from them. Our
crops are fair. Why, then, this high premium
ON gold 1t cannot result from want ofcon-
fidence in the credit of the Government. This
never stood higher.
Again we ask, is anybody boarding the gold
Yes Secretary McCulloch is boarding now
the enormous sum of about one hundred and
twenty millions in gold, or about half the
actual quantity of gold in the country. Far
more than any individual gold bull could do
to keep up the. price Of gold, by withdrawing
it from the market and boarding it, is done
by the Treasury Department. which purports
to aim at a return to specie payments. No
sooner does the Secretary sell any gold, how
ever small the quantity, or pass it forth in
payment Of interest, than the price of gold
drops with a most suggestive and encouraging
No. % =.
ference that, by selling all the gold in his
hands not needed for the payment of interest,
he might send the premium down much
further! Why not Gold, now withdrawn
from the currency, is like any other commo-
dity If thrown on the market, its price
goes down. If boarded, its price keeps up.
Suppose the Secretary, by diligent boarding,
could collect $240, 900 900, or all the gold in
the country. Would not the price of it treble
and quadruple? Certainly it would. The
greatest hoarder of gold does most to keep up
its price. One practical bar to specie pay
ments is, therefore, the boarding policy Of
secretary McCulloch.
On May 20, 1865, when gold was down to
$780, the Secretary had but $36,000,00o, all
told, in the Treasury. Now, he has nearly
four times that sum in gold. Hence the rise
in the premium, when every other circum-
stance should conduce to a fall. But it is said
the Secretary must hoard in order to have the
means with which to begin specie payments.
Indeed If boarding sixty millions more than
he needs to pay interest adds from II to Is
per cent to the price of gold, how much must
| he hoard to bring it down to par
The theory of the Secretary seems to be,
that the way to return to specie payments is
| to collect gold enough to pay all the Govern
| ment's debts. This is simply impossible.
Under the former period of specie payments,
before the war, there was at no time gold
enough in the country to pay one-tenth of the
obligations of banks and individuals, if pay
| ment had been demanded according to the
| tenor of the obligations and without credit.
The way to return to specie payments is to
enhance credit and remove distrust, especially
| in the obligations Of the Government. The
present policy of the Government in boarding
| gold has precisely the opposite effect. Fear
and distrust dictate the policy. The Govern
ment fears to take its own promises for its
| gold, and so practically says to the people,
/ Beware of these legal-tenders they are dan
| gerous. Nothing but gold is secure" The
| Government thus lays down distrust in its
| own promises as the cornerstone of its fnan-
| cial policy. What wonder that the people are
led in some degree to follow suit
| How, then, can our currency, which ia now
| so universally acceptable at a certain uniform
discount, be made redeemable at par, dollar
for dollar in gold We answer, only by re-
| AAAetNo
| put it at a discount. Is imitation of the cur
rency one of these Only in a very slight
degree, if at all. In 1861, Secretary Chase
estimated the whole amount of our currency
in circulation as follows:-Gold, $275, 600, 600;
bank notes, $202. 100000. Total, $477, 00O, 600,
| How much have we Increased It The report
of the Comptroller of the Currency for Octo-
Der, 1867, gives the
Total Of LegaTepders in circulation at sl57 OoO 900
National Bank 2930 10000
state BANK Notes 4,e02l53
ADD FRACTIONAL Currency''"'''' Z70G0 900
Total Currency circulating ,...... All e92 I5s
1t thus appears that there are about
| S6,000,000 less of currency in circulation now
than before the war Meanwhile the corn in
Illinois, which then cost 10 cents per bushel
now requires so cents in currency to move the
| crop. So of cotton, beef, pork, etc. At least
twice the amount Of currency is required TO
transact the same amount Of BUSINESS. Does
it exist 1t would not, were there no other
elements of currency in circulation than legal
! tenders, But ia fact Qpg whole national dsbt