Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-12-11


home Of At least 80 much Of the produc.
tons Of our rich aud inexhaustible gold
hearing fields as may be sufficient for the
purposes Of circulation. It's unreason'
able 10 expect return TO q sound cur.
rency, 80 long as the Government and
banks, by continuing the issue Of ire
deemable notes, fill the channels Of circu
lation with deprecated paper Notwith-
standing the coinage by our large mines
since lsi9, OF 1914, 900, 900. the people
now are strangers 10 the currency which
was designed for their use and benefit,
and specimens of the precious metals
bearing national devices are seldom seen,
except when produced to crafty the in
terest excited by their novelty. II depre-
cfated paper is TO be continued as the
permanent currency Of the country, and
all our coin is to become q mere article
Of traffic and speculation, the prices OF
all that is dispensable 10 the comfort OF
a people, It will be wise economy TO abol-
ish our mints thus saving the nation the
care and expense incident 10 such estab-
lishments, aud let our precious metals be
exported in bullion.
The time has come when the Govern
ment and national banks should be re-
ouired TO make more efficient steps and
make arrangements for the resumption
of specie payment. Let specie pay
ments be at once earnestly inaugurated
by the Government and banks, and the
value Of, our paper circulation would
directly approximate q standard, and
specie payment having been resumed by
the Government and banks, all notes or
bills Of paper issued by either, Of less
denomination than twenty dollars, should
be by law excluded from circulation, so
that the people may have the benefit and
convenience Of gold and silver currency,
which in all other business transactions
will be uniform in value at home and
abroad. Every man of property or in
dustry-every man who desires to pre-
serve what be honestly possesses, or to
obtain what he can honestly-has direct
interest in maintaining safe circulate
ing medium-such a medium as shall be
realand substantial, not liable to vibrate
with opinions not subject to be blown up
or down by the breeze of speculation
but il is to be made secure. A disordered
currency is one of the greatest political
evils. II undermines the virtues neces-
sary for the support Of the social system,
and encourages propensities destructive
of his happiness; it wars against In
dustry, frugality and economy; and it
fostefs the evil spirit of extravagance
and speculation. 1t has been asserted
by one of our profound and gifted states
men, that Of all the contrivances for
cheating mankind, no one has been so
effectual as that which deludes them with
paper money. This is the most effectual
of Inventions to fertilize the rich man
by the sweat of the poor mans brow.
Ordinary tyranny, oppression and ex-
cessive taxation-these bear lightly on
the happiness of the mass Of the COM
munity, compared with fraudulent cur
rency, and the robberies committed by
depreciated paper. Our own history
has recorded for instruction enough,
and more than enough, of demoraliz-
ing tendency. The injustice and intoler-
able oppression on the virtuous and
we'll disposed of degraded paper cur
rency, authorized by law, and in every
way countenanced by the Government.
tits one of the most successful de-
VICE., III tinc vi pCnSc Va "oii VI "a
papsions or revolutions, to accomplish
the transfer of all the precious metals
from the great mass Of the people into
the hands of the few, where they are
boarded in secret places, OF. deposited
under bolts and bars, while the people
are left to endure all the inconvenience,
sacrifices and demoralizations resulting
from the use of deprecated and WORTH
less paper.
The Secretary of the Interior in his
report gives valuable information in re-
ference to the interests confined to the
supervision of the department, and re-
views the operations of the Land Office,
the Pension and Patent Offices, and the
Indian Bureau. During the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1868, 6,665, 700 acres of
public lands were disposed of. The en-
tire cash receipts of the General Land
Office for the same period were $685.
las, being greater by 1924, 1888 than the
amount realized from the same sources
during the previous year.
The entries under the Homestead law
cover 2,328, 1908 acres, nearly one-fourth
of which was taken under the act of June
q, 1866, which applies only to the States
of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louis
lana and Arkansas. On the 30th OF June,
1868, l67, CAB names were found on the |
pension rolls, and during the year ending |
that day the total amount paid for pen
sions, including the expenses of disburse-
msnt, was s7,4l0098, being IS, 39l, $50
greater than that expended for like pur-
poses during the preceding year During |
the year ending the both of September |
last the expenses Of the Patent Office ex- |
ceeded the receipts by Sl7l ,O0O including |
Reissues and designs; IA l53 patents
were issued.
Treaties with various Indian tribes |
have been concluded, and will be submit
ted to the Senate for its constitutional |
action. ! cordially sanction the stipuls- |
tions which provide for receiving lands |
for the various tribes, when they may be |
encouraged to abandon their nomadic |
habits, and engage in agricultural and |
industrial pursuits. This policy, inaugu-
rated many years since, has met with |
signal success wherever it has been pur-
sued in good faith, and with economy |
and liberality by the United States Gov
eminent. The necessity for extending |
as far as practicable in our relations with |
the aboriginal population is greater now
than at any preceding period. Whilst
we furnish subsistence and instructions
to the Indians, and guarantee the undis-
turbed enjoyment Of this treaty and their
rights, we should hold that the treaty
should insist upon the faithful observ-
ance Of this agreement to remain within
their respective reservations. This is the
only mode by which collision with other
tribes and the whites can be avoided,
and the safety of our frontier settlement |
secured.
The companies constructing the rail-
road from Omaha to Sacramento have
energetically engaged in prosecuting the
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