New-York tribune., 1868-12-18
MORTON ON FINANCR.


remarkable of them was that OF MI Mark lap
| ley. The jollty with which this new inanclai
Daniel treated certain conditions OF our sltua-
ton that TO many people have seemed serious
enough, was marvellous The Country hau ho
trouble about an expanded or redundant cur
repcy. 1t had no trouble about the flow OF
| Gold TO Europc which unearned people sup
nosed Mt least an Inconvenience In the
wov of n return to specie payments. IL
had no trouble about an enormous bonded
debt. dcpreciated slockingly below It's
real value, and yet drawing high gold IN
terest. None of these things gave MIR. Morton
any concern. lie was uneasy solely on inc
score of the Greenbacks Even these he dld
not want redeemed. He was only anxious
that, having already promised to pay them
when we were able, we should now re-
peat the promise. This done, he would, with
serene self-satisfacton, proceed to withdraw
! Gold by the hundred millions from the de-
mands of the Worlds commerce, and lock it
up in the Treasury vaults, there to rust
in idlcness, while we continued to tax
the people heavily for money to pay
the interest on our bonds. Taxing for
the interest. while aimlcSsly boarding the
means wberewth we might be paying the
principal-that is the scheme of which Mr., Nor
| ton is enamorcd-the Dulcinea del TobosO for
whose matchless sake this modern Don Quxote
rides a tilt against all comers. If his paper
helmet be shattered in the first encounter, we
protest that like the neighbors of the Knight
! of La Mancha, we still look upon him more in
pity than in anger
We learn from the financial revelations with
which Mr.. Morton has favored the Senate, that
our bonded debt has nothing to do with the
depreciation Of the currency. We owe less
than four hundred millions Of Grccnbacks, and
over two thousand millions of Bonds. The Tact
of owing two thousand millions on which We
pay heavy interest does MT affect our credit at
ali but the fact of owing three hundred odd
millions on which we pay, and have contracted
to pay no interest depreciates it dreadfuly
Here is richness! Bonds deprecated 90 one
fourth their par value, and still drawing six per
cent gold interest, would not, We further learn,
affect our credit-we could still keep our cur
rency at par, not 10y paying either it or the
bonds but 10y locking up Gold IN
the Treasury. 10 keep this Gold idle
would improve peoples faith in our paying
our debts; TO pay our debts with it would
destroy peoples faith III us, because 1t
would lie "proclaining TO the world that we
"do not intend To return 10 specie payments !!
The Greenbacks are deprecated solely because
"they are overdue and dishonorcd;" and yet
we learn, n little further on, when the neces-
| sites of the argument change, that " our credit
"was never before so good IA it is now" One
moment the people have lost faith in our inten-
ton to pay, and so refuse TO take our notes
except at heavy discount; tho next
moment they never before had so much
| faith in Our intention to pay, and 80
! Improvement Of the national credit is in no
wise necessary as n preparation for resump-
tom The fact that we owe two thousand
millions on which we are bound for heavy
interest has nothing to do with the value OF
our due bills but the fact that we owe three
hundred millions in duc-bills has a great deal
to do with the value Of our two thousand mil
lions in interest bearing bonds! 1t is idle to
talk about resuming until you have boarded in
the Treasury money enough to redeem all the
Grcenbacks; but suspended banks used to re-
sumo on one dollar in Gold to two and half
of outstanding circulation and in his opinion
Government, after boarding awhile, could re-
sumo on even less
| If we have dwelt on these contradictions and
crudities it is not because we have been un-
able to agree with many things which Mr.
Morton has said. But the trouble with his
speech is an old complaint that las lain against
the performance of many previous expert
menter in the fields of finance. He has said
some new things and some true things, but the
new things are not true and the true things
well, they have been as clearly set forth often
enough before.
Mr.. Morton would resume specie payments in
1871, by boarding all the Gold we get until then.
We would resume specie payments years sooner,
by appreciating the Government credit. Mr..
Morton would make Gold scarce and high, and
would thus depreciate Greenbacks yet lower by
way Of getting ready to resume. We would un-
lock Gold, make Government bonds high by
showing our ability and willingness to pay
them, bring Greenbacks up with them, and SO
get ready to resume by making the currency
| as good as Gold. Mr.. Morton would assure the
man who has United States duc-bill in his
pocket Of the Governments ability to pay it,
by locking up sOrely y-necdcd funds, to be used
for that purpose three years hence. We would
seek TO give such assurance by using the means
at hand to pay off now. as fast as we are
able. the most oppressive part of our in
debtedness. Mr.. Morton would secure the
national credit by continuing to pay bur
densome interest on an enormous debt,
and giving a pledge to select that which costs
us no interest us the first to be liquidated. We
would secure the national credit, just rs we
would secure individual credit, by stopping the
biggest leaks first, and stopping them just as
fast rs we have the means in our power. Mr..