The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-15
The Secretary of the Treasury and the
Gold Ring.

The Secretary of the Treasury and the
Gold Ring.
From the ". y Herald
A great many people wonder why gold re-
mains at such high premium, and why ev-
erythiBg the people buy is high accordingly.
They reason naturally enough that the gov
ernment and the business of the country are
in a solvent condition that the war ended.
three years ago and peace has been firmly es-
tablished; that the income OF the government
is greater than the current expenditure; that
the gold receipts from customs exceed the de-
mand for coin to pay the interest of the debt;
that we produce eighty to hundred millions
year Of the precious metals from our own
mines, and that the treasury has in its vaults
nearly all the time hundred millions or up
wards of spece-as much as the Bank of Eng
land ordinally holds to represent the whole
paper circulation OF that national establish
ment. They reason thus, and then ask with
surprise why we have not specie payments, or,
at least, why gold is not at much lower
premium.
There are two causes chiefly for this anoma-
lous and unnecessary state of things. First,
the stupidity and mismanagement of the Sec
retary of the Treasury, and next the opera
tions Of the gold gamblers of Wall street. Mr..
MCCulloch and the pettifoggipg tinanciers in
Congress are continually talking about super
| abundance of currency and the necessity of
contraction in order to bring about specie pay
ments. Of course specie payments could be
forced if the greater part OF the paper money
in circulation were withdrawn; but the people
would be left without sufficient circulating
medium, and the whole country, except few
capitalists and bondholders, would be thrown
into bankruptcy and ruin. Amputation might
be successfully accomplished, but the patient
would be killed. The precious metals cannot
answer all the purposes of trade. They do not
in England or any ether great commercial
country. They are merely representative in
part, and that small part, of paper values
and of business transactions. 1t is impossible
to define the precise proportions one should
bear to the other. That must depend upon
the circumstances, nature Of trade, geograph-
ical extent and other things of each nation.
| The Bank of England is allowed to issue double
the amount of notes to its specie reserve, in
dependent of the circulating notes of all the
other banks.
We require in this country greater proper
tion and larger circulation of paper than they
have in England Business is carried on there
in more strictly commercial manner, upon
extensive individual credits; here trade is more
from hand to hand, and requires the use of q
| more abundant currency. 1t is a question
whether we have now more currency than the
country needs, especially if it were more
evenly and generally distributed. 1t is certain
there is not more than will be needed within a
few years. Nor is there much more actually
in circulation than before the war, if we take
into account the legal tenders required to be
held in reserve by the banks and the amount
! lying always in the Treasury, and if we calcu-
| late the whole amount Of bank issues through
out the country at the time the war COM
menced. No, it is not the superabundanee of
| paper currency, nor the want of precious
metals that prevents us returning to specie
payments, but the mismanagement of Mr..
McCullOch, the Treasury ring, and the gold
gamblers of Wall street.
During the war and since the gold transac-
tiODs i'll this city-buying and selling gold, so
called-amounted to several hundred millions
a day, and now, in the slack times the average
transactions probably amount to little less
than a hundred millions a day. This is all
fictitious, nothing but gambling. No gold is
used, or at most a very significant amount
Hundreds ofmilliOns are bought and sold when
the parties have none and never see the color
of the metal Strange to say, too, these bogus
gold transactions on such a magnitude are car
Tied on chiefly by few persons, dozen or
so and they for the most part foreigners. All
the gold actually needed for commercial pur-
poses by our merchants for paying duties and
balances of trade abroad is not over over half a
million to million a day all the year round.
This would rarely have any effect upon the
price. There is an abundance for this purpose.
The amount required would have no influence
IN depreciating the currency, in keeping up
the price of gold or in retarding specie pay
ments. 1t is the fictitious gambling business
Oh wall street, and not the legitimate business
tp vl 'Iaue, mat Keeps up the price of gold and
Vns price OF everything we buy or use.
Mr. McCulloch plays into the hands of these
bogus capitalists and gold gamblers. The