The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-05-18

NH ~, lOO1s ASsAA LIZ
MIR. GARFIELD ON National Finance and Other
Things.
Mr.. Garfield, of Ohio, made one of those gen.
eral stump sort of speeches on Friday, in the
House of Representatives, in which members
are in the habit of indulging whenever the
House goes into Committee of the Whole. His
theme was trade, finance, currency and re-
sumption Of specie payments We notice the
speech, not because of any remarkable
merit In 1t, but because Mr.. Garfield Is
an authority with and represents large
party Of financial theorists in Congress
But the whole argument was in favor
of resumption and in support Of the bill
he introduced last February for bringing
that about. To accomplish this he proposes,
of course, to contract the currency. He con-
fesses, however, that there has been great
''change of opinion in the House in the last
year on the subject Of the currency" and that
''itwas his conviction that the most formidable
danger which now threatens us is q large in
crease of paper money" If an increase OF
paper money be dangerous-and there is dan
ger of it being increased-who will be respon-
sible? Evidently Mr.. Garfeld's own party,
the radicals; for they have an overwhelming
majority in both houses of Congress.
Mr. Garfield ought to know what the views of
his colleagues are on this subject, and his fears
may be well founded. We have expressed the
opinion more than once that imitation would
probably come sooner or later, and Mr.. Gar
field evidently thinks so too.
Mr.. Garfield is unfortunate in using an Argyll
ment in favor of contraction and a very limited
circulation which undermines his whole theory.
He opens his speech with a reference to the
great distress and pauperism that prevails in
England and other countries of Europe, without
considering or knowing that this dreadful state
of things has been brought about chiefly by the
very policy he advocates. In England espe
cially the extreme poverty of the mass of the
people arises from false financial system,
which tends continually to make the poor
poorer and the rich richer England is the
richest country in the world-that is, there is
more accumulated capital than in any other
country but nowhere is there as much pow
erty, starvation and degradation of the mass
of people. This deplorable state of things
commenced with the contraction of the cur
rency and forced specie payments, a few years
after the long wars with Napoleon closed in
1916, and with the consolidation and perpetual
ton of an enormous national debt. The evil
has been increasing ever since, till we see the
remarkable anomaly Of the most general and
heart-rending pauperism in the richest country
Of the world. 1t is just the same policy which
the British resumptionists carried out, and
which has produced the state of things referred
to, that Mr.. Garfield and the other on-to-specie
payment theorists in Congress urge upon this
country. Mr.. Garfield says the total currency
before the war, gold and paper included,
amounted to four hundred millions. It was
much more than that, including the issues of
private bankers; but this was all in active cir
culation. He admits there is not more than
seven hundred millions now, excluding cash
in the Treasury and bank reserves. But there
is not probably over five hundred millions in
active circulation. The amount of specie is
not worth speaking about. Then there is
three hundred millions of national bank notes,
forty or fifty millions of fractional currency,
and not over hundred and fifty millions to
two hundred millions Of greenbacks circulated,
the rest being held as reserve by the banks or
locked up in the Treasury, amounting in all to
five hundred millions, or little more. We
do not suppose there is over hundred
millions more in active circulation than be-
fore the war. Considering the vast sum CAPT
talized during the war and through our enor-
nous national debt, this amount of active cur
rency would hardly seem too much to repre-
sent the capital and trade of the country. At
all events, it would be most unwise and dan
gerous to NEEDLE with the currency. Let us
go on as we are going, neither contracting nor
initiating, and we shall grow up to specie pay
ments through the growth and demands of the
country and under the natural laws of trade.
Peace, restoration of the States, harmony and
the development of our wonderful resources
will bring specie payments as soon as may
be desirable, while the financial schemes of
Mr.. Garfield and the other resumptionists
would only bring universal bankruptcy and
disa 81 err to the whole community
Austria sill Going Ahead.
The battle of Sadowa, or Koniggratz, has