New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-25
CERRENCY IND FINANCE.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
SIR: To-day's TRIBUNE asks. What Is une
use OF keeping $50 100000 coin the Treasury begun
any imaginable public needP Not only ijO.Wo00O bnI
over Of coin needed to redeem OF rather 10
appreciate, our greenbacks 10 a par with gold
In our haste 10 pay bonded indebtedness or tund
at lower rate Of interest we have lost sight Of our
deprecated currency entirely Representative spauld-
ing conclusiyely shows this m his speech 10 the y
Board Of Brokers lately lie says that by act Of Congress
Of Ca greenbaoks cut loose from our bonds by the
abrogaton the privilege OF converting them into bonds
at WILL and specie payment Is stl further postponed by
law OF Congress OF 6s forbddng the secretary OF the
Treasury to retire even muti'aled currency
The position Of the Government toward Us bond ns
distinguished from rs note creditors could be hkened to
a man owing $4,000 promssory notes bearing interest
but not yet due and at the same time having 800. ih
demand notes. without interest, outstanding. Now ior
the purpose Of saving interest on his promssory notes
he seeks To buy them up allows his demand notes 70
shift for themselves deprecatng his credit as well as
their own value by the process.
Now claim that every sale OF gold by Government Is
virtual reputation Of from 20 to 80 centsou every dollar
of lis circulation amounting 20 over to0ooo0Oo Including
| she National Bank notes.
Before seeking to pay our bonds, not yet legally
maured why should try 10 bring our circulating
medium to a gold basisi Every business man daly eA
perences the disastrous effects OF deprecated currency
and 10 remedy that defect We must collect gold reserve
nr"scntafion This would require nearly s5O0oO0o0 Of
coin in The Treasury and National Bank vaults expe.
Renee proving that 10 only requires gold TO ,nelhrd the
! amount of circulation for redemption.
while congress authorizes Secretary Boutwell, 70 sell gold
and buy bondsi II - really attempting 70 pay annu,n
debt Of S2IOOOOOoO before We ry TO redeem OF appfey
ate our United and National Bank notes 70 com
standard senator sherman in the present ONO cam
paigu acknowledges the dishonesty OF Government 10
ward it, note holders bur says pubic opuluh VIII uot
allow the collection Of gold win which 70 ,e'Hne Sl.y
payment II he y right won't my answer 20 our query
| tend 20 dsabuse the people % their prejudice
Hoping that Chi, Will secure an early lH',r,3n' ''
MAN Your. obedently' a, NAIuNNiEh W. "lLNI"'
No. ~ Lcripg'OHdre, y. }. Gun
Comments by the Tribune.
| Mr. Meeker's errors are errors OF fact rather
than of logic Let us indicate few of them
! |. lie lancics that every business man IS
conscious of the evils of a deprecated cur
rency and anxious for a prompt return 10
| Specie Payments. Whatever should be the
| fact. that is not On the contrary there are
! business men all around us who hold that we
should nerer return TO Specie Payments, with
many more who hold that we ought to 90
back to Specie Payments, but not yet-somc
of them say not for years. And they are the
drag on the wheel at present.
! III. The opponents of Secretary Boutwclls
! bond purchasing policy are IN the main also
/ hostile to any redemption, contraction, or ap-
| probation of the grcenbacks. They want to
! pay of the debt cheaply OF never pay it, and
protest against buying it at a premium above
! grccnback par. (Scc Pondlcton's late election
! ccrng letter.
! ILL., Buying mp the bonds does appreciate the
| Observation-Disclosures tile present price of Gold.
! If all the surplus in the Treasury were steadily
used to buy bonds, and the Revenue kept M
to the present standard, Greenbacks would
soon be within ten or fifteen per cent OF coin
at furthest. We approach Resumption more
! rapidly by buying bonds than Jy redeemiHg and
cdncelug GreeHbackS.
| ". The law Of Feb -, 1852, commonly
| known rs the Legal Tender act, expressly pre-
! scrihcs that the Secretary of the Treasury
shall. with the coin to be collected from Duties
on Imports, purchase or pay of one per cent.
per annum of the entire funded or bonded
Debt of the United States. That law is still
i'm force, but it has not been fully obeyed, rs
it should and must Ice. Its requirement Mr.
VI. totally ignores.
V. The redemption of the GrccnbackS in
coin is not stipulated 10y any act of Congress.
They are a legal tender for debts, for internal
taxes, X c., but it is nowhere stipulated that
they shall be redeemed in coin. The sure way
to make them equal to coin is thiS-Enhance
the solycncy and credit of the. Government
That done, they cannot lag far behind.
On the whole, we conclude that Mr. Bout
well understands his business so well that he
has nothing to learn from Mr.. Meeker.