, 1869-12-08
THREE FINANclAL P0L1cIEs

President, the Secre.ary, snd the Comp
trailer Of the Currency, are evidently sub
mitted independently by each, without any
attempt to br'tg them into harmony, and
apparently without any evidence, even, of
previous consultation between the,R. Tbs
President, while declaring that Immediate
resumption, If practicable, vonll not 10
desirable in v,ev nf its hardships to debt
orr, still recommends the passage Of an
act designed to bring about resumption
Ct specie payments, within few years, by
''scaling the currency up to par. He says
nothing about Comptroller Hnlburd;s RECON-
mendatiou that Nationtl Banks be author
ized to issne paper currency at par with
gold on securing its redemption in specie.
On the other hand, the Secretary OF the
Treasury denrecates I'LL legislation for
.i1ecting resumption. He SAYS: "The
.billt, Of The country to resume specie pay
,ncnt will not be due 10 my special leg;s-
lation upon that subject, but to the condi-
ton Ct its industries mud to its financial
relations to other Countries" and asserts
th6t before we can have 9 currency ut psr
with gold, the 'sbalance of trade" with
.n1s'sn countries must ne u our favor.
1neSe lnfee Po"cies present want OF
hsEnouy all around, not merely in detail,
but in the principles on which they arc
based and in their results. The President
and The Comptroller assume that legislation
Is neeessars'-sne secretary that 1t 's
no'- Ina res,oeh. assumes tna1
'ue necessary iee'ala.'oa eonsiSsa IN
ent'aic'o4 .ne satue o' tae currency now
hnoa1' "oo !" s'nna1eaaeous1S contracting
me ereenoack portion o' 'toy buying II at
advancing rates. 10 DO nhea t's ia"r ana does
not recommend tue 1ssuo oi oank notes IN
h1eaa u the eteenoacks SO purchased and
"ltndra"n- Tho Comptroller, on the con-
'raty, recommends Simultaneous With
dta"m Ok gfeehnaeSs and e1Pannon Of
oank notes to I'LL their plaee, so az to avoid
contraction lin which MI Boutwell, concurs
20 Tar as the 3 per cent certificates nre con-
cetned), and that, to use his own expression,
We "ant'c'p4'a tho resumption Of specie
payments u the 'mmedia'e establishment
81 banks On Specie hans and the issue
"t paper currency on par with specie.
An!s' ne ta'nks, WILL lth'l'arizo the people
Win specie values, With the exact difference
he.~een tnem anu sfeehoack values, SO
caleo' ana Will fea'ese the subject of re-
'o1n'ns 70 = specie currency o. tho rn5s-
'efy with "h'ch II 1s assoe'Afed IN the ~'nds
~ many. .......
1ne n1s' eneet OF passing snch bill as
'ne ifeaaoeat 8sks 1oE-mhRtnR th@a VANCE
IN me fa'e Oh teaem ot'"n OF grecnhacSs
tsacalS equal 10 me interest on the per
cent bonos-wousd seem to be to advance
| the va1ae OF Inc 9feenback nearly or quite
10 that os the 6psF eea. bonds, which are
now worth VI drawing the same interest.
the presumption would be that they would
tea1 FerT nearly tho same vnlne. II no, such
M advance IN tho valne of the ereenbacks
would he expressed by the tall OF gold coz
nideTnbly below the tigare at which Mr.
Boutwell,, shot time ago, refused to sell,
even in accordance with his own offer. Is
there not serions antagonism between
the Presidents policy of resumption
and the Secretarys policy Of post
pouement, as veil as between
the Presidents mode OF resumpt1on,by bring
ing the present currency to par, aud the
Emptrolle5s mode Of anticipating
resumption, hs authorizing the issue Of a
new bank note currency at I,at with specie
If the passage Of the act should have the
feet above indicated, its remaining opera
lion, if successful, would work further
decline at the rate Of 6 per cent per annum,
bringing gold aud greeubacks to the same
value in about FIVE years. The greenbacks