New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-09-27

GOuIaSeS man. men and which real cause
of such wild fluctuations IN the currency s mus nd
the mast week IL thus fundamental mistake W. ~
mpistrat0n which will be deeply regretted ny M No
wish wisdom and honesty 10 go manu- IA nn vii II he
more regretted hereafter than by those who nave poeh
msed into ordeGlDg 1t now
Comments bv The Tribune.
That there is no moral difference between
,be bulD and the bear in stock or gold
onerations. is undeniablc. He who sells what
he bas not. is lust ms culpable as is he who buys
what he does not want nor expect to receive.
In other words, there is no moral difference
between betting that Gold will rule at higher
and betting that it will rule at lower premium
in Greenbacks tomorrow than to-day IL is
all gambling, and a very pcrnlcl0us klnd OF
gambling since it tends to unsettlc prices ana
diffuse uncertainty and risk through the rela-
lions Of Labor and Capital Work and Wages
everywhere. Viewed i'll that single aspect,
Gold. gambling is equally wrong and mischey-
ous whether You bet on one side or the other
But there is another and very important as
meet wherein the Government is bound to re-
gard il. which The Post seems to ignore. lie
who bets that the difference in current value
between Gold and Grecnbacks VIII DO creator
tomorrow than it is to-day, and greater next
United States are either insolvent or rascally-
| that they cannot or will not redeem ihe''
| Dlghted faith. The gold "bull" proclalmo oy
| his bets his distrust Of our Natlopa soNoue!
or his unbelief in our National honesty. A.,
shouts or screams to all mankind, Do Mt trust
:" the Federal Union! il will cheat you if you
| "dom In effect he challenges the guardians
| of the Nations faith and honor to mortal COM
bat If he is right, they are the high priests
of a stupendOus imposture. We hold, therefore,
that it is their duty to regard him as a public
enemy, and fight him TO the death.
The United States, by the act making her
Greenbacks legal tender, stipulated, in order
to uphold their credit and current value that
the entire Revenue from Duties on Imports
should be collected in coin ; that this coin
should be set apart, first, for the payment in
coin of the interest on the bonded Debt of the
Union; second, for " the purchase or payment
"Of one per centum of the principaIr of that
Debt in each fiscal year thereafter. Had these
provisions Of law been faithfully executed
by former Secretaries of the Treasury, there
would have been no considerable accumulation
of coin in the Treasury at any time. But Mr.
McCullOch ignored or defcd the law, and, in
fragrant disregard of its provisions, amasscd
a sum of nearly One Hundred Millions of Dol
lars in gold, which he kept and left IN the
Treasury. That enormous wen on the body
polite is the gold nest-egg-hs princi-
pal stock in trade. The gold thus locked up
in utter stagnatiOn and usccssncss renders
easy the production of scarcity of gold in
business. Our merchants must buy nearly
Half Million Dollars per day wherewith to
pay the Duties on their Imports; and the
Governments vast hoard has created n need
less, artificial scarcity, which enables the
gambling bulls" to exaggcrate the price
beyond all reason. 1t is our deliberate
judgment that, had there never been bet
made on the price of Cold that price would /
have ranged from ten to twenty per cent |
premium Ill Grcenbacks ever since Gen. Grants
election. And we hold that n Secretary Of tbc
Treasury who do nj knock the "bulls in the
head whenever they presume to cut such
capers as those Of last Thursday and Friday
Is ci'ier confederate in their plots, sharcr
III their unrghteous gains, or has very i'm.
perfect conception OF the duties of his station
Inc antics OF the gold "buls demanded
Ihe oecretarys attention, if only by reason Of
'iicif essential radical dishonesty. While they
were oiddihs lGo to lOi for Gold last Friday.
men who had the article for sale voiniv
.iaVerseu "aii-street trying to sell actual gold
Ill their possession for $50, but found no tol,ors
A merchant lin the California trade who WAS
directed by telegraph from SanSFrancsco 70
sell gold in his hands, did his very best in Wall
street on Friday and could only obtain 1ul
while the gambling bulls" were pretendino
that they wanted to buy ut 1G2.
The real objection to Secretary Boutwelrs
action implies that it was tardy and maladroit
In that he did not realize for the People the
absurd premium that the "bus" dared to
offer for Gold. Had he been represented in
the gold-room by an agent ready to say, when
they offered 100 for Gold, 81 take Ten Mi. |
"lions-here is my Gold-count out your
"Greenbacks!"-he might next day have turned |
his S1G,OOOOOO of GFeenbacks into sl3OOO,OOO of |
Fiye-Twenties. and thus reduced tho Debt