The New York herald., 1870-01-20

In the resolution did not touch the question about
nc .usuIe continuance ., the INCOME TAX or we rate
VI legislation for It's collection. AL that would come
20 De considered when the House took up tine amend
resolution was TO clear away all doubts IN regard
70 ine proper construction OF tine law and the prac-
uce 70 pe observed under that construction.
,, CONSIDERATION oF tn. PENSION BILL
van,. nne noase then went into Committee OF the
wnoi" on tne state of the Union. Mr.. Myers "A the
chan. on the Pension hlll, which appropria.es
For army invalid pensions ons..... 81. $1,000
For Revolutionary pensions. .......... 1850, ,68x
Tor navy Invalid pensions. ons.............. l47,4o3
For navy pensions Of widows. aa447s
Mr.. KELSEY, lrepl Of n. y, from The mnlttee On
Appropriations, explained the of the pcrI ase In
this blll over the Pension bin last year lie showed
tnat tue balance on June 90 1865 was ST. 5s6 the
approximation for 1888 Was $50 $50 900 leaving au-
plcaDe 10 that year S4l656. $50. The payments for
Tue year 1869 were $2s,s2sss, leaving balance OF
sie a3s Io2. The APPROPRIATIONS for the ending
June. 1870 were $ls, ,25D,0o0, leaving applicable 70
that year $3s ss3, 702. The estimated payments 70
s. oso SIS, which, added to the $50 900 900 appro-
priaied this bill, ~ estimated at about the SUN
nee,sIy % ,cr sAe payment Of pensions for Tue year
Mr. BurLgR ,repl Of Mass, made statement
reference 70 the proprety OF having pensions paia
through the Money Order oiilce.
siEEcs OF Mr.. WOOD OS THE ADMINISTRATION or
rng TREASURY DEPARrGEST.
Mr. Woop. tdem.l Of \. u. addressed the Commit
tee IA reference TO the manner Of administration or
the Treasury Department. The power conferred on
",
than haa ever before been placed IN the hands VI
any oileer OF the government Even the President
never nad much lie could use 1T pleasure Sno
pubic credit ana the public securllles, aud could
make tie fortune or nplish the rum Of indivl
aaaas o. oom,anil,s, a. MS pleasure M ~, hs could
down that KIND 9! property as hc pleased. All that
he required was the support o. his party. IN
Congress and Us press throughout the c0un-
| Try, easily to be obtained with his resources,
and me ne nigh; 60 .o,s on "a aos tIms,m o,,s ss
have insiinctyely hesnated before assuming
| much responsibility. Not 80 MIR. Boutwell,. He had
bad no apprehension on that ground The idea OF
the Of hrs actions appeared to have given him
| no concern. lie had been Wiling to exercise not
| only a nis legal authority, hut good deal moro.
The power conferred had been exhausted aud power
not conferred had been assumed Mr.. Boutwell, ~
Mood saw no policy IN ms course. il mad been 80
| chsngeaole that II seemed not 10 be governed Dy
been 80 arranged As TO enhance the prlce asain SO
| ~ W depre-s the price On the other hand, poa
and again gold had bee, pas upon tue mar
| ket Tor sale and then suddenly Withdrawn wnen
| been obtained. lie Bsi paid no respect TO
| course vi trade ~ arectet by the condlon OF the
money maglst. terrain periods Of tife year there
| Vas piets0ra OF currency AT New YORK, while
| again. ~hsu money MAS required IN the south and
| West 10 remove the crops TO market. that redun-
had become much the case thai re banks antlcl-
pa,ed n and prepArcd icri. Not so wita Ine secre-
| tary 0f the Treasury. lie thought that ne had
| noining 10 DO with such small matters; he WAS
Law unto himself. Last summer and fall he used
resources alter tue usual or things
In that regard, La the summer, when there was, a.
usual large surpiu- OF capital, he added 10 II by
buying nye.twonty SIX per cent bonds when did NOS
mature ia eighteen years, and dsourslng currency
| for that purpose. Why was tnatY Certainly there
| must nave been sofne motive other than Ib-
public good OF sound lnanclcrlng. La buyng these
bonds he not only suddenly increased the vouIne OF
| outstanding currency, nut he Increased :hs pubbc
deoi lie paid 81 -m ON demand for si0t0 pa, aDiS
In eighteen years. What would be SAID of the sanity
Of a merchant who though unable 10 pay ms notes
al par, went into t'. market 10 bus his paper hsv
Il d
| some OF these bonds purchased al premium were
issued under the Of Congress wnich declared ON
ts lace that the, "shoull payable In legal tender
| notes. The secretary pad tnein In legal lender
notes eat a. ps-lnam o. Aooat t"snts.av per
and hrs fncnas defend that course No
~ a pemluu-when the obigation Itself
No reasoning Was necessary To show the unpardon.
able ignorsBae, or sonething worse. wLich tne
secrc.ary had shown IA that transaction II was
unjust 70 The Treasury aud 10 all other government
creditors who are pad IN greenoaeAs and what
added 70 the wcsedness and folly OF lhe proceeding
vas the fact tnat the original nol1-rs lhose bonds
HAD paid for them Va grecnbacks. nj aboat siNIy
ns ~n on aoa Qua nAnx ooug"s snen mol =, 'ne gossan
| two IN paper. Tnis II what the Secretary did last
summer and had continued antu his time.
\ Mr. WOOD went on to criicise the course OF the
Secretary OF the Treasury selling gold and buying
bonds and attributed TO the frequent changes OF has
poicy many mercantile failures tnat mad occurred
and the general prostraon Of trade throughout the
country. fhe disregard OF BY the secretary and
his vacliiallng and suspicious had not only
caused very general dlstrust IN mis- purity OF pur-
pose. hut aeo IA hts capacity. The effect upon the
public credit had been obvious. IL was SHOWN In the
greatly reduced values OF our securities. Unitrd
states bonds that nad been selling ior 2J TO l26 ~
Aags, ass we,s NOV wSrsa ony isos iia :" iis
OF the public debt aud large surplus over cxpep0i
| lures IN the current receipts. Lake the spendthru
who, coming into the possession OF y large estate,
does not KNOW how W manage u and ioses his
credit, 10 Mr. Boutwell,. though rich In resources.
was 30 much dlstrusIcd as 10 reject upon the sow
| eIcy and the credit Of Inc government lLsef
Another objection W the secretary was the man
| ner IA which he made up his monthly statement OF
| the public debt. IL was not frank ana manly There
| was disingennousncss about n more IN Keeping
ae .e,se AM eomoresealsse sonsss or '1as
| Finance Munster OF great nation. II it were tue
tnat the deaf nad besn decreased. other influences
had caused ~ and not his management OF the
nnances. so far "a MS skill or energy was
cerned. there was not the siigntes proof that had
been successfully exercised 10 accomplish any b.De-
hcai results Whatever. one oi The difficulties under
which Mr.. Boutweh iaborcd was his peculiar
tenaoIly OF purpose. such . temperament Was
all very We'll when balanced by Judgment
| and cool intellect when . man thought
| rightly tne more ne adhered 10 his opinion
the better; but when ne thought srroneousiy inc
less lie adhered 10 u the better. Unfortunately tho
or rv ne ws 9. oa " "rGns
| Secretary Was the only exposition rhc country had
had Of his nnanclsl policy. and'a careful examina-
| ton OF that document would lead unpIeludiccd
mind 10 acqut the Secretary OF one VI the charges
| sometimes made against n'in-that Of actual disbon
| ssS. ioi ~ hsuc hlS iutnph'Hy ~ cstuSut thes Al
| his errors were cxpainabe On that ground rather
than on supposlllon Of wifal Intention TO his
| once for impure ana dishonest purposes. A ridi-
cuous as WAS tne hnauciai part Of the President n
| Message, That oi the Secretary more So
| As " the proposition 10 change the six per cent
| bonds into four and half per cent bonds,
| the simple meaning Of t wss 10 compel the
holders 70 relinauish the former ana recsvc
| the latter. rne secreiafys language could have
no other construction ana he Mr. Wood
held tnat that was repudial,on In ITS worst form.
| Congress asked 10 dishopor the existing debg
by exchanging for security OF an inferior value,
| or to place upon tue rnsrxeis proposals Tor Q new
loan which probably could not bs negotiated nt all,
| either here or abroad, on Tue terms aud conditions
| proposed This presented the alternative Of dts-
nonor or discreait But bs did not propose follow
the secretary further. Aside from tho nbxuruity Of
| many OF hi. recolnneDdst tons their Inconsistency
| with each other vas auiie apparent. Recommend
ng foreisn loan in part of ms report, he depre-
Gated fhe existence of foreign dsbt her part:
| snd other reflections and suggestions he vac
| equally al fauli with himself la conclusion. mr..
| Wood dlscslmed feeling of personal ho~tilltv