The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1871-12-23
Return of Specie Payment.

Il ne lpiloNlug ulit "oo iubSN"NeN 80 49,
House, on Monday, by Mr.. Merriek, of
Maryland, and referred to the Committee
on Banking and Currency;
An ACT regulating the mode Of payment Of
duties on imp orts aud equalstiRg the value
Ssc /. Ne Il enacted By ihe Senaie aud Houss
Of Representatives Of the Uaifed Siaies Of AHeri-
ca, ia Congress assembled. That from and alter
the passage Of this act all Treasury notes OF the
United States shall be receivable In payment
OF duties on imports Ia the same manner aud
unou like footing as they are now authorized
by law 10 be received In payment Of any other
deb, or obligation due to the United States.
The foregoing bill is the short aud direct
road TO the resumption Of specie payment
Many of our sound thinking public men
have been iudisposed to advocate resump
ton Of specie payment, because they believe
such result could not be accomplished
without involving contraction Of the vol
ume Of the currency TO an extent that would
be embarrassing aud hazardous to our va
rious commercial enterprises. The amount
of currency is not greater than the demands
OF commerce aud trade require, and we
should hesitate to commend any measure
which would either directly or indirectly
The process by which this bill proposes to
restore the country to constitutional eur
rency will enlarge instead Of contractin
its volume, by bringing into active circula,
ton the gold now boarded in the vaults of
the Federal Treasury, and like amount
in private hands.
The only depreciation which to day ex.
lists is the depreciation which the Govern
ment itself creates, and continually enior'
ces, by a refusal to receive Its own notes at
par. However unsound the latest decision
of the Supreme Court may be-that II is
competent for the Government to make its
notes a legal tender-stil, whilst that de-
cisiou stands for law, the glaring injustice
of the Government deprecating the very
paper which it forces every citizen to re-
ceive in payment OF his debts, and in all
commercial transactions, must force itself
upon every mind Let the Government
give full credit to its own issues, and all
men will, with one accord, give them equal
credit. So long as there is an arti fetal
discrimination made, and an arbitrary de
mand for concentrating all the specie of
the country At the Custom house of New
York, and for boarding it in the Treasury,
it will of necessity command premium
over legal-tender notes, and the instant that
constraint is removed paper and gold will
be of equal value.
The pretext that the Government requires
specie accumulated in this mode, to enable
it to meet the gold interest on the public
debt, is Inanifestly fallacious; for il the
Treasury notes are at par with gold, the
Government can, Of course, pay either in
gold or Treasury notes its gold interest.
No creditor, foreign or domestic, would
refuse to receive Treasury notes for his in
terest if they were of equal value with gold,
and any Que electng to take gold could, of
course, draw it, as the Government having
paper or gold Unfortunately at command,
would have his choice gratifed without cost.
But granting that the immediate effect Of
the measure would not be to raise the notes
absolutely to par with gold the difference
in value would be trivial, aud the Govern.
ment cold readily 60 into the market and
purchase the gold at very small premium.
The whole gold interest upon the public
debt is not far from one hundred and TWEEN
ty millions per annum. Assuming that
the difference in the market value OF gold
and paper should be rs much as five per
cent, this would require only six millions
of paper to be paid as premium for the
requisite amount of gold. The Govern
ment is now, at the expense Of the com
mercial interest OF the country. making n
profit by selling its surplus gold and trad
ing upon the misloriunes of the people
How much better to subject itself, 1t need
be, to small abatement of the surplus
which it applies to the cx,inglishne Il OF
the national debt in order to accomplish n
whole country is thirsting, and for the non.
attainment Of which the honor and good
faith Of the nation are nrraigned before the
civilized world
Ii is not because it cannot and ought not
TO be done that it has not long since been
done. But the discrimination against its
own paper by the Government under the
nretence Of necessity to provide for its gold
interest on the national debt, is only an
nrtfnl device to maintain and to enhance
the present enormously high tariff by the
addition to the nominal duties of all that
excess which can be created by premium
upon gold. For example, the duty upon
given article is fifty dollars, required to
be paid IN gold, and the gold premium be-
ing fourteen per cent, then the real duty
is fifty seven dollars instead of fifty, or an
addition of fourteen per cent. to the nomi l.
nal duty. Again, the bond holders, like
the tariff men, are interested in keeping up
the discrimination IN rates, for, instead OF
realizing sixty dollars interest upon his
thousand dollar bond, he receives S6S.I0.
Let us do full justice to the bond holder
let us pay the last dollar to which the ma.
tional faith is pledged, and let us pay it in
gold and silver; but let us not SO pay MS to
pay more than on hit justly to be paid. Let
them have no unjust discrimination in the il
favor. But let the faith of the nation be
proven equal and perfect to all men, and
especially to the laboring classes of the
country, so oppressed and borne down by
the monopolizing manufacturing, aud bond.
holding and moneyed capitalists. Tn e
Democratic party wars against monopoly
and oppression in every form and under
every disguise. 1t is the true and only
friend of the people and of the laboring
classes. and its mission is to expose and
resist all tyranny of government, all injus.
tice Of monopolzing capitalists, and tn
maintain the integrity of the Constitution
and the equal rights Of the people. In the
mission which lies before it, one Of the firsi
steps is the restoration Of the constitutional
curreney-gold and silver An achievement
easy, simple, and certain in its accomplish
ment. TO say il, is to do ii, aud the bill
which forms the subject Of this article, short
and simple in its terms, if passed by Con
gress. will give the frst in the long train o
blessings which are about to dawn upon an
oppressed and patient people. = Washing
ton Patriot.