Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-12-13

winch the value of our currency may be improved.
Inc OASIS of policy of improvement must be
lound IN steady refusal to add to the paper IN
circulation. until 1t is of the value suDstan-
uaily as coin. This being accepted as the settled
purpose of the country, there can be no permanent
increase OF difference between paper and coin ana
an opportunity will be given for the influence OF
national causes tending upon the whole to better
financial condition. We may count first among
these the increase of population and It's distrlDu-
ton over new fields of business and labor. Sec
ondly, in the South especially, the number of per-
sons having property and using and holding money
Will increase. Next. we may anticipate more gen.
eral use of paper in Texas and the Pacific States,
by which, practically for the rest of the country,
the volume of paper will be diminished and the
quantity of coin increased. Two facts tending to
produce an equality of value in the 1nfu
ences of these natural causes will be counteracted
in some degree by the increasing facility
for the transfer of money from one point to
another and by the greater use of bank checks and
certificates of deposit. The rapid transit of mer-
chandise in bringing the period of its consumption
nearer to time of its production is an agency OF
similar sort. Giving these views their full weight
I am prepared to say that the experience of the
last three years comedies with the best judgment
can form, and warrants the opinion that under the
influence of existing natural causes, our financial
condition will gradually improve.
During the last fiscal year there were several
circumstances tending to counterfeit the natural
course of affairs Our exports of cotton fell off
thirty-seven million dollars, and there were ex-
cessive imports of wool, tea, coffee and sugar.
The stock of wool in warehouse the Both of
:
of sugar, for four and half months; of coffee,
for five months, and after for twelve months. In
the ordinary course of trade, the importation of
these articles will be small during the current
year, with consequent favorable effect upon
the balance between this and other coun-
tries. This anticipation of the wants of the
country, in connection with the decrease of our
exports, augmented the balance of trade; created
an active demand for coin, and advanced the price
Notwithstanding these adverse influences, gold has
averaged substantially the same premium from Jan.
L vna ND
spending period of 1871.
Not doubling that natural causes will in time
produce the result sought for it is yet advisable to
bring the power of the Government in aid of the
movement as far as practicable. The revival of our
commerce is one instrumentality, and, perhaps,
the most efficient one of all. IF the annual earnings
OF American vessels were $S0,0)0,000 instead of
S3O,OO0,000, the difference in the amount of ex-
change available abroad would meet large part
OF the adverse balance on any ordinary year. The
experience of Europe tends to show that the abili
ty OF country to maintain specie payments is due
largely to the condition of its foreign trade.
Next, every measure which increases or i'm
proves the channels of transportation between
the seaboard and cotton and grain growing regions
OF the country, or lessons the costs of freights,
adds something to our capacity to compete sue
cessfully in the markets of the world Finally,
those measures which encourage American manu-
factures especially of iron, WOOL and cotton, and
discourage the importation Of like products affect
favorably the balance of trade and help us toward
the end we seek. This statement in these words
is a general statement of policy that, in my
OplnloL, VIII alu Ine country III reaching con-
dition where it will be practicable to resume and
maintain specie payments. Anticipating that
day, anticipate also that the burden of resump-
ton will rest upon the Government.
There are now more than nineteen hundred
banks in the country, and cannot imagin condi-
ton of things so favorable, for period of years.
as to enable them, at all times. to redeem their
notes in specie only
Without proceeding to the discussion of the
subject in detail, think that all will have been
gained that is of value when the Treasury shall he
prepared to pay the demand notes of the Govern
ment in coin, and the banks shall be prepared to
pay their notes either in coin or in legal-ten6er
pear in this, that paper currency is not zcItl
sively of National Bank notes, nor exclusively of
United States notes.
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL,
Secretary of the Treasury