The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-11-12

Way Dc DTOu&ut
Made Possible.
WIDESPREAD DISASTER SURE TO FOL-
Low SPECIE PAYMENTS IF ATTEMPT
ED ARBITRARILY.
find that return to specie payments
appears to be regarded as the paramount
object of those meet here. For my own
part, am Indifferent to it unless it should
come about naturally, and by the presence
of gold coin enough to serve as the basis Of
q convertible currency establish the fact
that the balance of trade is in our favor.
When specie payments shall be thus in.
augurated they may be maintained, but
should such payments be attempted ar
bitrarily they cannot be continued, and
the attelpt will result in panic and wide
spread disaster. Whatever differences of
detail there may be, l hear but two gem
eral plans of resumption suggested. One
is the contraction of the currency, aud the
other is the impartlng to our currency of
fexibility or elasticity, involving a GER
tain or probable expansion of the national
currency at times. In my judgment no
measure of contraction, whether great or
small, gradual or abrupt, would bring us
to specie payments. On the contrary, a
vigorous contraction would produce almost
universal, individual and corporate bank
ruptcy would check immigration and
cause an immense emigration of recently
arrived skilled workers, and would, in all
probability, disable the government for q
time from paying, with regularity the
$lOO,000,000 of gold-interest annually due
la 10 "a
cial observer to be nearer specie payments
than we were seven years ago, but such is
not the case, except that the ultimate day
when specie payments will come about is
seven years nearer than it was. What |
mean to say is that we have made no
progress by the application of appropriate
means, and are now futher off than we
should have been had there not been great
mistakes in our legislation and the admin
istratlon of the treasury. In so far as our
resources are more largely developed, and
we are producing larger share of the iron,
cotton, wooden, silk, and other goods we
consume, we are in better condition than
we then were. But in SO far as our gold
bearing indebtedness has been transferred
from Americans to foreigners, and it
has been done very largely, the resump-
ton of fspecie payments has been postponed.
HOW OUR BONDS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN
ABROAD.
Let me illustrate by showing you how
our currency has been contracted, and the
American holders of our bonds thus been
compelled to sell them to foreigners. When
the war closed there were many millions Of
,nfa fcfonIipn o1cp
of the seven-thirties, and three-per-cent.
certificates of Indebtedness, which, to-
gether, amounted, | think, to over two
hundred millions of dollars. There were
four hundred millions of greenbacks and
three hundred millions of national bank
notes, making altogether over nine hundred
millions of currency. You say the corn.
pound interest notes, seven-thirties, ano
three per cents were not circulating notes
| admit that you are technically correct
but assert that they were part of our cur
rency. InasMuch as they were held by thu
banks as part of their reserve. Amount
ing to more than two hundred millions
they permitted the entire volume Of th
greenbacks and national bank notes to b.
in circulation. Then money was cheap
The banks were glad to discount paper a
six per cent, and merchants, manulactur
ers, and capitalists generally were able t
hold bonds, and found profit and conve
nience in doing so; for while they coul,
borrow money for six per cent. currency
they received six per cent. gold with whicl
to meet foreign purchases or to sell at tn
ruling premium. In the meantime tn
secretary of the treasury was criticised 70
keeping more than one hundred millions Q
gold in the treasury, and not selling it fas
enough to satisfy the resumptionists. So Ion
| as this condition of things remained, we wer
| developing our resources, stimulating mm
grafton, constructing and importing mach
merry together with skilled workmen t
manage it, and impelling and quick
ening all those agencies by steam an
electricity. We could then afford
build premature" railroads, and thu
develop the mineral and agriculture
resources of new sections of our country
and were on the road to manufacturing an
commercial supremacy, which would ha,
made ours the country in which the world
balances would have been settled, as the
now are in London-but unwise counse
prevailed.
M'CULLoCH's MISTAKES AND THETl
| RESULTS.
The compound interest notes mature
and were paid off, which was materi
contraction of the currency. The sevel
thirties matured and were paid, still fu
ther contracting the currency. Secretar
McCulloch had issued his Fort Wayne lett
promising that we should resume spec
payments before the last Of these oblig
tions would mature, which letter cost Il
country hundreds of millions by the pa
alysis which it inflicted upon our product,
industries. If resumption was to
hroupht ahont TINS ranidlV no prude