New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-29
WASHINGTON.
THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM.


"Ir WE HAVE WAR WITH SPAIN, WHAT SHALL WE
DO FOR MONEY 7'-vARIoUs PLANS FOR REPLEN-
IsHISG THE DEPLETED ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THAT MORE GREENBACKs WILL BE ISSUED IN
CASE OF WAR.
lBY TELEGRAPHrro THE TRIBUsE.l
WASHINGTON. Nov. D." five have war with
Spain, what shall we do for money ~ is question
Congressman begin to ask of each other. As rule,
the men who have most TO do in framing financial
measures, and upon whom by virtue of their expo
rience and positions committees, the task OF de-
yising ways of meeting the new demands upon the
Treasury would fall deprecate very earnestly the
idea of war, and say that Congress should set itself
firmly against hasty action, and should insist that
every honorable resource of negotiation, and even
arbitration, shall be exhausted before declaration
of shonld be resorted to. Still, they obliged
to oeni1e the pos bi ity of resort to the
only OF settling quarrel with Span and
there begins to be "A good deal of talk among them
rs to measures for raising money in such an event
number of plans are preached. The imitation
lists are prepared to profit by the occasion to make
an effort for a large and immediate Issue OF ire
decmabe ereenbacks. They argue that SlOO,OOO,OOO
could be hoated without any serious arrangement
of values, and with positive advantage to the
depressed business of the country There nothing
new III their argument. 1t is the old, fallacious.
oft exploded, and oft revived theory, that an
abundance ofypaper money makes business nourlsh'
Opposed 10 these advocates OF expansion are the
members who have long been patient advocates OF
resumption, and who dread rs one OF the serious
evils that may come of war, just such measures as
the iniatiOnists want, with the inevitable result
that would attend them of putting off indefinitely
the long hopcdor return To specie payments. These
members favor an issue of five per cent bonds to
raise the necessary means TO carry on the war, ana
an immediate increase Of taxation, sufficient TO add
at least fifty millions to the revenue in the remain
der of the present fiscal year.
There are still Others who think that the pressing
need for money that would follow outbreak of
hostilities would afford capital opportunity to try
the much talked of elasticity plan. :" Issue hun
bred millions of peenbacks at once" they say, land
make them convertible at the pleasure of the holder
into bonds bearing interest at the rate of G5-OO per
cent, or per cent day upon $780, the bonds to be
in like manner recoverable into greenbacks.'
The same provisions regarding conversion should be
applied to all the outstanding greenbacks If there
should be any excessive redundancy Of currency the
surplus would find its way back to the Treasury in
exchange for bonds, aud could be again paid out
and again exchanged, until the whole hundred mil
lions of bonds were issued. If the experiment should
prove that there was demand for the extra green
backs, the result would be that we should have paid
the cost of the war in bonds bearing lower rate of
interest than any we have ever succeeded in selling
contest between the advocates of these plans
would Immediately follow declaration of war. The
Treasury is nearly empty, and the dull times follow
ing the panic have largely reduced the current re-
ceipts. A large amount of money would be at once
required by the War and Navy Departments and a
scheme of finance would have to be matured forth
with 1t is of course too early to predict the result,
but it pretty safe to say that bold measure of
expansion can carry. More greenbacks would prob
ably be authorized, but the issue would be
coupled with some scheme of redemption or CONVEX
sion and au increase of taxation.