The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1873-12-27

senator Morton's speech.
On the 18th, Senator o. p. Norton
made speech in opposition to the
resumption Of specie payments, taking
as his text the resolution reported by
the Finance Committee.
We have only room for a partial
outline Of that convincing speech and
the closing extract from it, which we
ind published in full in the Indian
apolis Journal of the I'D:
Senator Morton is Of the opinion
that the real remedy for q panic is not
resumption, bat . suspension, of
specie payments, and an increase of
currency. In support Of this view,
which we believe is the view Of large
majority of the American people, he
cites the action Of the Bank Of Eng
land, and shows that every financial
panic in that country for the last hun
dred years and more has been imme-
diately met by a suspension of specie
payments, or an increase of the cur
rency, or both. The philosophy of
this treatment is simple and obvious.
The first effect of panic is to stop
business and paralyze trade, thus dry
ing up the revenue, impoverishing the
people, and crippling the. resources Of
the country. The boarding Of money
and cutting off of discounts, added to
the loss Of confidence induced by the
beginning of a panic, will inevitably
produce stOppage Of business with
is long train of consequent evils.
The release Of money and the enlarge
ment Of discounts viii have precisely
the opposite result, and this is the
plan invariably pursued in England.
True, financial panics are not wholly
avcrted there, but their eyil effects
are greatly lessened and their dura-
ton curtailcd by thc prompt adoption
of this common sense remedy. Scna-
tor Morton says he secs no reason why
panics should run their coarse any
more than plaques or epidemics. and
concludes thus: Il am opposed to
expansion. do rot believe IN adding
one, two, or three hundred millions to
the currency, but / do believe in re-
sorting to those easy natural. and
often proved to be eiicacious means
of relieving the effects of panic, by
making money plenty for the time be-
ing" Which we take to mean that
while not favoring expansion by the
addition Of fixed amount to our cur
rency, still leaving it defined and linn
tied, he is in favor Of SO amending our
financial system as that the currency
may be left perfectly free to obey the
laws of trade and the requirements of
business, by growing with the growth
and expanding with the commerce Of
the nation.
at does not take much to start the
wheels, but when the wheels Of trade
are started their revolution becomes
faster and faster. If any Of you tray
eled in the West in former times you
have sometimes seen wagon stuck in
the mud, and when they put on fifth
horse-a little more power-and got q
single revolution Of the wheels, they
could pull out easily, and the addi-
tonal horse could be taken off. re-
member when l was very little boy
it is about rs lcng ago as can reaAem-
Der anything-going to mill, and the
mill was not running because the wa
ter was low; and remember that the
miller and his boys went to the race
below, with buckets, and took water
out Of the race and carried it up over
the overshot wheel, and when they
lifted the head-gate poured the water
ON from the buckets, and the wheel
started, slowly at first, but finally
turned faster, and the grist was ground
out. l doubt not, Mr.. President, you
have seen an old pump that had gone
Arx. trf<t ri AZ To-,
in the top; the circulation would be
started, and the pump would resume,
and you could pump water all day.
Mr.. President, instead Of follow
ing theory in q matter OF this kind,
let US follow rather the lights Of ex-
perience. And now what is being
done by the Treasury Department?
Acting on that principle--whcthe r
they are doing it for that purpose or
not, that is what they are doing. The
Government is to-day, by the dis
bursement of the ~, OOO, 600 reserve,
adding to the volume of the currency;
and those small additions which are
being made, of which the whole couT-
try is aware, are doing much to-day
toward removing the effect, of this
panic. So that this falling off in the
revenue, while it is great misfortune,
is not an unmixed one; it is carrying
some benefit to the people. The Gov
ernnlenti is not responsible for this
panic Why, sir, this panic was an
accident, just as much as the explo-
sion Of boiler of a steamboat, or a
collision upon railroad--ap accident,
the result of an event that nobody
could forsee. 1t had no connection
with our Government system of finance
i. or anything in our currency. 1t was
an accident that might have happened
just as we'll in q country. that had
nothing but geld and silver as a cur
renew 1t was an accident; and shall
not relief be provided for this acct
dent? Our Government is now rcliev-
ing against it. was very sorry when
the panic commenced that our Gov
eminent did not see its way clear to
put into circulation at once the whole
$4i,000,000 reserve / believe If the
Government had been able to do that,
this panic would have stopped at once;
it would not have lasted three weeks;
but the President was not at liberty
to do that, the Secretary Of the Treas
ury did not feel safe in doing that.
Why? He anticipated, and with
sagacity that he, perhaps, has not got
credit for-he anticipated, as did the
President, that there might be a fall
ing off in the revenues, and that that
falling off would require this 81, O00,-
900 reserve to carry on the ordinary
operations of the Government, and
those anticipations have turned out to
be correct to the very letter.
sifs said that there is no panic. l
give you evidence of the existence of
panic. of its widespread and
I;sastrous character and that is