The New York herald., 1873-10-14
A Statement Concerning That and the Sur.
raft Affair in Preparation.
THE FINANCIAL SITUATION.
Mr.. Johnson on the Subject Of
Specie Payment.
A MEANING SUGGESTION.

l
been paragraphed through the papers that he was
coming here to prepare statement in regard to the
execution OF Mrs. Surratt, gave an additional In
| terest to his visit. An interview was therefore
| sought with him by your correspondent this morn
Ing. Mr.. Johnson was in his parlor with his son,
Andrew, Jr., and a visitor, who withdrew
| shortly after my entrance. Mr.. Johnson's ap-
pearance could be compared with that OF
| his Presidential days as he parted with
| his friend. He was dressed In his usual
| suit OF black broadcloth, and in general appear
ance was but little changed, except that his form
seemed not so bulky as II was year or two ago.
| His face was shade paler, and, II possible to de-
tect them, might say 1t wore few more lines
but withal he seemed cheerful, and was never
more courteous. Alter being seated asked him
| THE PURPOSE OF HIS VISIT.
"Mr. johnson, we have heard 1t intimated-in
fact 1t has been Photographed through the papers
| that your visit here was made with q twofold OBJ
| ject; that OF setting Alright whatever wrong i'm
| pressions may have been gained Of your position
in the case OF Mrs. Surratt by Judge Holts letter
and also Of attending to your business In connec-
tion with the suspension OF the First National
| Bank"
| Mr.. JoHNsoN-Yes, sir. I came here on various
matters Of business; these among the rest. have
many that call me to washington frequently AS
to this Surratt matter, desire to cay nothing at
present, as the necessary arrangements have not
as yet been made for its proper and truthful publi-
cation 1t will be ready in q few days, and at the
proper time shall be heard from.
CORRESPONDENTS it true, sir that Won lost
$4,000 by the failure Of the First National Bank9
Mr.. JoHNsoN-Yes, sir; about that sum. had it
there as -. -.-:.
SPECIAL DEPOSIT
There was no speculation about 1t, for the inter.
est on 1t was very small.
CoRREsPoNDENT-Do you expect to realize any.
thing from it,
Mr.. JoHNsoN-I do not know, but appearances
are none OF the best.
CoRREspoNDENT-They say that President Grant
got all OF hts money!
Mr.. JoHNsoN-Yes and I believe he did; but
will not say anything about this subject, for about
this well as the OF Mrs. Surratt intend to
say nothiB., until the proper time comes.
| CoRREsPoNDENT-What did you think Of this
crash. Mr. johnson, when 1t Gamer Did 1t strike
| you with surprise7
Mr.. JoHNsoN-No, not at all. knew long since
that it was inevitable account OF the undue ex-
panson OF the financial business OF the country 1t
is true that was surprised when the Cookies were
the first to fail. But when came to think OF it
wondered no longer. They dabbled In politics too
much to be good financial managers. Their banks
were too large and handled too much money to ad-
init OF their managers being diverted towards any
thing else They were keen, tudicous and reliable
financial men, and should have known better than
to have been mixed up with schemes that de-
pended upon political engineering. AS a rule
POLITICS AND FINANCES DO NOT RUN WELL TO-
6ETHER.
CoRREsPoNDENT-Do you think, Mr.. Johnson
that the crash was due to the national financial
policy, or to the over-speculative spirit Of the
financial circles OF the country2
Mr.. JoHNsoN-Both. As said before, there has
been too great an expansion OF the financial bus-
ness OF the country as compared with even the
large amount OF currency In circulation, and bust
ness conducted upon imaginary bases must sooner
or later collapse. AS to our national system, 1t
was not intended for all time, but only to meet the
emergencies OF the past; and the sooner it can be
changed, think, the better. We have now,
believe, $4eo,oOo,ooo in currency In circulation,
and the greatest amount ever In circulation
before the war was s21O, 100000. During the war;
when the circulation was nearly $500 900, 900, we
were astounded; we knew the country could not
stand it even in such pressing emergencies, and
contraction with o view to as speedy
RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS
as possible was the rule adopted Our national
bank currency is secured by government bonds,
and 1t is this alone that has saved them from total
and utter ruin in the late crisis. But even this
system as superior to any other. One class, the
note-holders, are safe, while the stockholders
and depostors must lose In such an event
as has just transpired. The system is the
same as the old State bank systems OF Tennessee
and New York. They proved failures, and why
should not this also The only advantage It has
is that national bank notes are good throughout
the length and breadth OF the land, and as con-
sequence, rates OF exchange between all parts of
the country and the great commercial centres are
comparatively low. 1t has been urged on this ac-
count by the friends Of this scheme that IL makes
national bank currency uniform in value. / claim
that it is only uniform in depreciation. Its only
dependence is the bonds OF the government which
dependence, however stable, just now is
AS PICKLE AS THE WINDS.
In old times depreciation OF four or five per
cent on State securities was considered as O
gloomy foreboding for the respective State banks,
and depreciation OF ten per cent wiped them or
the face OF creation. Now IL is just the same. Let
government securities depreciate o few per cent,
and you will how gold win rise or rather, how
paper will go down. I tel you, sir, we are fnan-
cially upon rather a shaky basis The value OF
gold seems by universal custom and consent to be
immutable Currency is governed by laws Of
change and OF rise and fall as inevitable as the
laws which govern the rise and fail OF the tides.
CoRREsroNDEsr-Tnen it appears, Mr. Johnson,
tnat you are IN iavOr Oh the resumption oil specie
payment. How would an immediate resumption
affect usf
Mr.. JoHNsoN-And why nots We all acknowledge
that IL must come sooner or later, aud why not
begin at onceS Gold and silver have become OF
late the acknowledged bases OF valuation through
out the known world. With Christian, Pagan,
heathen or inndel 1t is the selfsame gold and
silver. cannot cam explain why this Is, and can only
THE TERN ,vALUE,r IN ITS sTRICTEsT CONSTRUCTION
has become 10 mean ''gold and slver.n Put 1t In
con put 10 IN ewelry, or put 1t in ingots It's value
yaok NntU ba
tion has been asked, how can we resume
specie payments We have not gold enough From
1S49 up to 1862 according to official statements we
had gathered from our gold fields and passed
through our mints In coin over $500, 900, ,0O0-an
amount greater than that ever issued In currency
during the darkest periods OF our war; Now.
| where has all this gold gone tor 1t is mostly hid