Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1874-05-06

financial basis there had grown NJ
among the people feeling of hope
that the element of uncertainty ere
ated nv the extraordinary assump
tions of the Treasury Department
would be removed The instability
Of the currency and of values, con-
sequent upon the uncertainty
which existed as to the actual
amount Of legal tenders, was for
long time prior to the assembling OF
Congress one of the worst financial
evils under which the country la
bored. 1t was absolutely impossi-
BILE to have anything like confidence
when it depended solely upon the
discretion of one man whether the
legal tender circulation of the
country should be three hundred
and fifty-six millions of dollars or
four hundred millions, or any sum
between the two. The claim on
the part of the Secretary Of the
Treasury Of the right to exercise
such a discretion was never regard
ed with approval by the people !;
and it was openly denied by the
Senate Finance Committee more
than a year since that the claim had
anv foundation. The eztraordin-
ary powers of imitation assumed by
the Secretary of the Treasury last
fall rendered the claim still! more
obnoxious, and the hope that Con-
gross would at an early day put an
end to all uncertainty in the mat
ter was more generally expressed
than almost any other hope as to
the prospective action of that body.
This hope, which had probably
as much to do with confidence in
the currency as the hope that there
would be no expansion, the Presi-
dent, by his veto, has destroyed.
Not only does he assert in the
strongest possible terms the justice
of the claims made by the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury so far as the
past is concerned, but he insists
that the discretion claimed ought
still to be exercised by that official.
The position taken on this point
may not be the only cause for the
failure of gold to recede, but it is
an abundantly sufficient cause. 1t
is worse in some respects than the
imitation theory as embodied in the
bill passed by Congress-. That bill,
it is true, provided for an eXpan-
sion of ninety millions, but it pro-
vided for q fixed and certain amount. |
The Theory of the President pro-
vides for an expansion of only for
ty-fonr millions; but it provides
for it in such way rs to prevent |
the people from knowing at any
given time how much or how little
Of the expansion has been made. 1t
provides, also, and this is its worst
'eature, for the commission of the
expanding-and, if necessary, the
;ontracting-power to the uncon-
.rolled discretion Of single indi-
vidual.
Whatever else Congress may do
,r fail to do in regard to the cur
'ency, it is to be hoped that upon
his point it viii take some final,
definite action. 1t may not be the
visest course to declare the whole
'orty-four million reserve part of
he active currency of the country
put it would be far better to do so
han to treat it as football for
the Secretary of the Treasury to
play with. Anything would be bet
ter, in fact, than to leave it as it
now is-a matter of doubt and I'M
certainty. The argument that any
such reserve is necessary to redeem
the postal cnrrency-the only ar
gument that has any plausibility
whatever-fails utterly to meet the
case. The necessity Of re-
leeming postal currency is as
easily provided for as any other ne
cessity to which the Treasury De-.
partment is subjected, and should
be provided for in the same way.
At all events, if it be necessary to
keep q special fund for that pur-
pose, it should be kept for that
alone and the country could then
be sure that the legal tenders would
be increased no more at any time
than the postal currency would be
/; and it would no longer
be in the power Of single individ-
ual TO cause the value of the circu-
lating medium of the currency of
the country to fluctuate at will.