The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-12-16
THE PR ES S.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, DEC. 1e, IA
The SPECTATORS Delight.

Thanks to Messrs. Dawes and Garfield, no
more time will be wasted in discussing Mr..
Kelley's 3.65 convertible bond scheme until
after the appropriation bills, or at least part
of them, are disposed Of One not in Wash
iDgton and appreciating the wants of the
country, would naturally suppose that the re-
suit of the recent elections would convince
The Congressional mind in general that, what
ever the country does want, it does not want
any more talk. Eight months of last year
that body both sickened and angered the
people by its talk, talk. If Congress cannot
believe the newspapers on this point, the fact
that two-thirds of the representatives have
been changed in the recent election, ought
TO satisfy the dullest man in Congress that the
country is thoroughly disgusted with the
ignorance and stupidity of the majority on the
important question of finance. The les
sons of the elections, so very fresh, seem to
be forgotten; and once more the leaders of
the indation wing plunge into an incoherent
advocacy of their scheme, the folly of which
is affirmed and re-affirmed by the history of
every nation. This these men do in the face
of the appeal and unanswerable arguments of
the Secretary of the Treasury and the recon-
mendations of the President. With these
recommendations there are facts which are
so plain and unanswerabe that it is perfectly
incomprehensible that an average body of
men can fail to appreciate their force.
For instance, the United States Govern
ment has outstanding 1882, 900 900 of overdue
and dishonored paper, which, so far as law
can make it, is the standard of values. This
paper money everybody knows is rather
barometer than a standard of values. 1t is
forever rising and falling; yet as we insist
that it is a standard of values, its fluctuations
directly affect all productions, goods and
credits in the hards of all the people in the
country. The value of these productions,
goods and credits in the country aggregate
S12, ,455, 900; and all this vast amount of
property is changed daily by the fluctuations
in the market price of the 1882, 100000 Gov
ernment notes as fixed by the gold-gamblers
in Wall street. Every time greenback dol
lar falls cent, this vast amount of property
is deprecated to the amount, of 1924, 4,500, 900.
Time and time again the value of the whole
property OF the country has been at the
mercy of the speculatcrs on Wall street.
They naturally desire to have these Govern
ment notes continue to be the standard of
values, and the more this kind of standard is
increased, the greater will be the gains Of the
spectators, and the more limited the field for
legitimate business and industry. Hence the
closed factories, the idle workmen and pros
trated business. Indeed, the fluctuations,
now only from three to five per cent, make
legitimate business partake Of the nature of
speculation with all its hazards.
1t does seem as if Congress might be able
to see the effect of this upon the prosperity of
the country and devise some method whereby
Government promises to-pay TO the amount
of $685., ,OO0, 900 shall not control the accumu-
lated wealth of the countrY-a reality
amounting to more than $12, 000,000,000. As
it is, it is an illustration of what we never
find in nature-the tail wagging the dog.