New-York tribune., 1874-12-28
THE VOODEN HORSE BILL.

and feature of it save one. 1t IS supposed 10
have some value as q pledge, or vow, or re-
cantation. We are of opinion that the bill is
in this respect as worthless as in all others.
The pledge is not sincere. Those who make
it have NO power to fulfill it, since the suprem-
acy in Congress has departed from them. They
have no wish to do it, since two-thirds or
them are on the record as out and out lna-
tionists. If in 1870 they shOuldbc 80 lucky as
to have a numerical predominance in Con-
gress and the will to keep their pledge IL
would be utterly impossible for them to do 1t
under the terms of the present bill without
financial crash. Why should this pledge be
worth more than half O dozen others OF the
same kind that we have had already7 No
pledge could be more specific than the rcsolu-
tion adopted by the House of Representatives,
on the 18th of December, 1866, by the nearly
unanimous vote of IA to @:
Resolyed That this House cordially concurs In the
views OF the Secretary Of the Treasury ir McCulloc
In relation to the NECESSITY OF A CONTRACTION
OF THE CURRENCY with a view to as early re-
sumptiou of specie payments the business interests
of the country will permit; and WE HEREBY PLEDGE
COOPERATIVE ACTION to this eud as speedily as
practicable
Here was pledge in black and white to do
q specific thing, and that thing undcniably
the right thing to do to bring about the de-
sired end That which it is now proposed to
do has not the slightest tendency to produce
the promised result, and any man of ordinary
good sense ought to perceive that before 1879,
the date when specie payments are to be re-
sumed under this bill, the provision requiring
resumption will have to be repealed unless
nfFoo 10
obtained. How many times was date fixed
between 1907 and 1919 by the British Parla-
ment for the resumption of payments in coin
by the Bank of EnglandP Five several times;
and as often as the appointed day drew near,
the period of restriction" as it was called,
was extended. Is there no lesson for us in
the history of these violated pledges and
Juggling lawsf How was the pledge of con-
traction, made in 1865, observedf A few mil
lions in greenbacks were withdrawn, but ut
the same time an equal sum 10 National bank
notes was issued, so that no real contraction
and consequently no decline in the gold pre-
MUM was effected. From April, 1866, when
the power of Mr.. McCulloch to contract was
limited, to December 1867, when it came to an
end, the price of gold rose from 1853 to 1888,
and during the whole year 1868 was as
often above 40 as below it, The Ma
tional bank-note circulation was increased
from S249, 100000 to $204 200, 900; the legal-tcn
der circulation was decreased from $401. 100000
to S356,OOO,OOO, and tho result was nil. The
cash in the Treasury was $133,OO0,000 on the
Goth of June, 1860, of which the amount in cur
rency is not stated. November /, 1867. the
cash in the Treasury was S134,00O,0OO, of which
only $22,5OO,000 was currency. The truth is
that the real contraction effected in the paper
money by Mr.. McCulloch was done before
the passage of the act authorizing him to con-
tract at the rate of ten millions during the
six months ended October 12, 1866. and there
after, at the rate of four millions month.
In spite of the pledge, we have the Secretary's
own word for it, that little progress" was
made from December, 1865. to December,
1865, toward specie payments; that the
effect of the reduction Of United States
notes was neutralized by the increase Of bank
notes, and that he was "prevented" by the
limitation of the legal tenders redeemed to ten
million dollars for six months, from "taking
"the first important steps towards return to
"specie payments" (Report for 1866, p. 9.)
On the other hand, the Secretary from the 1st
of September, 1865, to the 18th of April, 1885,
worked without. fetters, increasing in the ten
months from the end of August, 1865, to the
end of June, 1865, the cash in the Treasury
from $8s,OOO,O0O to $1S3,OOO,0 900; decreasing the
legal tender circulation from $433.0O0,00 to
$4O1 100000, and retiring nearly $6O,00o,00O
in cOmpound-interest notes, o portion of
which were at that time in use as
money. In regard to the effect of
these operations, which has been most
industriously and persistently misrepresented,
Mr. McCulloch says in his report for 1867
(page 81 that his main object being to fund
temporary obligations into fve-twenty bonds,
he would have failed in it had ho produced
any stringency in the money market, and that
even "a return to the true measure of value
"was not of sufficient Importance to justify
I" the adoption of such measures as might pre-
event funding" Nevertheless that cOntrac-
ton, which was beneficial to legitimate and
regular business, had the effect to reduce the
price Of gold from 145 to 12j, assisted some
what, perhaps, by the solemn pledge of the
House of Representatives. But when, four
months after it was made, Congress, un-
der pretense of keeping its pledge to CO.
operate with the Secretary, proceeded to fet-
ter him, gold rose again. We beg leave to
ouote once more from the report Of 1866, in
which Mr.. McCulloch says (pagc 81 that his
views though indorsed by the House of Rep
resentativcs, nearly unanimously, Z" cere not sus-
" "tained by corresponding legislation" and that
instead of being authorized to reduce the paper
circulation, he was "prerented from retiring
"more than ten millions IN sic months" the
National bank note circulation being at tho
same time In course of rapid augmentation
But whether this limited contraction Of the