Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1874-06-05
NORTON ON FINANCE.
Tiae Currency Dill and t.ac Veto.
From tic In4ianapeli, Journal, sth ]

From tic Intianapeli, Journal, sth
WAsU1NGov, May ).
SIR: There appears to be misa]
prehension in portion Of the press
regard to the provisions OF the tiaant
bill which lately passed the two House
CT Congress, but from which the Pres
dent Withheld lis approval. The hi
is criticised as if it authorized ne,
emission Of United States notes, whic
would increase the difficulty of X
turn to specie payments, and thereb
involve q breach of the national fait1
pledged for the redemption Of thos
notes in coin.
THE FIRST SECTION OF THE BILL,
and the only one which relates t
United States notes, is i'll these works
:. ''The maximum amount Of United State
notes shall be four hundred millions of dol
lars.''
70 understand the effect Of this pro
vision, reference must be had to previ
GUS legislation. By the act of JUNE
80, 1864, it was declared that Unitet
States notes in circulation or to b,
circulated, should not exceed the sun
of four hundred millions. By the ac
of April T.. 1866, it was provided tha
"of United States notes not more thar
| 5l0,00O,0G0 may be retired anG
Cancelled within six months of thu
passage of this act, and thereafter not
more than S4,O0O,O00 i'll any one
month"; On the 18th Of March, 1868
another act was passed foTbidding any
further reduction of United States
notes. At that time the amount out
standing was 1856, ,O000,G0o, and that
is the limit below which
THE UNITED STATES NOTES
cannot be reduced without Congress
siOnal enactment. Under the opera.
ton of these statutes successive Secre-
taries of the Treasury have assumed
the right to reissue at their discretion
$44 900, ,OO0-and to withdraw the
same again from circulation. Under
this asserted power about $1,500, zoe
of these notes were issued i'll Septem-
Der, 1860, and afterwards withdrawn
and a like sum issued III the fall of
1871. and afterward withdrawn. Since
the 1st of October last there have
hnnn issued cf thnso notos by tho Soc
retary of the Treasury S26, 600, 900,
making the whole circulation of the
United States notes $685., ,OOO,OOC
THE RIGHT Or THF SECRETARY TO
REISSUE
any part of this $4,000, 900, or in
crease the circulation of these notes
above $3.50, 100000, has been continu-
ally denied by many lawyers, in Con
gress and out of it, and a large portion
of the press; and the question cannot
be said to be from doubt. AT the last
session OF Congress a majority of the
Finance committee of the Senate,
through the chairman, Mr.. Sherman.
reported to the Senate, for it's adop-
ton, the following resolution:
Resolred, That, in the opinion of the
Senate, the Secretary Of the Treasury
has not the power under the existing
laws to issue United States notes for
any portion of the sf4, ,OO0, 900 retired
and cancelled under the several laws
on that subject.
My first impreS sicn had been against
the existence of the power, but on
further examination thought it fair
" deducible from q comparison of sta
tistics, and personally urged upon the
President and Secretary the free use
Of the S44, 100000 reserve to check the
progress Of the panic and alleviate its
disasters.
THE VETO MESSAGE.
In his veto message, and in his let
ter to MeSsrs. Claf1in and Anthony Oh
,he 2S of September last, the President
,reats the forty -four millions as being
IN existing reserve, a sum of money
already in the Treasury, as much so
Is a like sum received from taxes to be
lsed at the discretion of the Secretary
# the Treasury for certain purposes.
He regards the maximum amount of
United States notes as $4,000, 600, 900,
ind treats the S41. .OOO, 900 as in actual
existence.
THE FIRST SECTION OF THE BILL
declares the law to be what the Presi.
lent and Secretary have assumed it to
)e. 1t declares that the maximum
lmOunt of United States notes shall
,e 94OO, 900, 900, that is, the amount
Beyond which the issue shall not be
extended. The word maximum
means the greatest. It does not mean
he precise amount, but simply the
amount beyond which the issue cannot
20.
The section relieved the government
rom the exercise of a doubtful power,
which had been the occasion of severe
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,
II his last report, thought it important
hat Congress should remove the
loubt hanging over the issue of the
a, 600, 900, and used the following
anguage:
"But the law authorizing the issue
# the maximum of $4OO, 600, 900 has
lever been repealed, and has uniform
Y been held by the Treasury Depart
nent and the law officers thereof obe
n full force. In view of the uncer-
ainty which exists in public senti-
nent as to the right OF the Secretary |
# the Treasury to issue United States
lotes in excess of the maximum, and
he conflict of opinion as to the policy
# doing SO, conceding that he has
hat right under the law, / respectful |
Y recommend that Congress shall set
;hese questions at rest by distinct en-
lctment." |