The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-07-09
REDEMPTION or SPECIE PAY.
MENTk.


uENTs.
Itls noticeable that the now curren-
~ BIN, Of which we spoke on yestcr-
day, contains no clause looking to q
resumption OF specie payments, TINS
II the more remarkable In view ofthe
position taken by President Grant In
his veto measure and In the celebrated
"n,emornndum'' that Senator Jones
drew out OF him. II II remarkable
rather that the president should have
signed such bill IN the face of the re-
cord he had made. In the east, where
anything looking In tho direction 'of
imitation ~ looked upon with fear aud
trembling, the bill lsknownas "Granps
first surrender"
II may be that the president was In
duced TO change his opinion IA TO the
practicabllityof Immediate resumption
by official information gathered from
the records Of the treasury depart
ment
II IL said that Judge Allison, regis
trar Of the treasury, furnished the pres
idcnt with statement made up from
the official records showing what would
be the effect Of too hasty n resumption
of specie payments, Judge Allison
says that however desirable II mhy be
TO reach specie payments, there are
few who will not admit that Il prema-
turc attempt In that direction would be
attended with the most disastrous re-
suits TO the general business interests
Of the country. The waste accustomed
by the late war, and the constant and
enormous drain upon the wealth and
resources of the people, have caused
too severe a strain, and the real cause
OF the depression now existing IL not
so much the arrangement OF none
tary affairs as actual pecuniary eXhaus-
ton of the people. TO show the mag
nitude Of these drains, the registrar
says that In 1860 the maximum of our
national debt was reached ut $780,
0OO in seven years the government has
paid SOLO, OOO,O 900 OF that principal, and
IN annual interest of about Sl25 600, 900,
In addition to its current expenses.
Adding to this the yearly interest paid
by the country ut large upon state,
county, city and railroad bonds, we can
form some idea of the appalling de-
mands made upon the industry and
earnings of the people.
He finds that the cause Of our appa-
rent prosperity has been the large
amount of national bonds and green
back currency, and the adoption of our
national banking system, which, to-
gether with the extensive railroad en-
terprises carried on by foreign capital,
inflated our financial system and pro-
duced fictitious values OF all kinds.
This inflated condition can only he
protracted by additional loans from
abroad. The Issue OF bonds, greenback
and national bank currency is upward
of $4,000, 0O0,0 900. A comparison of the
national debt resulting from the wars
OF 1912 and lS6l.-5 shows that the
former, of Sl27 100000, required twenty
years In payment, at the rate of about
S6,S0O,OOO year, while the debt of the
late war has already been reduced ut
the rate of about S6,000,000 II
month, for seven years. In 1870 our
population was 100000, showing II
per OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of fourteen dol
lars. In 1873 the rate was seventy
three dollars per capita. In the last
seven years we have paid nine times
rs much as was paid by the govern
ment from 1915 to 1886, when that war
debt was finally paid of. The regis
trar concludes by saying that from
these facts and figures he thinks 1t evil
dent that the ability of the country has
been too severely taxed, and beyond
what the people can endure. Under
this state of affairs, he says, 1t becomes
a serious question whether speedy re-
sumption of specie payments would
not cause widespread ruin and unpar-
alleled disaster.