The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1876-08-17


which they can be changed from curren.
cy into investments lies the only danger
to be guarded against in the adoption of
general measures intended to remove a
clearly ascertained surplus-that is, the
withdrawal of any which are not a per.
manent excess beyond the wants Of busi-
ness. Even more mischievous would be
any measure which affects public imagi-
nation with the fear of an apprehended
scarcity. In q community where credit
is so much used fluctuations Of values
and vicissitues in business are largely
caused by the temporary beliefs Of men,
even before those beliefs can conform to
ascertained realities. The amount Of
necessary currency at given time can
not be determined arbitrarily, and should
not be assumed on conjecture. That
amount is subject to both permanent
and temporary changes. An enlarge
ment of it, which seemed to be durable,
happened at the beginning of the civil
war by substituted use of currency in
place of individual credits. 1t varies
with certain states of business it iuctu-
ates with considerable regularity at diff
ferent seasons of the year In the au-
tumn, for instance, when buyers Of grain
and other agricultural products begin
their operations they usually need to
borrow capital or circulating credits by
which to make their purchases. and want
these funds in currency capable Of being
distributed in small sums among numer-
Gus sellers. The additional need Of cur.
rency at such times is five or more per
cent. Of the whole volume, and if a sur
| plus beyond what is required for ordi-
nary use does not happen to have been
on hand at money centres, a scarcity Of
/ al a..
| in the loan market It was in reference
to such experience that in a discussion
Of this subject in my annual message to
the New York Legislature, Of January 5,
1879, the suggestion was made that the
Federal Government is bound to redeem
every portion of its issues which the pub
lie do not wish to use. Having assumed
to monopolize the supply Of currency,
and enacted exclusions against everybody
else, il is bound to furnish all which the
wants of business require. The system
should passively allow the volume Of cir
culating credits to ebb and flow accord
ing to the eVerchanging wants Of bust
ness. 1t should initiate as closely as pos
sible the natural laws of trade, which it
has superseded by artificial contrivances.
And in a similar discussion in my mes
sage of January 4, 1876, it was said that
resumption should be effected by such
measures as would keep the aggregate
amount of currency selfadjusting during
the process without creating at any time
an artificial scarcity, and without excit-
ing public imagination with alarms,
which impair confidence and distract the
whole machinery of credit and disturb
the natural operations of business. Pub
lie economies, official retrenchments and
wise finance are the means which the st.
Louis Convention indicates as the pro-
vision for reserves and redemption. The
best resource is to reduce the expenses
Of the Government below its income, for
that imposes no new charge on the peo-
pie. IT, however, improvidence and |
waste which have conducted us to a pc
riod of falling revenues, oblige US to sup |
plement the results of economies and re- |
trenchment by some resort to loans, we |
should not hesitate. The Government |
ought not to speculate on its own dis |
honor in order to save the interest Of its |
broken promises which it still compels |
private dealers to accept at fictitious |
par. The highest National honor is not |
only right, but would prove profitable.
OF the public debt, nine hundred and |
eighty-fve millions bear interest at per |
cent. in gold, and SOS. 100000 at 5 per |
cent in gold The average interest is s |
per cent. The financial policy which |
should secure the highest credit wisely |
availed of ought gradually to obtain a re-
duction of per cent. in the interest on /
the most Of the loans. A saving OF ! per 1
cent on an average would be Sl7,OO0,OOO |
in gold. That saving regularly invested |
at Al per cent would, in less than 80 /
years, extinguish the principal. The |
whole $I,7O0.000,O00 of funded debt /
might be paid by this saving alone, with
out cost to the people.
THE PROPER TINE FOR RESUMPTION
is the time when wise preparations shall
have ripened into a perfect ability to ac-
complish the object with a certainty and |
ease that will inspire confidence and /
courage the reviving of business. The /
earliest time in which such a result can
be brought about is the best even when
preparations shall have been matured.
The exact date would have to be chosen
with reference TO the then existing state
of trade and credit operations in our
country, the course OF foreign commerce
and condition of exchanges with other
nations.
The specific measures and actual date
are matters of detail having reference to
ever-changing conditions. They belong
to the domain of practical administrative
statesmanship. The Captain of a steam
er about starting from New York to Liv-
erpool does not assemble a council over
his ocean chart and fix an angle by which
10 lash the rudder for the whole voyage.
human intelligence must be at the
helm to discern the shifting forces of the
waters and the winds. A human hand
must be on the helm to feel the elements
day by day and guide to a mastery over
them. Such preparations are everything.
Without the legislative command fixing
a day, an official promise fixing day, are
shams. They are worse. They are
snare and a delusion to all who trust /
them. They destroy all confidence
among thoughtful men whose judgment /
will at least sway public opinion. An at |
tempt 70 act on such a command or such /
a promise without preparation would end |
in a new suspension. Ii would be a fresh /
calamity prolific of confusion, distrust /
and distress.
THE RESUMPTION ACT.
The act Of Congress Of July. 1875, en-
acted that on and after the lst Of Janu- |
ary, 1879, the Secretary OF the Treasury
shall redeem in coin legal.tender notes |
of the United States on presentation at |
the Office of the Assistant Treasurer, in |
the CITY of New York. 1t authorizes the |
Secretary to prepare and provide for such
specie payments by the use of any sur
plus revenues not otherwise appropri-
ated, and by issuing in his discretion
certain classes of bonds. More than one
and half of the four years have passed
Congress and the President have cOntin-
ued ever since to unite in acts which
have legislated out of existence every
possible surplus applicable to this pur-
pose. The coin in the Treasury, claimed
to belong to the Government, had, on the
Both of June, fallen to less than S45, ,0O0,-
600, against $50, 100000 on the lst OF
January, 1875, and the availability Of
part Of that sum is said to be question:
ble. The revenues are falling faster than
the appropriations and expenditures are