, 1876-01-12


Committee Of Ways and Means, has intro
duccd bill in tho House Of Representatives
for the resumption Of specie-payments. It
is very brief, md in that respect n,eritorious,
for it u,ay DO easily understood by common
people. It consists of two things: first, tho
accumulation of gold by tho Government and
tho National Banks to tho amount Of 80 per
cent Of their circulation respectively; second,
tho repeal Of tho Legnl-T -Tonder net na soon rs
TIM aforesaid 80 per cent shall lare been nc
cunulnted.
Wo presume that further reflection will
show Mr. aIonn1soN TINT the mere accumu1a-
ton of two or three hundred millions Of gold
coin III public and private vaults will not
causo seven or eight hundred millions of de-
preciatcd paper, now worth 8S1 cents on tho
dollar, to bo worth 100 cents. Undoubtedly
such m accumulation would have mn
| effect to advance the value Of tho grecn-
back somewhat, since it would create
| tho impression n t1lo public mind TINT fur
thor steps would shortly bo taken to restore
specle-paynlents, and would thus turn Wall
street to specializing for fall in gold. It is
| likewise true that specio-paymonts when once
restored mny DO maintained on 80 per cont of
coin or considerably less, But If the dopre-
ciation Of tho currency amounts to as much
Us per cent after the 30 per cent shall have
been Loardei, tho domand for coin will sweep
away tho entire accumulation in n very short
spacs of time. The brokers will "run" the
banks for the sake of profit, and tho banlss
and brokers together will "ruu" the Govern
ment till every metallic dollar yanishes out
OF sight. Tho coin will not circulate along
Hido Of Il depreciatcd currency, md tho ro-
suit would be TINT the Government would
hayo one-thirtl Of the existing grcenbaclss in
its vaults-that Is, tho currency would DO
contracted 10 TINT amount by very hnRty
! proccas-and the gold that had been paid out
would be rapidiy exported, siuco tha holders
could not a1forl to liz out Of tho use of 1t.
The question nrises whether naa.raction
Of tho currency to tho amount Of 10 per
cont, that being the mechanical effect Of tic
proposed measure, would Of itself bring the
remainder to par. This IL ,natter of opn-
ion. 1ye think it would, but we think also
TINT not only public opinion, but tho mora
enlightened portion thereof, will prefer n
moro gradual procoas. II may turn ont TINT
n contraction Of % per cent or 20 per cent
will accomplish the end Just M well. 1T all
events, it in bcst to nuke the experiment
with HInnll doses at first.
It in part OF tho A B Of finance that q
certain amount Of currency il needed tc
transact tho business Of country, and thnt
this amount, whom not In excess of tho wanss
Of trado. will bo at par, wEether tho amount
Of gold available for ita redemption bo 10 pei
cent, or 1D per cont, or any other per cont
Thia nmount III yariRb!e at different ycass a,.t
at different Seasons Of the same year, and tA.
principal uao Of store OF gold In bank
vaults is to ,noasuro aud gauge tl.o amount o
currency which country needs Mt an,
particular time. Whbn tho amount i
In c1cess Of the roal wants Of the
l country, 1t flows to the issuing bank 10
redemption, aud the banks arc compelled t,
curtail their issues. When the a1nount i
insufficient, tile banks aro prompt to suppl.
tho deficiency, because tl1oy receive interes
for all they eau keop out This IL tho Sun
total Of the mighty currency problou,, m
; the Thing to be .tloau with our irret!oe1aatl
currency is to bring its quantity down to tha
] amount WHICH tAD ouslneHS OF the C01lntr
actually oalls for,-tho solo test Of which /
: ita equality with gold
: There arc two or tlreo practicable method
Of doing this. One Of these ia to authorize til
funding Ut the greonbacka IN gil Interest
! bearing bonl This Ia tho most natural, til
least expensive, aud the safest. Another
to obtain by taxation q certain amount {
greenbacky per mouth and destroy then
Tilis IL open to the objection tlat the cou,
try IL not now In tho condition to bear CIT,
: taxation. A third method 0As one propose
= by Mr.. MoRn1soN) il to accumulate a lare
stock Of gold vherowith to redeal
. tho greenbacks. This IL tic most Q,
j. peusiye Of tho three methods, and als