, 1876-08-26

1870, enacted that on and after tLc 10,
ut July, 1879, the Secretary of th, T,,o,
ury shall Tcdcem, in coin lrrnl t.nde,
notes of the United States, on Or, ,srn,a.
tion at the office ,ot the assistan, treos.
urer in New York. 1t authorizes tho
Secretary to prepare and provide for
such resumption nt specie payments by
use Of my surplus revenues not other.
wise appropriated, and hy issuing in hi.
discretion certain Glasses Of honda
More than one and halt Of four y,ars
have passed and Congress and the Pres.
idrnt have continued ever since To units
in acts which have legislated out of cx.
ist'nce every possible surplus application
to this purpose. The coin in the treas
ury claimed to belong to the government
had. on the 3Oth Of July, fallen to less
than forty five millions of dollars against
fitty.nine millions on the 1st of Jnlv.
1875, and the availability of part of the
sum is said to he questionable. The
revenues are falling faster than appro-
priations and expenditures are reduced,
leaving the treasury with diminishing
resources The Secretary has done
nothing under his power to issue bonds;
the legislative command and the official
promises fixing day Of resumption have
been made, but there has been no econ.
omy in the operations OF the govern
ment. The homely maxims Of every day
life are the best standard Of its conduct.
A debtor who should promise to pay a
loan out of surplus income, yet be seen
every day spending all he could lay his
hands on in riotous living, would lose
all character for honesty, and his offer Of
a new promise, or his profession as to
the value of old promises, would alike
prove uerision.
The St. Louis platform denounces the
failure for eleven years to make good the
promises OF the legal tender notes; it de-
nounces the omission to accumulate any
reserve for their redemption it de-
nounces the conduct which, during eleven
years OF peace, has made no advance
towards redemption, no preparation for
resumption; but instead, has obstructed
resumption by wasting our resources and
exhausting all our surplus income, anti
while protesting to intend speedily to
resume specie payments, has annually-en-
acted fresh hindrance thereto, and having
first denouced the baseness of q promise
of a day of resumption, it next denouncee
that barren promise as o hindrance to
resumption; IL then demands establish
ment OF a judicious system OF preparation
for resumption. 1t cannoS be doubted
that the substitution OF q system OF prep
aration without promise Of day, for the
worthless promise of day, without sys-
tenn of preparation, would be the grain
OF the substance Of resumption, in ex-
change for its shadow. Nor is dcnunci-
alton unmerited of that improvldence
which in the eleven years since peace
which has consumed forty-fve thousand
million dollars and yet could not afford
to give the people sound and stable
currency. Two ard half per cent, oil
the expenditure of these eleven years
or less would have provided all the ad-
ditional coin neediul to resumption
The distress now felt by the people in all
their business industries, though II has
its principal cause in the enormous waste
of capital occasiOned by the false poll
cies Of Ou. government, has been greatly
aggravated by mismanagemeut Of the
currency. Uncertainty is the prolific
source of mischief in all business. Never
were its evils more telt than now. Men
do nothing, because they are unable to
make any calculations, on which they
can safely rely; they undertake nothing,
because they arc at loss in everything
they would attempt; they stop and wish;
the merchant dares not buy ioi the future
of his customers; the man
ufaeturer dares not make fabrics which
may not refund his outlay he shuts his
factory and discharges his wOrkn'en
capitalists cannot lend on security they
do not consider cate, and their funds lie
almost without interest men with enter
prise, who have creditors to pledge will