Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-08-09

hey belong to the domain of prac- o
cal administrative statesmanship.- b
he captain of q steamer about start q
g from New York to Liverpool does f
1t assemble q council over his ocean il
lart and fix an angle by which to /
sh the rudder for the whole voyage. q
human intellect must be at the helm t
, discern shifting forces of waters &
nd winds. A human mind must be q
the helm to feel the elements day {
v day and guide to mastery over $
hem. Such preparations are every 9
hing. Without them Legislative I
ommand fixing q day, an Official
romise fixing day are shams.-
hey are worse. They are snare
nd delusion to all VINO trust them. I
hey destroy all confidence among |
loughtful men whose judgment I
{ this subject will at least
way public opinion. An attempt
act on such command or
nch promise without preparation
yould end in q new suspension. 1t
yould be fresh calamity prolific Of
onfusion distrust and distress. The
ct of congress of the 14th of July,
S75, enacted that on and after the 1st
4 January, 1879, the Secretary of the
treasury shall redeem in coin the le-
lal tender notes of the United States
N presentation at the Office in the
Sty of New York. 1t authorizes the
secretary to prepare and provide for
slch resumption of specie payments
ly the use of any surplus revenues
hot otherwise appropriated, and by |
Issuing in his discretion certain class
es Of bonds. More than one and
hall of the four years have passed.
Congress- and the President have con-
timed ever since to unite in acts
Which have legislated out of exis-
terte every possible surplus applica-
BID to this purpose. The coin in the
treasury claimed to belong to the
government had, on the 3Oth of July,
fallen to less than $45,OOO,OOO as
against $59, OOO, 600 on the LIST of JAN
ua,y, 1876, and the availability Of
psrt of that sum is said to be ques-
ionablc. The revenues arc falling
faster than the appropriations and ex-
lpenditures are reduced, leaving the
treasury with diminishing resources.
The secretary has done nothing un-
der his power to issue bonds. The
Legislative command, the official
promise fixing a day for resumption,
have been made. There has been no
progress. There have been steps back
wards. There is no necromancy in
the operations of the government.
The homely maxims of everyday life
are the best standards of its conduct.
A debtor who should promise to pay
loan out of surplus income and yet
be seen every day spending all he
could lay hand on in riotous living
would lose all character for honesty
and veracity. His offer of q new
promise or his profession as to the
value of the old promises would alike
provoke derision. The st. Louis
platform denounces the failure for II
years to make good the promises Of
the legal-tender notes. 1t denouncei
the omission to accumulate any re
serve for their redemption. 1t de
nounces the conduct which during II
years Of peace has made no advances
4 toward resumption, no preparation
\ for resumption, but instead has OBJ
structed resumption by wasting
our resources and exhaustin(
all our surplus income, and whill
protesting to intend speedy resump
\ ton of specie payments has annual,
enacted fresh hindrances thereto, ant
having first denounced the barrennes
of the promise of day of resump
d ton 1t next denounces that barren
promise as q hindrance to resump
ton. 1t then demands its repeal, an,
also demands the establishment of
judicious system of preparation 70
resumption. It cannot be doubte'
that the substitution of a system o
preparation without the promise of
day for the worthless promise of
day without q system of preparation
would be the gain of the substanc
of resumption in exchange for tn
shadow nor is the denunciation I'M
,, merited of that improvidence whic
in IL years since the peace has consu
med "a, 100000, and yet could nc
afford to give the people q SCUM
and stable currency. Two and hal
per cent. on the expenditures of thes
vided all the additional coin needfI
, to resumption.
: The distress now felt by the peOpl
, in all their business and industrie
J although it has its principal cause il
, the enormous waste of capital occa
} stoned by the false policies of on
; government, has been greatly aggrs
t waited by the mismanagcment Of tn
! currency. Uncertainty is the prolifi
: parent of mischiefs in all business
D. Never were its evils more felt tina
: now. Men do nothing because the
, are unable to make any calculation
, on which they can safely rely. The
: undertake nothing because they fea
: a loss in everything they would al
: tempt. They stop and wait. tn
: merchant dare not buy for the futur
consumption of his customers. TIL
manufacturers dares not make fall
, RIGS which may not refund his outlay
f He shuts his factory and discharge
t his workmen. Capitalists cannt
, lend on security they consider unsaf
and their funds lie almost without il
terest. Men with enterprise VIII
. have credit or securities to pledg
, will not borrow. Consumption ha
fallen below the natural limits {
q reasonable economy. The price {
many things are below their range
i In the frugal specie-paying times b.
| fore the civil war vast masses of cul
rency laid in the banks unused. j
year and half ago legal tender
, were at their largest volume, and $12
; OOO, 600 since retired have been repls
ced by first issues of $780, 600 Z
bank notes. In the meantime tn
banks have been surrendering abou
LOCO, 600 month because they car
not find profitable use for SO man
of their notes. The public mind wi
, no longer accept shams. 1t has sui
fered enough from illusions. An in
, sincere policy increases distrust. A
unstable policy increases uncertainty
The people need to know that tn
. government Is moving in the diret
ton of ultimate safety and prosper
Llt y and that it is doing SO throug
prudent, safe and conservative meth
DDS, which will be sure to inflict n
new sacrifices on the business of tn
country. Then the inspiration Of
new hope and a well-founded conf
dence will hasten the processes of ma
ture and prosperity will begin to re
! turn. The st. Louis convention con
cludes its expression in regard to tn
. currency by declaration Of its con
, victions as to the practical result o
the system of preparation itdemandf
1t says: I'VE believe such a system
well devised, and above all, intruste,
to competent hands for execution
creating at no time an artificial scar
city of currency, and at no time alarm
ing the public mind into withdraws
0f that vast machiuarv of crod;t h