The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1876-08-16


adoption of general measures TO remove
a clearly ascertained surplus, that is
the withdrawal of any which are not /
permanent excess beyond the wants o
business. Even more mischievou;
would be any measures which effects
the public Imagination with fear of al
apprehended scarcity In the commu
nifty where credit is so much used fiuc
tnations of values and vicissitudes il
business are largely caused by the tenn
porary beliefs of men even before those
beliefs conform to ascertained realities
AMOUNT OF NECESSARY CURRENCY.
The amount of the necessary curren-
cy at a given time cannot be deter
mined arbitrarily, and should not be
assumed upon conjecture; that amount
is subject to both permanent and tenn
porary changes, an enlargement OF
which seemed to be durable, happened
at the beginning of the civil war by a
substituted use of currency in place OF
individual. 1t varies W Ii certain
states of business, it huctuates with
considerable regularity at different
seasons of the year. In autumn, for
instance, when buyers of grain and
other agricultural products begin thei,
operations, they usually need to borrow
capital or circulating credit by which
to make their purchases, and want
these funds in currency capable of be-
ing distributed in small sums among
numerous sellers. The additional need
of currency at such lines Is S or more
per cent. of the whole volume, and if a
surplus beyond what is required for or.
binary use does not happen to have
been on hand at the money centres, a
scarcity of currency ensues and also a
stringency in the loan market. 1t is
in reference to snch experiences that
in a discussion Of this subject in my an
nual message to the New York Legisla-
ture of January S, 1875, the sug-
gestion was made that the Federal
Government is bound to redeem every
portion of its issues which the public
do not wish to use; having assumed to
monopolize the supply of currency aud
enacted exclusions against everyboly
else, it is bound to furnish all which
the wants of business require. The
system should possibly allow the vol
ume of circulating credits to ebb and
TOW according to the ever-changing
wants Of business, should initiate as
closely as possible the natural laws of
trade, which it has superseded by arti-
fetal contrivances; and in a similar
discussion in my message Of January
4, 1876, it was said that resumption
should be effected by such measures as
would keep tho aggregate amount of
the currency self adjusting during all
tie process, without creating at any
time an artificial scarcity and without
exciting tho public imagination with
alarms, which impair confidence, con-
tract the whole large machinery of
credit and disturb the national opera
ton of business.
MEANS OF RESUMPTION. a
Public economies, official retrench-
mcnts and wise finance are the means
which the St. Louis Convention indi-
Gates as provision of reserves and re-
demptions. The best resource is a re-
duction O: the expenses Of tho Govern
ment below its income, for that i'm
poses no new change on the people.
IF, however, the ill-providence and
waste, which have conducted us to a
period of falling revenues, oblige us to
the results of economies
and retrcnchments by some resort to
loans, we should not hesitate. The
Government ought not to speculate on
It's own dishonor in order to save inter
est On 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,
S9s5, 100000 bear interest at six per
cent. in gold, and S72,OO0,OOO at FIVE
per cent. in gold; the average interest
is SIS per cent. A financial policy
which should secure the highest credit
wisely availed OF ought gradually to
obtain reduction of one per cent. in
the interest on most of the loans. A
saving Of one per cent. on the average
would he seventeen millions year in
gold. That saving, regularly invested
at four and half per c,nt. would, in
less than thirty eight years, extinguish
the principal. The whole seventeen
hundred millions of funded debt might
be paid by this saving alone without
cost to the people. Proper time for re-
is the time when wise prepa-
rations shall have rjpened into per-
feet ability to accomplish the object
with a certainty and ease that will in
spire confidence and encourage the re-
viving of business. The earliest time
in which such a result can be brought
about is the best. Even when the pre-
parations 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 own country, the course of foreign
commerce and the condition of the ex-
changes with other nations. The spe.
cific measures and the actual date are
matters of detail, having reference to
ever-changing conditions; they belong
to the domain of practical administra~
tive craftsmanship. The captain of a
steamer about starting from New York
to Liverpool does not assemble u coun-
Gil over his ocean chart and fix an an
gle by which to lash the rudder for the
whole voyage, human intelligence
must be at the helm to discern the
forces of the waters and the
winds; a human band must be on the
helm to feel the elements day by day,
and guide to mastery over them.
PREPARATION FOR RESUMPTION.
Such preparations are everything;
without them legislative command
fixing a day, an official promise fixing a