San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1877-12-15

restoration OF the currency to that normal
and hcalthful condition In which, BY the re.
sumption Of specie payments, our Internal
trade and foreign commerce may be brought
into harmony with the system OF exchanges
which Is based upon the precious metals as
the intrinsic money of the world. In the
public judgment that this end should be
sought and compassed rs speedily and SO:
curely as the resources Of the people and
the wisdom Of their Government can ac-
cOmplish, there Is much greater degree OF
unananimity than Is found to concur In the
specific measures which will bring the
country to the desired end or the
can be safely reached. Upon most anxious
and deliberate examination, which have
felt 1t my duty to give to the subject, ! am
the more confirmed In the opinion which !
expressed In accepting the nomination for
the Presidency, and again upon my inatgu:.
ration, that the policy Of resumption should
be pursued by every suitable means, and
that no Legislation would be wise that should
disparage tho Importance or retard the at
tainmenJ of that result. have no DISPOSE
tion and certainly no right to question the
sincerity or the intelligence of opposing
opinions, and would neither conceal nor,
undervalue the considerable difficulties and
even occasional distresses which may attend
the progress Of the Nation toward this pri-.
mary condition to its general and perma-
nent prosperity. l must, however, adhere
to my most earnest conviction that any
wavering In purpose or unsteadiness In
methods, SO far from avoiding or reducing
| the Inconvenience inseparable from the
transition from an irredeemable to re-
deemable paper currency, would only tend
to increased and prolonged disturbance in
values, and, unless retrieved, must end in
serious disorder, dishOnOr and disaster In
~ a AL, apaf md
of the people. The mfschiefs which l APP
pretended and urgently deprecated are con.
fined to no class Of the people, indeed, but
seem to me most certainly to threaten the
Industrious masses, whether their Occupa-
lions are of skilled or common labor. 10
them, 1t seems to me, 1t Is OF prime I'M
portance that their labor should be COM
pensated in money which is itself fixed In
exchangeable value by being irreyOcably
measured by the labor necessary to its pro-
duction. This permanent quality OF the
money of the people is sought for, and can
only be gained by the resumption of specie
payments. The rich, the speculative, the
operating, the money dealing classes may
not always feel the mischiefs Of, or may find
casual profits in, variable currency, but the
misfortunes of such currency to those who
are paid salaries or wages are inevitable and
remediless. "' p'' ~
L. : IHF NATURALIZATION w DIV Eh'
7 Closely connected with this general SUBJ
ject Of the resumption of specie. payments Is
one Of subordinate, but still Of grave i'm
pOrtance. mean the readjustment OF our
coinage system by the renewal of the silver
dollar as an element in our specie currency,
endowed by legislation with the quality of
legal tender to greater or less extent. AS
there is no doubt of the power of Congress
under the Constitution to coin money and
regulate the value thereof, and as this pow
err covers the whole range Of authority ap..
the legal-tender quality which shall De
adopted for the coinage, the considerations
which should induce or discourage partic-
ular measure connected with the coinage
belong clearly to the province of legislative
discretion and of public eXpediency..
Without intruding upon the province of
legislation in the least, l have
yet thought the subject of such critical i'm
portance, in the actual condition of our af-
| fairs, as to present an occasion for the exer-
else of the duty imposed by the COnstitu-
ton on the President of recommending to
the consideration of Congress "such meas
ures as he shall judge necessary and eXpe-
dent" Holding the opinion, as do, that
neither the interests of the Government nor
of the people of the United States would be
promoted by disparaging silver as one OF the
| UWO pIcClUuo luCtdlS WulCu ohio
coinage, of the world, and that legisla-
| tiop which shall look to maintaining the vol.
ume of that intrinsic money to as full a
measure of both metals as their relative COM
mercial values will permit would be neither
unjust nor ineXpedient, 1 must ask your in
diligence to u brief and indefinite statement
of certain essential features in any
such legislative measures which l feel
it my duty to recommend. do not
| TO far dohufn ranrosQntp6
on both sides by such able dlsputants in
Congress and before the people and in the
press, as to the extent to which the legisla-
| ton Of any one nation can control this ques-
ton, even within its own borders, against
the unwritten laws of trade or the positive
laws of other Governments. The wisdom Of
Congress in shaping any particular law that
may be presented for my approval, may
wholly supersede the necessity of my enter
ing into these considerations, and willing
ly avoid either vague or intricate inquiries.
| 1t is only certain, plain, and practical traits
of such legislation that / desire to recon-
mend to your attention. In any legislation
providing for a silver coinage, regulating its
value, and imparting to it the quality Of
legal tender, it seems to me of great impor-
lance that Congress should not lose sight OF
its action as operating in a two-fold capaci-
ty,and in two distinct directions. 1.-THE Unit
ed States Governmentw freefrom public
debt, its Legislative dealing with the ques-
ton of silver coinage would be purely SOW
ereign and governmental, under no restraints
but those of constitutional power and the
public good as affected by the proposed leg
islation, but in the actual circumstances of
the Nation, with vast public debt distrib-
uted very widely among our own citizens,
and held i'm great, amounts also abroad, the
nature of the silver-coinage measure, as af-
fecting this relation of the Government to
the holders of the public debt, becomes an
element in any proposed legislation OF the
highest concern. The obligation of the pub
lie faith transcends all questions Of profit or
public advantage otherwise, and its I'M
questionable maintenance will ever be care
fully guarded by Congress and people alike.
1t can not even add to our peoples sense Of
this obligation TO know. as they do.