, 1877-04-03


It will DO seen thot thero were nearly
955, 900, ,000 Of greenbaeka of tho donomins-
tion Of 81 and 81 then In circulation. Tho
present Secretary Of the Treasury partici-
pated largely In maturing tho act Of 1874, ~
well as what Is called tho Resumption act,
the object OF both acts being in tho direction
Of raising tue value of the currency towards
par. Tho retirement Of grcenbaoks under
tho act Of 1874 ia imperative upon the secre-
tary, but there ia nothing In tie net which
limits h,s discretion ns to tho sizo or lenolni-
nation Of tile notes to be retired. Until
within year or more tho small denomina-
ton Of notes were to some extont needed for
tho samo reason tLat tho fractional currency
was needed, for change inrotail transactions.
The issue Of silver immediately rendered the
further circulation Of tho fractional currency
unnecessary. Tho change was acceptable to
tho whole country.
Tho timo has come now when tho Issue Of
one-dol1ar md two-dollar Treasury notes
might In like manner be diacontinued; not
suddenly, nor by Wholesale, but gradually,
Us Ia provided by tbe net Of 1874. Tho coin-
ago Of silver should bo continuous. Under
tho act Of 1874, tho retiremoDt OF grcenbacks
will not exceed $1,000, 600 month. Since
July, 1874, to April, 1877, a period Of two
years and eight months, only SEQ, ,oo0, coo
hayo been retired. Tho current coinage Of
silver Ia, or ought to bo, twice that sum.
The great end at this time is to bring our
various forms Of currency to au equal value.
Small notes aro most useless form ofmoncy
II coin 10 obtainablo without difficulty. That
form Of papor money which is most COM
monty In usc iu smnll transactions Is Of
course the less valuable. Tho larger notes
are, for convenience, preferable. They fur
niali tho means Of having large Gums Of
money In amal1 bulk, and aro therefore,
when at par at all, for various con.
silerations, preferable to even gold or
my form Of coin. This end can
10 greately promoted 1t tho Secretary Of the
Treasury, In all future xetirements OF green-
backs under tho act Of 1874, will direct that
Treasury notes Of tho smaller denominations
be selected for that purpose. Tho coinage
Of silver progressing faster than the retire.
.nenta Of tho paper, thero will no danger Of a
famine In change. For every dollar Of small
greenbacka retired there will be two dollars
in silver iasued, and, unless there be q re-
valuation In tls pEico Of silver, the coin Of
the latter will not DO sent out Of the ooun-
try. Tbs paper-cur1ancy will theuceforth
be Of tho larger denominations, and will be
found In bankx, In safes, and iu tho pocket
ana become 10 abundant that no difficulty
will DO experienced In obtaining 1t In ex-
change for b!lls. Tho late gecretarj OF the
Treasury recommended that the issue OF sil-
yer he increased to 580, 000, 900, but why re-
strict It to any sum2 II made legal-tentler
In payment Of debts OF go, which will COW
er tho yast majority Of email debts, current
bills, otc., and with The eventual return OF
silver to ia accustomed proportionato value
with gold, We will havo currency always at
par.
The Secretary Of the Treasury may, there-
fore, 30 exercise his discretion In tho re-
ti,emant OF Treasury notos TINT those Of
the smaller denominations may bs reduced,
o. the original use for them, like that for the
issue Of fractional currency, no longer e1ists
Dy the Withdrawal Of tie small notes hs will
| reduce the demand for them, because, when
men find they do not need them, they will
caro- nothing whether they arc Issued OF not;
the tendency Of this policy will be to elevate
tue general value Of the currency, aud aid in
bringing Ill fonus Of our currency 10 con-.
mon current value. One OF the first steps
taken iu France in the great work Of Eeeov-
cry after tho practical conquest by Germany
was to call in as rapidly Az possible Ill tho
paper money OF smnll denominations. While
We have after twelve years Of peacs 955, ,000,-
600 Of QUO and two dollar bills still IN circu-
1ation, France has loss than half million Of
paper money OF that description outstaud-