, 1877-07-17

past few yenrs. The sumptinn-prublem Is AN
entirely different one frum that stated ',y the
Tines, Ms wli1 be seen by = brief glance at the
facss. In tho flrst plnce, the Erccnhack came
into existence ~ an evidence Of 'lebt due
by the United States. The c1penses of the
War Of tho Rebellion were enormous,
and It was necessary that they should be
paid. The Government was under obligations
u pay its bElfa Il, gold, hut II hR,l not the
means required to do IT, 1t therefore issucd It's
notes, promising to pay dollars, preciselv ~ II
did ia bonds, except that tho latter borc inter-
est, while the former did not. Finding II ncccs-
BarY Ia order tn make them valuable to the
holders, It waa furthor provided that these
notes should bo leEa+tentlcr for public and
private dchts, With certain exceptions.
Tn the face Of these notes arc the following
words: 1.-THE United States will PAT to bearer
means for tul,nE t. orose. .e' re = Io'l.r a
ar, 1t ID mott the "proinisc 10 pRyn Is a coia
one, and that means silver at The optfnn Of the
!sSse,Vnment. ISs nd yo,' know lt.-Ep: In1ncsr
filing ais promise. It gives the Rccrctary Of
tho Treasury power, by selling hondas TO obtain
The e9l,i lslver.-Eo' Ih'IukKl dol'ars needed
"rhe Secretary Il Tic Treasury thall rss<sn,, n
standing Jan. l, 1917. fEractly: redeem In
e1n,-not in Eutd-Eu. THInUnE
ac1, s5s n s w9 s4 o..,e !" G b.
about bringing gold and the lcgal-tenucr notes
to an equal vauc. md keeping them In sucl, re-
latson." It Ia true that, II It were understood
dollar for ono Of lts aper-protnlses but there
never whs any sucf, understanding; the promise
WAS coln.-ED. TRinCHEl, tho latier would be
as good as the former; hut that is only sce-
ment is concerned, It's only "rroblc,n u is 10
fulfill It's long-dlsl,onorcd promises.
Tho other part of Tho problem " stated by
the Times has no existence, and ncscr had. Tic
md lcsal.tendcrs at al equal vains; tSor did
It ever agree to keep, silver and goil dolars At
exactly the same valuc.--Ep. TntuuxE.l The
law kays TINT tho Secretary Of tho Treasury shall
what we 'lave already saId BE- kept IN mini,
that the gFccnbask was merely note
given E5ahy the Govcrnmcnt when
Il wns embarrassed. promising to nay gold dol
This would be keepins iAlsehood in nitnd, as
iars."-Ep. TnrnUuE.l The Resumption act
merely fl,ed In the missing {ntc. Tbs green.
baek row practically rcad., M The % Omitted States
is79." The crecnback is to be "a ,'adetnsd" lai
oncs it is not to he ksps ut am equal value
With gold" simply because, oucc redeemed, Il
will 20 ont Of existence. There Is no way Of
gcttlng Il into circulation a. money again, un-
less the Government cxpcnscs should exceed its
revenue, when 1t might ugaiu {orre lta creditors
to take tts t,otcs,-a thing not probable In any
conceivable contingency. Even tlIat would re-
Qutru now Legislation expressly authorizing
The .'problc17,,'' then, is, "How can tho
United 8tates obtain gold with which to yedrm
its notes once ~ II must obtain the gold for
ia bonin. Thcrp is no othtrway. The sn,ount
bcrs, ssD' 'ooJ,,ooo' our Per cent bonds arc
now selling At par n gold. It Will require the
redemption Of tlsc lcgal.tens1crs with gold; for
! It must be kept tu mind that all the icEnt-
tenders orc to be rc1cesncI Il the Govern.
men. obtains slycr for redemption, thu PROM
tses will be Juat VI completely kept as BY OBJ
The question, "1fow much gold will bc re.
gurcl TO resumcf has given riso 10 much need
less eontr,ycrsy II Ihs 1a amount required, n The
% thc outstandins sc1acks. Whatever enp 4 may
bc. 1t will not ati be required ut once, but
eventually that vii. he tho measure Of cur
needs, We hare promised to redeem e,erv one
Of our paper doliars,-not. ono third Of them, or
$lCU 00Q, 0o0 III gold, and meet all immediate Dr.
manls; but TO futlll our promise to "rctccin y
our lcEnl-tendcss wilt rclu!rd gold to tho full
| amount Of tho outstanding Issue.
II, then, the fuiffllmcnt OF the Nations prom.
fse will require the issue Of S;tO, ,O0O, ,00O o1
bonds 1T place OF its dishonoreti non-tntercst
bcarinE notcs, why not 60 nbunt It In practi
encratc waH1 Tei .hs . r W. es se hds, no
tho gold Tor a while, aud tllon pay 1t cut, dollas
for dollar, In redemption OF the RrcenbackS
Why not simplify the whole matter by nt once
permitting The funding Of the grecnbasks IL Tbs
eEnmcnt; for, though It now gets for slOt
bond $lG0 which arc n0m!nally WORTH say. 4l0s
III gFCcnbacks, It proposes, eighteen month
f. cxvnago t'e @ to,nsr i ~ s, t@e latter a
hacks the onportuutty Holo to get bond wortt
[Suptosn thts f1udns scheme were carrict
out. and the grccnbacka were to disappear In :
percent bonds, what currency would tie people
l.avot Tho silver dollar fs suppressed. nnd yn1,
nrc opposed to rruonctEztnE II. The bank
notes arc hetag withdrawn. and thcY VIII 81
como in With i rush when tho banka are Likely
tu bo called on to redeem thcn In RnId, us there
h 8 no profit In note7c!rculntloll under prescn
banking laws. VIC nsk again, what currency
will tho country then hayct-Ep. TRlnuSg:l
The 0ovcrnrncnt cannot pnY tho gold to
dav, but It can gvc HIN bond which, In The mar
kcts uf the world, Will bring hin, the E0id. Til,
attempt to rcuch spcrtc-pnymchts by boarding
gold Ii trtngltng III tho cxtrcmc, and will lM
attended BY many complications; bWt the fund
and sensible.
or course It would bc entirely voluntary. and
long before the whole amount had been funded
tho premium on gold would have, disappeared
When the remainder should be redeemed wouls
depend upon tho holdcrs, who could not l'
compelled to present them. They might, how
ever, bo retired a. they Mtuo Into tlc Treasur,
III the course Of business.
Let tl,csc points, then, be Kept we'll in view
IN tho discussion Of the financial question, nnl
mauy dltllcultics Will disappear:
|. Jan. !, 1s'0, Is tue date fixed by the Gov
ernment, mol for tho resumption Of spccic-pay
ulcntz, but for tho resumption Of lts notes Il
money! The public milrl llas been c0nflspd b.
this misuse OF presumption" for "rcdcit!
tion.n ..
9. The greenbacks, onco " redeemed" 70 ou
Of existence. ii there Is no law for putting thc.'
into circulation agalo, and there would bc n
way Of doing II, except by n,ak!ng tho TrcassiF
d National Bank. which no ono seriously pre-
poscs They nre not to 10 ''doated;" they ar
10 bc annIhilatcd.
Il Tho only ray Of obtaining money for re
dempt!on ID by tho sale IT interest -bcarin
bonds; anil It Is far simpler to permit tho fund
Ing uf the grrenbarks directly In the b0,,di
lLan 10 sell the honda for gold, and hoard Ii
gold until Frdomptionlay.