The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-11-17
THE RESUMPTION ACT.

Mr.. Hugh Mccullough In The North Amer
lean Reuieg says that "all the great finan-
cial troubles which have occurred In the
| United States have been The result Of q pie
thora Of paper money and the crisis has al
ways been reached when It's volume was
greatest" The Cincinnati Enquirer denies
this bold and unqualified statement Of the ex-
Secretary OF the Treasury and mentions the
significant fact that when. in 1865, we had
the largest volume of paper currency the
| country has ever known, the commercial
failures in the United States amounted TO
only 5p5. The period of contraction followed
with the crisis Of 1873 and now the failures
amount to 12ooo per annum.
Turning. ourselves, to the series of articles
in tho North American on the resumption act
we find that Pigiron Kelley, In his paper,
states that France and Italy are the only two
nations exempt from the paralysis which has
smitten the industries and trade of the
| commercial nations of the world In view Of
| the fact stated by the Enquirer, is 1t Illogical
10 attribute, In great measure, the CONNER
cial and industrial vigor Of France and Italy,
In the interest Of tho general depression
to the fact that they use as money gold
silver aud paper2
The resumption act was never passed as a
measure of craftsmanship; IL was, rs Judge
Kelley affirms, 1.-THE result Of party caucus and
parliamentary TACTICS The strongest sup
porters Of the resumption folly and fraud
were not many years ago the most violent
opponents of resumption. and advocates
even Of imitation. Secretary Sherman him
self, whose panacea for all the ills Of the ooun-
try is resumption was In 1868 opposed
10 it; and previous 10 1874. the late Senator
Morton was the chief of the inilationsts In
those days the East and the gold sharks con-
trolled The Administration and the Republi-
can party, and Morton and other Republican
leaders became centtactionists and rosump-
tionists al the dietation of the caucus, against
their own Judgment
II lie not astonishing that a measure involv-
ing the whole financial system of tho country.
adopted at the dictation of IA caucus con-
tn,lled by special Interests, and under the
party Aah. should have worked great injury
and now threatens still further disaster
Yet the Secretary Of the Treasury insists
upon enforcing that measure ut any and all
hazards. and unless Congress shall repeal the
resumption act and destroy his power for
mischief or pass the act remonetiaing silver,
II Is pretty certain that tho Industrial and
commercial paralysis of the country will be
still further increased.
The currency of the country cannot be ad-
iusted to the wants Of trade and industry by
blind policy Of forced resumption. Lib
eral statesmarlike measures for the emanci-
alton of our commerce only will do that. In
the same number of the North American
Repieic, in which Mr.. David A. Wells, in COM
pany with Mr.. McCulloch, discourses upon the
beauties Of resumption, he has another article
entitled How Shall the Nation Regain Pros
perityP" which suggests q safer policy for
the restoration of prosperity and the estab
lshment of sound currency than all his
arguments for resumption.
In that very able paper Mr.. Wells reviews
the unwise laws of this country for the pro-
lection of American ship builders, and shows
that when England abolished such laws the
tonnage of the United Kingdom increased
from 4S5, 900 tons in 1S49 to 5,32S, 900 tons in
1868 and to 8, 152, 900 in 1875. Only few days
ago we mentioned the equally striking fact
that on the adoption by England of the free
trade system the commerce of the United
Kingdom increased in thirty years from
G115. 1881 $50 to G625, 454,07S.
These remarkable facts while not bearing
directly upon the proposition to repeal the
resumption act show livery clearly where
those Of our statesmen, who really desire to
relieve the commercial and industrial paraly-
sis of the country should goto work. Repeal
our scandalous navigation laws, modify and
liberalize our Ubiquitous tariff system, re-
monetize silver and adopt other measures
in accordance with such a policy and the
distress of the country will be relieved,
and under the revival of trade and industry
incident to the needed measures Of wise
craftsmanship, there will be no need of and
no discussion about resumption.
THE WEST AND THE TROPICS.