National Republican., 1877-12-04

Various plans have been submitted 10 secure
their cooperation, and tho best will be
adopted.
SAVINGS BANKS
Tho attention Of Congress Is called 10 the
great value to our fcllow.citzens Of the or
ganization Of some plan for the collection,
safe keeping, and profitable employment Of
small deposits by tho people. How far this
can be dono without trenching upon the
proper functions Of the State governments Is a
question Of difficulty; yet II is important to
secure, " possible, general system through
out the United States. This can hardly be
effected by the organization Of multitude Of
savings banks, depending upon the fidelity,
integrity, and skill Of their officers, but the
beneficial object of such banks might be Sc.
cured by authorizing the deposit Of small sums
with any postal monoy-order office In the
United States, and the issue of Government
certificates, convertible on demand of the
holder into four per cent. bonds Of the United
States Of such character, description, and
amount rs will enable and induce prudent per-
sons 10 convert their earnings into q public
security Of stable value.
The nc-ey thus received could he employed
In the redemption Of outstanding bonds bear
ing higher rate of interest. by some such
system II Is believed that the great body Of
our public debt, reduced to its smallest possible
burden, could be distributed among our own
people. With slight modification of existing
law Tho .Snefcial result would be secured.
The deposits now held by savings banks
throughout the country amount 10 $8i3, ,154,-
s04, deposited by 2,3O00O0 persons, and mostly
by deserving citizens, who thus wisely seek to
preserve small savings for future need. No
object could more strongly appeal to the con-
sidcrate judgment Of Congress- ..
The heavy losses that have been sustained
through savings-banks, whose funds have been
improvidently loaned upon insufficient sccu-
| rity, have inflicted far creator injury upon the
depositors than would similar loss suffered
by persons engaged in banking or commercial
pursuits. The Secretary, therefore, fecom-
mcnds that authority bo granted to issue GER
| tifcates for small deposits, convertible into
| four per cent. bonds now authorized by law,
the proceeds to be used solely for the redemp-
| tion Of bonds bearing higher rate Of inter-
est, and now redeemable at par.
COINS AND COINAGE.
The Secretary calls the attention Of Con-
gress TO the report Of the Director Of the Mint.
The general management Of the nints and
assay Offices, and the amount Accuracy, and
perfection Of their work, are highly satisfac-
tory. The coinage Of gold and silver, their
relative value to each other. and their legal
tender qualities, are now the subjects Of dis
cussion and legislation in all civilized coun-
| tries. These questions are especially impor-
tant to the United States, now In transition
IrOiu lrTcuetnluUit paper CuTECuCy 70 u
mixed currency, redeemable in coin, and will
justify the Secretary in fuller presentation
Of these topics than Is usual In his annual re-
port.
The resumption act Of January IA, 1875,
provided for the exchange and substitution Of
silver coin for fractional currency. To facili.
tate this exchange the Joint resolution ap-
proved July %, 1915, provided that such coin
should be issued to m amount not exceeding
$40, ,000O 900 for an equal amount Of legal.tender
notes. 1t also provided that tho aggregate
amount Of such coin and fractional currency
outstanding should not exceed, at any time,
$50, 100000. That limit would have been
reached some time since If the whole amount
Of fractional currency issued and not redeemed
had been held to be outstanding" 1t was
well know, however, that q very large amount
of fractional currency issued had been de-
| stroyod, and could not be presented for re-
demption and could hardly be held to be "out-
standing" The Treasurer Of the United
States, the Comptroller of the Currency, and
the Director Of the Mint concurred in estimat-
ing the amount so lost and destroyed to be not
less than 50 0S3,513.
As It was evident that Congress intended to
provide an aggregate issue Of $4,000, 900 of
such coin and currency in circulation, the
Secretary directed the further issue of silver
coin equal in amount to the currency esti-
mated to have been lost and destroyed.
| 1t is submitted that the limitation upon the
amount of such fractional coin to be issued in
exchange for United States notes should be
4 repealed. This coin is readily taken, is in
great favor with the people, its issue is profit
able to the Government, and experience has
shown that there Is no difficulty In maintain
ing 1t at par with United States notes.
The estimated amount Of such coin in circu-
lation in the United States in 1860 at par with
gold was Si3,OOOOO0. Great Britain, with n
population of 81, 900, 900, maintains an inferior
| fractional coin 10 the amount Of $02, ,i63,-
500, at par with gold, and other nations main
tain much larger per capita amount. The
| true limit of such coin is the demand that may
be made for Its issue, and If only issued in ex-
change for United States notes there is NO dan
ger Of an excess being issued.
By the coinage act Of 1873, any person may
deposit silver bullion at the mint TO be coined
into trade-dollars Of the weight OF 420 grains
Troy, upon the payment Of the cost of coinage.
| This provision was made at q time when such
dollar was worth in the market $l.02 13-100
in gold, and was designed for thepse Of trade
| in China, where silver was the only standard.
By the joint resolution Of July %, 1876, passed
when the trlde-dollar in market value had
fallen greatly below 81 in gold, it was provided
that 1t should not be thereafter legal tender,
and the Secretary of the Treasury was author
lied Ito limit the coinage thereofto such m
amount ne may deem sufficient to meet the
export demand for the same"
Under these laws the amount of trade-dol-
lars issued mainly for expectation, was $780,
710,400 In October last 1t became apparent
that there was no further export demand for
trade dollars, but deposits Of silver bullion were
made, and such dollars were demanded Of the
mint for circulation in the United States, that
the owner might secure the difference between
the value of such bullion in the market and
| United States notes. At the time the mints
were fully occupied by the issue of fractional
and other coins on account Of the Government.
Therefore, under the authority Of the law re-
ferred TO, the Secretary directed that no fur
ther issues of trade-dollars should be made un-
til necessary again to meet an export demand.
In case another silver dollar is authorized, the
Secretary recommends that the trade-dollsr be
discontinued.
The question of the issue Of q silver dollar
for circulation as money has been much dis.
cussed and carefully examined by a commits,
sion organized by Congress, which has recon.
mended the coinage Of the old silver dollar
With such legislative provision as will main,
tain its current value at. par with gold, its is.
sue is respectfully recommended. A gold coin
of the denomination of one dollar is too small
for convenient circulation, while such coin
in silver would be convenient for multitude