New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-07-19

ENEMIES or RES UMPTION.
By one sure sign, the professed friend of re-
sumption who does not want TO resume can
ALWAYS be detected Invariably he prctends
that the Government must lie prepared to pay
a dollar in specie for every outstanding dol
lar in paper, before it can resume specie pay
ments. Yet he knows, as every sane man must,
that some part of the paper currency, if freely
received at par in exchange for coin, will
nevertheless remain in circulation. For many
uses it is more convenient, For most uses, he
who knows that he can always get five gold
eagles for one fifty dollar note, Will decidedly
prefer the notes. Whenever the Government
does what it has promised in the resumption
act to do whenever ii Tedecms in coin ION
"dcmandn all its notes that holders may pre-
sent, only a certain portion of It's notes Will
be presented, and the rest will be retained Ill
circulation simply because the holders will re-
fuse to present them. This every sane man
knows, but the pretended friends OF resump-
ton nevertheless continue to base lOng-windcd
arguments upon the false assumption that the
entire legal-tender and bank circulation will
be retired, in case of resumption, and that
Government must be prepared TO redeem the
whole of it, We cannot resume IN 1879, 1t IS
said. because Government must have $780,
100000 in coin before it can resume, and
cannot get that amount so soon. if ever.
The National Bank circulation is redeemable
in lega-tender notes. The act of 1875 does
not affect in any way the duration of the legal
tender quality; it does not change in the least
degree the mode in which bank notes are to be
redeemed after January !, 1879. After the
Government has made It's notes still OutstaDd-
ing as good as coin, so that nobody cares to
present any more of them for redemption, the
banks Will still have the right, as they have
now to redeem their own notes with legal
tenders only. Jnasmuch as the bank notes are
abmdantly secured by a deposit of bonds, 1t
is as certain as any future event can be, that
there viii be no disposition after redemption,
more than there is now, to demand the legal
tenders instead of the bank-notes. All that
the banks have to do is to provide an ade-
duate reserve, either of legal-tenders or OF
coin. They now hold much more than the
ronisite reserve and know that legal tenders
will rise to par, so that nobody will want to get
coin for them long before their present sur
plus of reserve can be exhausted. All talk
about the necessity of providing for coin re-
demption of the bank-nOtcs, therefore, is either
gross ignorance or something worse.
How large part of the legal-tender circula-
ton can be withdrawn or redeemed before the
remainder will circulate at par, so that no
farther demands for redemption will be made7
Tins is a matter of opinion. The professed
friend of resumption, who wants to defeat it,
has perfect right to believe, if he has reasons
for his belief, that One-quarter, or 0ne-half, or
even more of the legal tenders may be redeemed
before demands for redemption will cease.
But he has no moe right to believe that the
whole legal-tender circulation can be so re-
deemed, than he has to believe that two and
two are FIVE. IN discussion concerning grave
public interests, if not in law, man is bound
not to be an idiot. If the retirement of legal
tenders should 20 far, the supply of obtainabe
coin i'll the country being insufficient to serve
as a basis for redemption by the banks, they
would also reduce their circulation, and i'm
medatcy the threatened or actual scarcity of
notes would cause the legaD-tenders TO apprc
cate. Let any banker, or any other man of
sense, be asked what amount Of legal-tcndcrs
can now be Withdrawn without bringing the
remainder to par, and, while his opinion may
range all the way from twenty to two hundred
not believe that the whole, or nearly the whole,
can be taken out of circulation without that re-
suit.
Al reasoning drawn from experience in ef-
forts to resume with chartered or private
banks, such as the Banks of England or of
France, is entirely worthless in our case. The
outstanding bank notes are already secured
for more than par value in gold, and will rise
in value precisely as the legal tenders rise, i'll
which they are redecmable. The sole question
for us is, whether We can withdraw from use
or prepare TO redeem upon demand so many OF
the legal tenders that the remainder will ciIcu
late at par, and no further demands for re-
dempton will he made. Upon that question
arg ument is possible, as upon the best method
of elfecting tho necessary withdrawal or re-