The Portland daily press., 1878-12-24
Our New York Letter.


exchange would have its advantages.
Our New York Letter.
Resumption a Fixed Fact-The Danger
OF Sudden Infation- The Opponents OF
Resumption-The Failure of their Pre-
dictions-Senator Conkling Again-The
Whaien Case.
NEW YORK, Dec. %, 1873.
Resumption is "fxed fact already. There
was no occasion to wait till the 1st of January
The adjournment of Congress Friday re-
moved the last cause of apprehension Of any
interruption of the project which is to redeem
the past and vitalize the future. Nobody need
wait day or an hour to convert treasury notes
into gold. They are Interchangeable at the
will OF the holder at every Bank counter in the
Metropolis. They are of equivalent value and
considerations of convenience will tend rather
to make paper the more desirable of the two
currencies for general uses. The policy Of
bankers will be to press gold upon customers
till they get surfeit of IL. The hoard in the
likely to increase than to diminish, for that es-
tablishment will henceforth be receiving gold
instead Of greenbacks on deposit from the Ma
tonal institutions to keep up their reserve.
There are to be no more certificates Of coin
deposits put in circulation, but of course the
receipts for the precious metal which the Sub
Treasurer will give to all who put hard money
In his vaults will answer the purposes of the
banks in settling their balances ct the Clear
ing House just as well as actual money. As
soon as the new system gets into working order
the discrimination between the two kinds Of
money will be merely memory Of the past,
and when the demonstration of the practicable
ity of the restoration of the specie basis be-
comes complete the only wonder will be that
there should have been any serious doubt or
nisgiving in respect of the wisdom of UNDER
taking an experiment fraught with such bsneh-
cent influences upon the commerce and indus
try of the country.
The next thing to be guarded against Is the
danger of a sudden and rapid imitation conse-
quent upon SO large an addition to the volume
OF the circulating medium. We are about to
augment the currency in moment as il were,
to something like third more than its present
bulky proportions. The supply was in excess
Of the requirements before. The increase will
make the sum total very much larger than
there is any need Of. One of two things must
inevitably follow. Either the. rate of interest
will be still further reduced, or new avenues for
the employment of capital will be sought and
found. Probably both these results will hap
pen in natural sequence; money being exceed
ingly cheap because of its great plenitude, and
new ways of investing it being thereafter de-
vsed on account of its extraordinary cheap
ness. 1t is natural that for while at least ev-
erybody possessing means should be wary Of
parting with them, unless the assurances OF
safety were so strong as to overcome the dis
trust Of the most timid; but that feeling will
ultimately give way to impatisnce to be real
izing share of the gifts which fortune is be-
slowing upon the energetic and enterprising,
and gradually the people will be tempted 10
seek new fields of endeavor, under the ordina-
ry persuasions that gains are to be acquired in
them. The only harm that can befsl the null
titude through these mutations lies in the possi
bility that they may induce speculation in, and
thereby enhance the prices of, the necessaries Of
| life. Fortunately we have one effective guar
| antee against an unnatural rise in the value Of
| commodities, and that is the universal plenty
| that prevails all over the land. Nevertheless
| the restlessness which is so characteristic Of
| Americans will By and by display itself in q
/ variety of forms of activity, and there win be
| more need of checking than of stimulating.it
| We see already lively movement in the oper-
ations of the Stock Exchange, the place of all
others where the first signs of returning anime-
ton are always observable. The transactions
| in the Share market indicate that the holders
of spare funds are growing tired Of the inaction
| In which prudence has compelled them to con-
tinue SO long, and are cautiously appearing as
wooers of fortune in the apparent hope that
her frowns will presently be succeeded by be-
ngnant smiles. This is sort of traffic upon
! which the masses may look with entire COM
placency. 1t makes no earthly difference to
them whether the "Bulls'' who buy or the
"Bears" who sell get the advantage. But
when the new year begins we shall undoubt-
edly witness a,.wider quickening of the pulses
Of trade, and the dealers in merchandise of
every description will be exhibiting more than
their wonted esgerness to keep the wheels Of
business in agile motion. There has been q
remarkable accession of confidence within
year or two, and the dread of disturbances by
political agitators has subsidized since the No
vember elections proved that the hard money
sentiment was deeply impressed on the popu-
| lar mind.
Without wishing to take bipartisan view Of
question so broad as that of finance, one can
hardly help recalling the fact that the prnoi-
| pal opponents OF resumption have been the
leaders of the Democratic party. There can be
no doubt that Mr.. Tilden was always a hard
money man. If he could have had platform
of his choice it would have embodied ringing
protest against an irredeemable paper currency.
Mr.. Dorsheimer who represented him as nearly
perhaps as any delegate in the st. Louis Con-
ventioD, was very pronounced in his advocacy
of the specie standard. But expediency pre-
vailed over principle, and staging was erected
that was designed to support the entire crowd
not so hard as to drive off the softs, nor so
soft as to ALLEVIATE the hards. The candidates
were selected in conformity with the same idea;
and Tilden and Hendricks, who were at Anti
podean distances from each other in reference
to the supreme topic of public interest, arranged
programme by which they were enabled to
run on the same ticket without disclosing any
antagonism between them. Unfortunately all
the actual concessions had to be made by Mr.
Tilden. He surrendered on the resumption
act and declared himself for its repeal. He ex-
cused his desertion of his life long creed by
arguing that a return to specie payments in
accordance with the law was imprscticsble.
1t is barely possible that his tergiversation was
the means of capturing Indiana in the subse-
quent State election. At any rate his party
carried the day there and gave him good deal
! OF capital to start with in the November racs