Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-12-05

panic Of 1873 hl, not diminished in ls75, when tn
resumption act passed but every measure take
III the exec uli: IL or enforcement OF this act hu
teu,:rI to l:Shtcu these losses and to reduce til
pr,lulum in, SO that now it is merely nolnina
The prs sent condition 81 our trade, industry All
commerce, hereafter more tutiy stated, our ampl
I; ). and the general confidence Inspired il
our 1inaNcla condition I'm to justify the rpinio
that are pr, pared to commence and maintain IT
Sumption from and after the first day Of January
\. u. 1879.
hi means and manner OF doing this are let
largely to the discretion of the secretary but, iron
the nature ot the duty imposed, he must resor
COIN and bullion. when withdrawn i'll the prOct
/ lttrmptun rltcr Ivy the sale OF bonds, or the us
" :Ae Surplus revenue, or VI the notes redeenle
from time 10 time.
Tie power to sell any OF the bonds described il
the reminding act continues after rs Well befor
resumption. Though II may not be often used,
.>,-stnt!a to.enabt this department to meet emeI
&rl.GcS. By its exercise It is anticipated that tn
treasury at any time can readily obtain coin to re
vi rec the Y serve ALREADY accumulated. Unite
St!ts> notes llusr, LnNtver. BE- the chief mean
under exist: = law With which the department
must rrst"rr -t,u ana bullion When Withdrawn il
process It ledemnt.|n. The notes, When re
IL en Il, must necessarily accumulate III the treas
ury uut,l ,ne.r superior use and convenience TO
,lrcui,tipn enables the department to cxchaus
them II par tor com Or bullion.
Ire act OF May g.. 1873, already referred to
provides that when United States notes re
deemed or received Ill the treasury uAder any law
from any source what Yer. and shall belong to thu
United States. they shall not be retired cancelled
OF destroyed. bat shall b. ,e-lssued and paid GU
again and kept i'll circulation.
The power to Reissue United States notes wal
conferred by sectiol 1919, revised statutes, aud
WAS no. limited by the resumption act. As this
however. was questioned, congress wisely removed
the doubt.
Notes redeemed ike other notes received into
the treasury. Payments Of them can be III AIDE only
III couse,i :enre OF appropriations made by law OF
for the purchase Of bullion. for the refundiny Of
ths pubic dtnt.
The current receipts from revenue sufficient
to meet the curreut expenditures as we'll as the
accrIl.g inter, st ru tho Lu6c debt. Authority is
conferred by the retuuding act to redet III six pei
r,nt. bonds IS they become redeemable by the pro
&c. ds Of the sale OF bonds bearing lower rate OF
interest. lie United States notes redeemed I'M
,tr tie Resumption acc are, therefore, the priuci-
IA. means provided Tor the purchase Of bullion or
Win winch 10 maintain resumption, but
should cu!y te paid out when lley can be used to
replace Al elusl anoant OF coin Withdrawn from
the resumption fund They may, it is true, be used
for cVrreAt purposes like other money, but when
use4 their place is filled by money received from
taxes or other sources of revenue.
In daily business. no distinction need he made
between moneys from whatever source received
blt hey may property te applied to any of the
purposes authorized by law. No doubt coin li;l-
hiti,> such rs interest principal OF the pub
lie debt vii! tr ordinarily paid and willingly
received in tNiIed states notes, but, when de-
mandel, such payments will be made in coin
and Uui1ed States notes and coin will be used in
the purchase OF bullion. This method has al
lrady been adopted i'll Colorado and North
Carolina. aud arrangements are being perfected
10 purchase bullion in this way in all the mining
res ioDs OF the United States
BY thu 60: approved June 3, 1873, tho secretary
OF tie treasury is authorized to constitute any
Srper!n tntttnt OF mint or asSayer CT any assay
tlice a>sltaut treasurer Of the United States
receive gold coin bullion deposit BY the
legislative appropriation bill approved July II,
ISIS the secretary of tie treasury is authorized o
issue con-certincatcs in payment to aepositors Of
bullion 1t the several mnts and assay offices Of
the United States. These provisions, inten 1ed to
secure to the producers If bullion more speedy
payment. will sary oring int tie minis and
treasury the Great body of the precious metals
mircL IL the Ul;tru Sistes. and will tend greatly
to the easy and steady supply Of bullion for con-
age. Cuito,i STATES notes, when az par with coin.
will be readily received for bullion instead Of coin
certificates, aud with great advantage and convc-
ulcnte to the vr. ducers.
Deposits OF coin in the treasury will. no doubt,
continue to be made after the lst OF January a.
heretofore. Both gold and silver coin, from its
weigh, and bulk. Will naturally seek such a safe
dep st, while notes rod ENABLE in coin, from their
superior convenience Will be circulated instead.
After resumption the distinction between coin and
United States notes should be- as far practicable,
40 u icned in the current affairs of the govern
,nent; and therefore no coin Ger ifcatea should be
issued except where expressly required by the pro-
visions Of law, as i'll the OF silver certificates.
Tie gold certificates hitherto issued by
virtue Of tie discretion conferred upon
the list Of Janusry next. The necessity for them
during suspense Of specie payments is obvious,
but no longer exists when by law every Units
States note is, in effect, coin certificate. The
only purpose that could tie subssrvd by their issue
hereaftt r would be to en.ble persons to convert
their notes into rticates and thus contract
the currency and hoard gold in the vaults of the
treasury without the Inconvenience risk of it's
custody. For convenience United States notes of
the same denomination as the larger coin-cerif-
Gates will be issued.
By sting law customs duties and the interest Of
"a Nl1h dpbt 10 in fio~
of tue duties was specifically pledged as a special
fund for the payment of the interest, thus making
zone provision dependent upon the other. AS
not, with due regard to the pubic honor, repeal
tue obligation to Pay coin, ought not to impair
or repeal the NJ ans provided to procure coin.
When, happi y, our notes equal to coin, they
itor and by the government; but this acceptance
should be left to the option Of the respective par
ties, and the legal light Oh 10th sides to demand
coin should be preserved nvolate.
The secretary is of the opinion that change
Of the law is not necessary to authorize this de-
partment to receive United States notes. for Gus
toms duties on and alter the LIST day of January,
$50, while they are re Ieemablc and are re-
deemed on demand in COIN After resumption
it would seem useless inconvenience to require
payment of such duties ia coin rather than in
United States notes. The resump tion act, by
clear implication, SO far modfies previous laws
as to permit payments in United States notes as
we'll as in coin. The provision for coin pay
ments was made in the midst of war when the
llOteS were ucpreClateu ana the pubic QeCeSSl-
ties required al assured revenue in coin to sup
port the public credit. This alone justified
the refusal by the government to lake its
own notes for the taxes levied by it. 1t
has now definitely assumed to pay these notes in
coin, and this necessarily implies the receipt of
these notes as coin. To refuse them is only to in
vlte their presentation for coin. Any other con-
struction would require the notes to be ented
to the assistant treasurer in New York for ccin
and if used in the purchase Of bonds to returned
to the same officer, or. ii used for the Payment Of
customs duties, to be carried to the collector of
customs, who must daily deposit in the treasury
all money received by him. 1t is not to be assumed
that the law requires this indirect and nconvenient
process after the notes are redeemable in coin on
demand OF the holder. They are then at parity
with coin, and both should be received indiscrim.
inateiy.
If United States notes are received for duties at
the port Of New York, they should be received for
the same purpose in all other ports of the United
States, or an unconstitutional preference would be
given to that port other ports. If this OF wi
lege ls denied to the citizens of other ports they
could make such use of these notes only by trans
porting them to New York and transporting the
coin to their homes for payment; and all this not
only without benz fit to the government but with
loss in returning the coin again to New York,
where 1t Is required for redemption purposes.
The provision in The law for redemption in New
York was believed to be practical redemp ion in all
parts Of the Uuited States. Actual redemption
was confined to single place from the necessity of
maintaining only one coin reserve and where the
coin could be easily accumulated and kept.
With this view of the resumption act, the secre-
tary will feel it to be his duty, unless congress
otherwise provides to direct that after the LIST dav
of January next and while United States notes are
redeemed at the treasury, they be received the
same as coin by the officers of this department in
all payments in all parts of the United Stat g.
II any further provision OF law is deemed neces-
iary by Congress TO authorize the receipt of United
States notes for customs dues bonds, the secre-
tary respectfully submits that this authority should
continue only while the notes are rec eemed in
coin. However desirable continuous resumption
may be, and however confident we may feel in its
maintenance, yet the experience Of many nations
has proven that it may bs impossible in periods of
great emergency. In such events the public faith
demands that the customs duties shall be collected
in coin and paid to the public creditors, and this
pledge should never be violated or our ability to
perform it endangered.
Heretofore the treasury in the disbursement of
currency, has paid out bills of any denomination
desired. In this way, the number OF bills OF less
denomination than five dollars is determined by
INC demand for them. Such would appear to be the
nue Poilcy after the LIST of January. It has been
urged mat, with view to place in circulation si.
Sef no bills OF less than five dollars should
w 3ssuea. II wsud seem to be more Just and e.
pea q,e not to force any form of money upon .
puonc creditor, but to give him the ONION
OF the KIND and denomination. The con.
venience OF the public, in this rernect
should be consulted. The only wsy bv ThjcH
moneys OF different kinds aud intrinsic vs]ues can
be maintained in circulation at psr with each other