The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-12-24
EVERY MAN AT HIS POST.
Effect Of Recent Financial
legislation
CANDIDATES FOR THE BERLIN MISSION,
A Little More Reciprocity from
China Wanted.
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
WASHINGTON. Dec. %. 1873.

WASHINGTON, Dec. ~, 1875
THE RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS.
They are happy at the Treasury because number
of people have turned up who prefer greenbacks to
gold. This taste for paper money when paper money
is redeemabe at par with gold is not surprising but
the Treasury they welcome it because they regard
it as evidence that somebody really believes in re-
sumption The truth is that at the Treasury they
have persuaded themselves that resumption is an
extremely hazardous thing, likely to produce an ex
plosion and blow up everybody connected with it,
and there is disposition TO rake the fires and pull
open the safety valve on very slight pressure
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Treasurer,
Mr.. Gilhlan have already gone TO New York and the
President going early next week. In fact there Is
a disposition to have all hands deck when the
awful moment arrives, and MIR. Sherman will be an
noyed and perhaps little disappointed if the event
full resumption day passes without desperate run
his gold thunderclap of any kind. Yet he
knows very well. because he has told everybody so.
that gold is announcement and too difficult to store
safely for anybody except the banks and the Treas
ury to keep it in great quantities He knows, too,
that, if the banks were disposed to help
spectators to lock up gold. they would
not dare to do any banks draw
him heavily for gold it will be because they want
to use it against their notes, and in fact, do
what he is doing-resume specie payments. But as
they by law allowed to redeem their bills in green
backs is not likely that many will take the trouble
expense and risk of carting gold from Mr. sher-
mans vaults to thir own where it must lie at their
own risk.
The middle of resumption legislation-most if not
all of it intended by its authors to prevent resunp-
ton to delay it indehnitey-s. after ALL found to
help rather than to hinder. The ignorance which
fathered it defeated its purpose. The silver
men at the last session, having passed the
Silver bill and being afraid that this would not
give enough infEtion insisted on additional bill
forbidding the Treasury to cancel greenbacks and
ordering them to be paid out again whenever they
have been redeemed, and they discover, to their
disgust that this law which they quite ferocousy
insisted, prevents silver from being paid out So
poor Mr. Buckner, who has about much idea of
finance a has of navigation, proposes bill
commanding the Secretary to coin millions Of
silver dollars per month. though coming them
would do any good
Meantime the question is seriously asked here.
"can the Treasury constitutionany reissue legal
tender notes p That it can borrow money by the
issue of Treasury notes doubts, Of course 1t
has done in past times before the but legal
tender note having been redeemed in coin. does
note issued in its place have the quality Of legal
tender for debts, public and private? note issued
by government, just like note issued by private
person. Is a means or borrowing money ana an evil
dence of debt When the nhationists at the last
sion commanded the Secretary to reissue the
notes he had redeemed they told him in
plain prose, "When you have paid of
q dollar OF your debt command you at once to
borrow another dollar" But there people hero
who assert that this new loan is a transaction
and that tho note issued for ii is not legal tender
unless Congress specially makes it such and not even
then unless the Supreme Court will decide, what it
has not yet DONE that under the circumstances now
existing Congress has the constitutional power to
make sErreasury notes legal tender, to levy forced
loanthat is to say in time Of peace. That question
will come up before long. but just now whenever it
Is mentioned a number Of anxious souls jump up in
> fright and cry Hush, hush! not so loud, my
Friend" though they imagined that the country
can be swinded into resurning specie payments.