The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-01-15
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE

January. 1873, there was an aggregate ,of five
thousand million dollars railway indebtedness
in the United States; that on the 1st January,
1877, it had been reduced in various ways to
twenty-five hundred millions; that during the
year 1877 it had undergone further reduction
Of seven hundred and fifty millions. / have
made no test of the accuracy Of these figures,
but the gentleman who quoted them is most
excellent authority on statistical points. They
Indicate prodigious shrnkage iu one of the
principal forms OF private Indebtedness consid-
erably exceeding the largest dimensions TO
which the liabilities of the nation ever attained.
Taken in connection with the undenablc cur
tailment of every other kind of pecuniary obli-
CATION the statement will convey an idea of the
progress that has been made towards the goal
of resumption, and may be accepted as an au-
gury th 4 we are already very near it. The
low rate to which the gold premium has fallen
corroborates this view of the case. The differ
ence between gold and paper to-day is only two
and quarter per cent. That 80 slight q dis
parity should exist, Notwithstanding the an.
prehension that is naturally felt about the DOS
sibilities of the passage of an act by Congress
remonetizing silver proves conclusively that
the difficulties which lie in the way of the res
toration OF specie basis are gradually disap-
pearing
The conviction that the effort which Is being
made to debase the currency by legalizing the
use of the inferior metal will prove abortiye,
does not seem to have been materially shaken
by recent demonstrations at the national cap
ital When the Bland bill passed the House,
there ensued a rise Of nearly forty per cent. in
the gold premium. That has all been lost,
and more too. Even if such a measure should
become law-which is highly improbabe-it
is doubtful whether it could be rendered opera
tive in the face of the opposition it would en-
counter from the capitalists of the country.
They have the power to dictate the terms upon
which they will permit their means to circulate
through the channels of general industry.
They appear to be very much in earnest in
their determination not to be consentng par
ties to the prolongation of the era of distrust
and uncertainty which is at this moment par
alyzing the energies of the people. II they
maintain their attitude of frmness, they will
effectually demonstrate that it is utterly futile
for visionary theorists to attempt to impede the
course of the natural current that is flowing
steadily towards the haven of sovency and re-
deemability. The time has gone by when an
edct OF government can make thing what it
Is not. Every commodity will be measured by
its intrinsic value and gold will not be worth
any less nor silver any more on account of ar
bitrary DEGREES that they mast be reckoned as
equally precious.
1t Is significant commentary upon the want
of Judgment of the advocates Of silver expan-
sion that they manfestly take no account
whatever of the difference in the condition Of
affairs in 1873 and 1873. Then everybody was
loaded down with debt. Now the volume of
individual debt is exceedingly small. Then the
debtor class would have reaOed some apparent
benefit from partial release from their obliga-
tions. Now they have so decreased their in
cumbrances, either by paying them or getting
released from them by the bankrupt act, that
the number who would gain anything by the
privilege of settling up at ninety cents on a
dollar is infnitessimal in proportion to the
number who would suffer embarrassment
through the indispositon of those from whom
they would seek credit to accept the hazards
incident to a fuctuatng and unreliable cur
rency. If the Blands. and Stanley Matthewses
and Ewings could have their way they would
soon lind that the greatest sufferers BY their
specious schemes would be the very men in
whose interests they profess to be urging them.
1t is always the sweat and toll of the country
upon which the evils of false systems of finance
bear most oppressively. The rich are abund-
antly capable of taking care of themselves.
Ii it were not for the delay which 1t would
cause in the recovery of the public health, it
would not be bad idea to let the silver exper-
iment be tested, as the surest way of demon
strating its absurdity. If it does happen
to be forced through there will bs this consola-
ton that it will produce entirely opposite re-
suits from those its advocates anticipate. Bu.
as time is too precious now to be wasted upon
puerile expedients the best thing to be done is
to save these enthusiasts from the consequences
of their own error and with that view 1t is to
be hoped the silver project in whatever shape
it may take will fail and that the resumption
act will be retained and carried out to the
letter. YARMOUTH.