The Portland daily press., 1879-07-24

with their vast sum OF the peO
pies deposits must go by the board by of the
insuicency of their reserves and many of the ma
tional banks must fall from the same cause. In
this general crash the whole system from the Treas
ury down, must succumb. 1t is simply question of
time, for this result must occur, and in my judg-
ment the time will be very short after the 1st day
OF January next
On the 9TH of November, 1877, my old friend,
Judge Kelley, of Pennsylvania, in the House
of Representatives, said:
But. gentlemen, the worst has not yet
come ii this act is to be maintained. And tell you
and you may book it to jeer and scof at fifteen
months hence If it prove not to be true prediction
the suffering we have endured during the three
years this law has been in existence is like the
chill which embellishes while it blasts with feathered
frost the leaves and flowers of the tropical plants
that surround the homes OF our extreme Southern
States, compared with the arctic cold that builds up
the mountainous iceberg, mich chills the summer
atmosphere of our coast as it passes near our
shor5s.
have no desire to ieer or scolf at a gentle
man whom l sincerely respect, although near
two years ago he gave us authority to do so, if
he proved to be a false prophet.
Mr.. MuldroW said, in the House of Repre-
sentatives, November Is, 1871:
"The act gives the Secret nv of the Treasury the
power to sell bonds, to OBTAIN gold to redeem
the greenbaeks and fractional currency but there
no such provision in regard to the national bank
issues. The practical working of the law will be the
absorption and retirement the greenbacks and
the issuance in their stead of irrodeemabe national
bank notes. No man with any financial saoacity
can believe that the national banks will be aole to
redeem their circulating currency With coin in JAN
uary, 1872.
Mr.. Buckner chairman of the Committee of
Banking and Currency, said ON the 10th of
November, 1877
81 have not been able to find man, learned or
unlearned, capitalist or laborer, merchant farm
er, who believes resumption possible practicable.
Perhaps the Secretary of the Treasury is excep-
| tion.''
| might quote for days the warnings and evil
| prophecies of our Democratic and Greenback
hnt hoy howe haa,, In, do
| that it is scarcely necessary. On the other
hand, the supporters of this measure insisted
that resumption was not only possible, but easy;
| that the accumulation of coin would lower its
| price, improve the public credit, increase the
| sale of per cent. bonds; and that when the
| fund should be sufficient to inspire confidence
| IN the ability to resume, resumption would be
| tranquil and easy passage, the sure forerun-
ner OF hopeful prosperity. They also believed
| that 1t would lessen the burden of the public
debt, and lower the rate of interest not only to
the public but to private individuals.
! SUCCESS OF RESUMPTION.
! Let us now examine which of these opposing
| opinions has been proved to be true by the test
| of experience.
The success of resumption depended entirely
| upon the ability of the United States, by the
time fixed, to accumulate in the Treasury an
amount of coin sufficient to meet any demands
likely to be made upon it. This coin could on
ly be obtained by surplus revenue, or by the
which was given by the resumption act. In
April, 1877, it was announced by the Admins
tration that from the 1st of May the Treasury
Department would accumulate coin at the rate
| OF S5C~OC-) a month, and accordingly that
sum was set aside from the sale of A per cent.
| bonds up to the 1st of July.
The very announcement OF the purpose to re-
sumo, with definite plan of resumption, at
once had a reviving effect upon the public
credit, increasing the sale of A per cent. bonds.
This induced the Treasury Department, on the
23d day Of May, 1877, to withdraw the A per
cent. bonds, and on the 9th of June, 1877, to
place the 4 per cents upon the market to be
sold at par i'll coin, both for refundng and re-
sumption purposes. This was q critical exper-
iment, the expediency of which was gravely
doubted by many friends of resumption, but it
| proved perfect success. This course was pur-
sued until November, the price of coin con-
stantly declining, and confidence steadily inn
proving, when Congress met and a bill speedi-
ly passed the House of Representatives to re-
peal the resumption act. This and other pro-
posed measures fectcd seriously the public
credit, and stopped the sale of the bonds as with
a clamp. An examination of financial prob
lens by the commit 5es of both Houses and the
debates in Congress caused the Senate to re-
fuse to pass the bill for the repeal of the re-
sumption act, and finally prevented the passage
of any bill that would cripple that act and left
the Executive authority to pursue its duty as
prescribed therein.
On April II, 1868, The Department was again
the sale of a per cent. bonds, and shortly af-
forwards to commence the sale o. per cents.
for reiunding purposes, and this policy was
steadily pursued to the end. During the pro-
cess coin constantly declined, and the sale of
per cent. bonds steadily increased In 1878 we
sold S50,C >J,COO . per cent. bonds at premi-
UNI OF L per cent, and Sl23, ,615, $50 per cent.
bonds at. par. Ninety million dollars of the
proceeds OF bonds cold in 1877 and 1878 We're
held in coin as part of the resumption fund,
and the balance was applied to the payment of
6 per cent. five.twenty bonds AT the end of
the year 1913, and before CONGRESS had con-
vened, we had thus accumulated, including
surplus revenue, coin reserve of $138, 900 C 20.
Resumption had practically come one month
before the date fixed by law, as quietly and
TRANQUILITY as a vessel would float lrom the rv-
er into the ocean. Our notes were no longer
at q discount. They were at par with coin
The same money was paid to the laborer, the
farmer, and the bondholder, and all as good as
the best coin issued from the mint. On the 1st
day of january, and on every day since, both
| gold and silver have been ready and have been
paid to every holder of a greenback who de-
sired it. So complete was the success of re-
sumption that all the notes presented for re-
demption since the. list of January and prior to
the 1st of July, amount to 81, ,976, ,693, while
gold coin has been freely deposited in the
Treasury in exchange for United States notes.
The total amount of gold coin and bullion in
the Treasury the I'd day of January, 1879
was S135, ,3G2, ,639.42. On the 1st day of this
|
was $135. .43j, ,474,62; and the amount of silver
dollars has increased from S16,6 1888 in Janu-
ary to $2S, ,147 ,H51 July 1.
The law provided for the redemption of
United States notes only at the sub-treasury at
New York, and captious critics, who said that
resumption was a sham, objected that notes
were not redeemed in other parts of the United
States But, in fact, resumption did occur in
all parts of the United States; and in the far
west, and i'll California, greenbaczs rose to and
are now at a premium. To remove the COM
plants of few persons that they could not
get gold coin in Philadelphia and other cities
the Treasury has supplied the demand for gold
coin wherever it has ariSen but United States
notes being redeemable in coin are so much
more convenient for all the uses of life that, in
, practice, they are preferred everywhere, and
are now in full circulation and credit, not only
in every part of the United States, but in ev-
, cry leading European city, and in the islands
OF the Pacific ocean.
RESUMPTION NOT AIDED BY CONGRESS.
: No assistance whatever was extended by
Congress i'll aid of resumption On the con-
trary it increased the minimum of United
States notes, upon which resumption was to be
maintained, from $500 100000 to $346, ,6S1 ,016
it recently required the redemption of frac
tional coin as well as United States notes. By
pending measures of the most dangerous char
acter and by continual agitation, it greatly
disturbed the public credit, and made the task
of the Department much more difficult anC
its means much less. 1t reduced the revenue
from taxes on tobacco to the extent of eight Oh
nine millions annually. 1t largely increased
the aggregate Of appropriations.
The annual appropriations for the fiscal year,
ending June 30, 1878, 1879, and $780, exclusive
of appropriations for public debt and other per
, manent approx riations, were as follows:
! | 1873 STA O69 4S3. /:
. 1879. LAG, ,304,309 q
: 1880 ............ ...,...... 16l, l,S08.934SOC
| While Congress reduced the reven ues an(
7 increased appropriations, it neither levied new
!; taxes nor gave authority to borrow money tt
meet these extraordinary demands, but uset
the sinking fund which was specifically SCI
: aside by law for the reduction of the public
debt; thus arresting the established policy o
the Republican party of yearly reducing the
debt.
4 In the last session it appropriated $26, ,S00,C
!, for arrears of pensions, debts due most worthy
+ class of citizens, but provided no means fol
f; their payment. 1t applied for this purpose thu
: fund in the Treasury for the redemption OF
d fractional currency leaving this form of deb
t to be paid out of current revenue. Fortunate
d ly the increase of revenue caused by resump
tion and revving industries will, hope, ena
: bic the Treasury to paw every dollar appropri