The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-04-07
Making a total Of full tender gold and
silver coin aud gold and silver bull


SlSS 900 900
Or about $50, 100000 more than the Gov.
ernments balance. Assuming that this
$50, 900 will cover all liabilities spe
officially payable in coin, and that the re.
naming assets will Offset the other liza.
bilities, and the balance in the Treasury
may properly be counted as coin bal
anCe.
As the current revenues more than
meet current expenses, this fund of$158,.
600 900, as it stood on the first of March,
constituted a reserve fund.
The primary object Of this coin accu.
mutation, it is we'll understood
not specifically set apart as much bv
law was for resumption purposes. It
is to the question whether 80 large
fund is any longer needed for that pur.
pose, and whether part Of it may not
now, with entire safety, be applied to
the extinction of the interest-bearing
debt, l invite the consideration of the
honorable Secretary, and beg to offer
some reasons for the opinion here ex-
pressed, and which many others hold,
that part of this fund may, without in
the least endangering resumption, be
applied to the redemption of bonds.
According to the estimates of the Di-
rector Of the Mint and the Comptroller
OF the currency, the coin, bullion and
paper in the United States, constituting
the total r.oney volume, including ali
reserves in the Treasury and in the
banks was, on the first of November
last, $l,302000,000' OF this $780, 600 900
was paper and $6020OOO 900 coin and bul.
lion. From this should be deducted
however, the Treasury surplus of say
$3.50 OO0.0 000-for, practically, as now |
held, this is not available for monetary
use, and does not act at all on prices. In |
other words,so far as the effective money |
volume is concerned, it would be the |
same if this Treasury reserve did not ex-
ist. Deducting $3.50, 1000 from the to-
tai of$l, 1902 900 900 given above, and we
have 81 152 900 900 as the actual money
volume in the country, including every
species of reserves except the Resump.
tion Fund in the Treasury. Separating
this volume into paper and coin, we have
$500 900 900 of paper to $l62,0O0000 of
coin and bullion. That is, our paper
volume is now supplemented by $462-
900 600 of coin and bullion. Or if we 60
a step further, as we would to make sure
our reasoning, and separate all reserves
from circulation, we have S898 900 900 of
actual circulation to $344 100000 of re.
serves of all kinds, not including the
Treasury reserve of $150,000000 And
going still another step, and separating
the actual circulation into coin aud pa.
per, and we have $508 000 900 of paper
to $274 100000 of coins That is, the
proportion of coin to paper in the United
States, including the Treasury surplusis,
coin $6l2,000,0O0, paper $500, 100000.
The proportion of coin to paper outside
of the permanent Treasury reServe (suppos.
ing that to be all Coin) is, coin $462 co.,
600, paper 5000 900, while the proportion
of coin to paper in the circulation, out.
side Of all reserve is, coin $274,OO0,000,
paper $508000.0 900.
Now, the point important to consider
is that in the total money volume in the
United States the paper now stands sup
plemented by $6l2OOO 900 of coin and
bullion,and in the volume outside of the
permanent Treasury reserve the paper
Is supplemented by 1852, 100000 of coin
and bullion, and the paper in actual cir
Culation in the hands Of the people is
supplemented by$273 900 900 of coin.
Now, the first well settled monetary
principle upon which l lay special stress
ls this: That as long 80 our paper cur
renCy is restricted to it's utmost vol
ume- or substantially to that-it is i'm.
possible for it to expel the coin from the
The second principle is, that
currency consisting of part paper and
part coin, circulating together, will vary
precisely as purely metallic currency
would vary. For the volume of ConVerti.
bic currency which any country can
is as much determined by it's
course of trade as purely metallic cur.
rency is. The volume may rise or fall,
but the change, in a mixed currency,
will, Of course, be in the metallic part of
the volume, and that will be seen most
ly in the metallic reserves. But with us,
if the volume of paper be not greatly ex.
tended, it can not possibly work an ex.
pulsion of the metals. Under what cir.
cumstances, then, would paper in any
quantity be presented to the Treasury
Tor coinP If the proportion of paper to
Ioin (the whole volume being deter
mined by the laws of trade) to circula-
lion, or in reserves outside of the Trea.
sury, is greater than the people, under
existing circumstances, choose to have it,
hen paper would be taken to the Trea.
.ury for coin. but for no other reason
Before resumption was tried it was an
open question as to what proportion of
The whole volume (coin and paper) the
people would choose to have in the kind