Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-02-16

NlOuSu ltCtlNtu III NlOluJlUl vi law,
that did more to prevent any run on
the treasury than all other acts the
secretary of the treasury, now senator
from Ohio: ever did. never blamed
him for receiving them. What | blame
congress for is that it does not make
them receivable for customs by law,
and not let them stand merely on exec.
utive orders. Ii they had been received
in 1875, before you passed your Tesump
tiOn law, at the custom houses as they
were received in 1879 they would have
been as good as gold then, and there
would have been no necessity for sell
ing dollar of the t9j 100000 Of bonds,
for which the secretary paid II per
cent, in order to lay away gold to pay
them with; and the very moment
we got the silver dollar again re-
stored as iull legal-tender, and
put it in the hands Of the secretary of
the treasury, that moment the green
back was safe, and the bOndhOlders
could not make it bad. Their struggle
has been to get clear of silver ever
since, because it did make the green
back good the very moment it could
be rendered as payment in full when
redemption Of the greenback was de-
manded. Hence the effort to stop the
coinage or circulation of silver; hence
the effort to get clear of it in every
form. The country has been made to be-
lieve that such was the redundancy of
the silver dollar, now that the sccre-
tary could not get it out, that there
was no way of getting it into the cir
culaton Of the country, and they tried
to trighten lis by demanding houses
be built to hold it. When the facts
came to be ascertained, there were less
than 100000 Of silver in the treasu-
ry which belonged to us; indeed, less
than 100000 is there to-day that is
not represented by silver certificates,
and yet every senator here, and every
man in the country has had it dug
donged in his ears for months and years
that there was SO much Of it, and it
was so useless, that the country was
sick Of ii and did not want it, that We
ought TO stop the coinage of it, and
the present secretary of the treasury
repeats the same statements, while we
know that less than Sl,OOOOOO of it is
in the treasury which belongs TO the
United States, and is not represented
by certificates.
The people want these silver certiG-
Gates the people take them gladly, and
every one that is issued is backed by IA
silver dollar; and yet when our officials
come to state the amount in the debt
statement, they put in the gold and
silver certificates together as $4,000
600, and it is stated in such Il way as
to mike us believe there is an immense
accumulation Of silver lying idle. 1t
is only when the facts are developed
that it is found there is not any con-
siderable amount in circulation.
Itseems to me the most important part
of this bill, and tie one that will save
the most interest, and by no possibility
can do any harm, is to take the secre-
tary of the treasury and this business
of speculation ont of the stock and
bOAd market DD not give him the
discretion he has had, but limit him to
a given amount. Let the people Of the
country manage Their own business
without his being either bull or Il
bear in the markets of New \ ork or
elsewhere. Pass laws that he shall and
must obey. This would he far better
than relying on executive discretion:
The present reserve was fixed 10y eXecu-
tive discretion; it is sought to be main.
tanned by executive discretion 1t
ought to have been established by
Legislative order, and the proper
amount should be maintained by legis.
lative order, and the power to put it up
or down, or gamble or affect the busi-
ness of the country should he taken
away from the secretary of the treasury,
and he ought not to be allowed to in.
terfcre either one way or the other
with the business Of the people, which
he always will do as long as he has the
power. lie is simply our servant, not
= our master. Think of it! What tire.
mendous power You are giving to the
secretary of the treasury, to allow him
: to say whether he will receive legal
tender notes at tHe custom houses OF
not. The law will not allow him to
take them, but he has done it for three
years. He may stop Waking them to-
morrow, and he can almost bankrupt
the country or create plnic at least
: by reversing his own order, Ought moi
, that power to stop the receipt of green
: backs at the custom house be ordered
l by law, and be taken away from him
= Ought we not to have law to define
his duty, and not leave it to executive
1 discretion2 We ought to fix the limi
; of the reserve now at 100000, 900, az
I Il maximum, 50 that he shall know tina
Y he has to come to us, aEd not resort t
5 his own caprice to determine his ac
1 ton. Let him know that he is ou
e agent, and nothing more.