Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-11-30
OUR FINANCIAL METHODS.



the revenue of tie United States is
coming in with such rapidity as to en-
barrass the treasury, or rather, We
should say, so rapidly as to make the
treasury, as at present managed, an
embarrassment and restraint to busi-
ness. In the ten working days from the
tst to the 18th of this month, the re-
ceipts exclusive of the deposits ofsilver
certificates, amounted to "a 150, 900, as
compared with f2,750,eO0 in the cor
responding period of 1881, the payments
in the two periods being SS, GOO and
e3,750,0O0 respectively. In the pay
ments this year are included not only
the ordinary government expenditure,
but also the amount paid out in redemp-
ton of called bonds and yet in spite of
these exceptional disbursements. the
receipts largely exceed the outgoings,
and money accumulated AT the treas
ury. The effect ofsuch an accumula-
ton, is, of course, to diminish the out.
eide supplies, and thus to tighten the
money market. Just at present its ten
dency in that direction is counteracted
by other influences, but at time when
the market is, from OF her causes, dis
posed to stringency, the operations of
the treasury are apt to intensity the
strain. A few weeks ago, for instance,
the secretary OF the treasury, in order
to avert threatened disturbance of the
market, had to resort to the expedient
of Offering to redeem, without rebate
of interest, f5,0O0,000 of 81 per cent.
bonds; and even this device for releas-
ing the treasury funds has, as already
shown, proved only partially effective.
Nor is it only that money is locked up.
What is possibly even worse is that the
extent and duration of the lookup is,
to large extent, dependent on the will
of one man. The secretary of the
treasury has discretionary power to
call or refrain from calling in bonds for
redemption, and thus to release or keep
in hand the government balances.
Upon his action it thus often depends
whether there is to be an easy or
stringent money market; and, as no
one can say beforehand what action he
may take, his power over the market
introduces into business fresh element
OF uncertainty. 1t is inevitable, also,
that the power given to him win at
times be wrongly used, not will
ingy, but because all men make
mistakes, and the liability to error is all
the greater when man with no special
training for the wolk is made to med
die with the structure of such extreme
intricacy and delicacy as that of the
money market. FIom all points of
view, therefore, the present system of
dealing with the funds of tho United
States treasury is a bad one, and
strong desire for the institution of some
better method is now being expressed.
1t is suggested that the funds of the
treasury, with the exception of the
stock of gold to be held as reserve
for the government note circulation,
should be deposited with the national
banks, just as our treasury funds are
deposited with the Bank of England,
and no doubt the adoption of this
plan would be a great improvement.
To be really effective, however, it
should be accompanied by reduction
of taxation, for as long as the govern
ment continues to exact a revenue
from f20,0O0,000 to 10000, 900 in ex-
cess of its ordinary expenditures, its
operations must prove a source of die
turbance to business. London Econo-
mast.