Morning journal and courier., 1885-12-09

| circulation of silver dollars worth eighty
 cents, side by side with gold dollars worth | one hundred cents, even within the limit
 \ that legislation does not run counter 10 the
 laws of trade, to be successful, must pc sec ! onded by the confidence of the people tha' ! both coins will retain the same purchasing \ power and be interchangeable at will. A | special effort has been made by the Secretary \ of the Treasury to increase the amount Of oul l silver coin in circulation; but the fact that large share of the limited amount thus pul \ out has soon returned to the public treasury in payment of duties leads to the belief that tho people do not now desire to keep It IT hand; and this, with the evident disposition to hoard gold, gives rise to the suspicion thai ! there already exists lack of confidence ! among the people touching our financial pro | cesses. There is certainly not enough silver 1 now in circulation to cause uneasiness; and ! the whole amount coined and now on hand | might. after @ time, be absorbed by the peo- | ple without apprehension; but it is the cease | less stream that threatens to overflow the I land which causes fear and uncertainty.
 | What has been thus far submitted upon ' this subject relates almost entirely to con- \ alterations of home nature, unconnected | with the bearing which the policies of other \ nations have upon the question. But It Is | perfectly apparent that line of action in re: | gard to our currency cannot wisely be settled upon or persisted in, without considering the | ' with whom we maintain intercourse through | commerce, trade and travel. An acknowl- \ edgment of this fact is found in the act by | virtue of which our silver is compulsorily ! coined. It provides that ''the President shall invite the governments of the countries composing the Latin Union, SO called, and ' of such other European nations as he may ! deem advisable, to join the United States in \ q conference to adopt common ratio be- tween gold and silver for the purpose of es- ! tablishing internationally the use of bime- tallic money and securing fxity of relative ! value between these metals"
 ! This conference absolutely failed, and a I similar fate has awaited all subsequent ef- fort in the same direction. And still we con | tinue our coinage of silver at ratio differ ent from that of any other nation. The most vital part of the silver coinage act remains inoperative and unexecuted, and without any \ ally or friend, we battle upon the silver field I in an illogical and losing contest.
 To give full effect to the design of Con | yress on this subject I have made careful | and earnest endeavor since the adjournment of the last Congress.
 To this end I delegated a gentleman well instructed in fiscal science:to proceed to the financial centers of Europe, and, in conjunc- ton with our ministers in England, France and Germany, to obtain a full knowledge of the attitude and intent of those governments in respect of the establishment of such an international ratio as would procure free coinage of both metals at the hints of those countries and our own. By my direction, our consul-general at Paris has given close attention to the proceedings of the congress of the Latin Union, in order to indicate our interest in it's objects and report its action.
 It may be said, in brief, as the result of these efforts, that the attitude of the leading
 powers remains substantially unchanged since the monetary conference of 1881, nor is it to be questioned that the views of these governments are in each instance supported by the weight of public opinion.
 The steps thus taken have therefore only
 more fully demonstrated the uselessness of
 further attempts at present, to arrive at any
 agreement the subject with other nations.
 In the mean time we accommodating sif-
 yer coin, based uEon our own peculiar ratio,
 to such an extent, and assuming so heavy Q
 burden to be provided for in any information
 al negotiations, as will render us an unde-
 sirable party to any future monetary confer
 ence of nations.
 It is significant fact that four of the five
 countries composing the Latin Union men
 tioned in our coinage act, embarrassed with
 their silver currency, have just completed an
 agreement among themselves that no more
 silver shall be coined by their respective gov
 srnments, and that such as has been already
 coined and in circulation shall be redeemed
 in gold by the country of it's coinage. The
 resort to this expedient by these countries
 may well arrest the attention of those who
 suppose that we can succeed without shock
 or injury in the attempt to circulate upon it's merits, all the silver we may coin under | the provisions of our silver coinage act. The condition in which our treasury may ! be placed by persistence in our present
 course is matter is & of eoneen s to every pa ernment to pay iii silver such of it's obliga-
 tions as should be paid in gold. Nor should
 our condition be such as to oblige us, in a prudent management of our affairs, to dis continue the calling in and payment of in terest-beafing obligations which we have the right now to discharge and thus avoid the payment of further interest thereon. The so-called debtor class, for whose bene- fit the continued compulsory coinage of sil- yer is insisted upon, are not dishonest because they are in debt: and they should not be l suspected of desire to jeopardize the fnan- cial safety of the country, in order that they may cancel their present debts by paying the same in depreciated dollars. Nor should it be forgotten that it is not the rich nor the money-lender alone that must submit to such a readjustment, enforced by the government
 and their debtors. The pittance of the widow and the orphan and the incomes of helpless benefciaries of all kinds would be dis asurously reduced. The depostors in sav- ings banks and in other institutions which hold in trust the savings of the poor, when their little accumulations are scaled down to l meet the new order of things, would, in their | distress, painfully realize the delusion of the promise made to them that plentiful money
 would improve their condition.
 We have now on hand all the silver dollars necessary to supply the present needs of the people and to satisfy those who from senti- ment wish to see them in circulation; and if | their coinage is suspended they can be readi- ly obtained by all who desire them. If the
 need of more is at any time apparent their
 coinage may be renewed.
 That disaster has not already evertaken us furnishes no proof that danger does not wait upon continuation of the present silver coinage. We have been saved by the most
 careful management and unusual ezpedients, by combination of fortunate conditions, and by a confident expectation that the course of the government in regard to silver coinage would be speedily changed by the action of Congress.
 Prosperity hesitates upon our threshold be- cause of the dangers and uncertainties sur rounding this question. Capital timidly shrinks from trade, and investors are unwill- ing to take the chance of the questionable shape in which the money will be returned to them, while enterprise halts at risk against which care and sagacious manage ment do not protect. As necessary consequence labor lacks employment, and suffering and distress are visited upon portion of our fellow-citizens especially entitled to the careful considera- ton of those charged with the duties of legis lation. No interest appeals to us so strongly for a safe and stable currency as the vast army of the unemployed.
 recommend tho suspension of the com pulsory coinage of silver dollars directed by the law passed in February, 1878.
 The reports of various departments are next considered .and the following recom- mendat1on is made concerning
 THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
 The condition of business in the courts of the United States is such that there seems to be an imperative necessity for remedial legis- 1 lation on the subject. Some of these courts | are so overburdened with pending causes that the delays in determining litigation l amount often to denial of justice Among the plans suggested for relief is one by the Attorney General. Its main features are: The | transfer of all the original jurisdiction of the Circuit courts to the District courts and an l increase of judges for the latter where neces- sary; an addition of judges to the Circuit courts and constituting them exclusively I courts of appeal, and reasonably limiting ap- peals thereto; further restriction of the right | to remove causes from the State to federal | courts; permitting appeals to the Supreme court from the courts of the District of Col umbia and the territories only in the sam 6 cases as they are allowed from State courts,