The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-18
EX-sECRETARY M'CULLOCH.
| His views as to the National FinanceS-NO
| Cause for Immediate Alarm.

Washington Special.
ExSecretary of the Treasury McCulloch was
interviewed, to-day in reference TO the presens
financial condition of the Government and gave
his views substantially as follows:
II do not think there is any immediate neces-
sity for alarm, for the conditions at present ar0
greatly in our favor. Every enc knows thas
business has been In depressed state for some
time and that this is likely to continue. The
fact is production is greater than consumption.
Not so great many years ago Great Britain was
The workshop of the world. All the raw material
went tnc."a and was paid for in her commodities.
Then she manufactured 1t and sold 1t at her own
profit. OF course, she Gecame very rich. Now
nearly every nation is engaged in manufacture
ing, and the result is. an overproIlction. We
don't consume as much as did, because we
know that 1t is a season of business depression,
and so we are cautious in our expenditures We
feel poorer this year than we did last, and last
year we felt poorer than the year before. How
long this will last, how long it will be before we
begin TO increase our consumption, can not be
predicted, but it may be safely asserted that
consumption will be increased, which will, of
course, absorb that which is now produced, be-
yond our necessities. 1t is true that the gold
surplus in the Treasury is very much lessened,
but the conditions of trade are in our favor; our
imports are greater than our exports and lust
now there is no ground for experimenting that
the Government will not be able to meet all it's
obligations in gold for some time to come OF
if the coinage of silver at the present rate
must come to silver basis.
''When Germany received a thousand million
Of dollars from France as the war idemnity-a
sum almost uncomfortable and certainly incon-
celvable to a German-She thought she could
place herself on an equal footing with Great
Britain, and so she demOnetiZed silver. That
was the first black eye that silver received Then
the other countries comprising the Latin Union
followed her example, and so there is no
European country that has a bimetallic cur
rency. In all our foreign trade, therefore we
must do business upon gold basis. l do not
think we ought to make any radical change in
our financial system at present, but wait until
the initiative is taken by some of the European
powers | believe that some of them, Germany
especially, is feeling the effects of the demoneG-
cation OF silver, and sees that mistake was
made.
'One thing can be done to put silver into cir
cuation III this country, and not have it contin-
ually accommodating in the Treasury vaults, and
that is stop the issue of U. S. notes of small
denominations. You rarely find anything less
than FIVE pound note in England, and her
smaller currency with the exception of the
sovereign and half sovereign, is silver. If we
cease printing one and two dollar u. S. notes
that will release the gold that is held in tho
Treasury to redeem them, and will force the
people to use silver as change"
"Do you think there should be an increase in
the weight of the silver dollar9"
Il do not think that there should be any
change just at present. nor until agreement
is reached with the nations OF Europe as 20 the
status silver shall occupy in international COM
mercial transactions Ii, as Is evidently feared,
the gold surplus in the Treasury should run
down 80 low that the Government would be UNI
able to meet its Obligations in that coin, but
would be compelled to make payments in silver,
then gold would be at premium, and those
banks and individuals who have been storing up
this coin would realize large profits. The pro-
position of the banks to Treasurer Jordan renders
such state of things impossible at present L
think that the agitation of this subject is I'M
fortunate, as it tends TO create feeling of dis
trust and uncertainty. Some few may know Of
an impending danger, and take measures to
guard against it. So long as they do this quietly
the public mind is not excited and no uneasi-
ness is felt; but soon as the probable calamity
is discussed, even to the means of averting lis
effects, then the fear of it's approach becomes
general, and men become timid as to the results
of the proposed preventive measures ] fear
that the very conference that was intended to be
of assistance to the Government may excite q
deeper feeling OF apprehension in the public
mind than the circumstances really warrant, and
so cause even greater stringency in business
than at present. AS said before, I do not
think the conditions are such as to cause any
fear that the gold surplus will reach as low an
ebb that the Government will be compelled to
avail itself of the offer of the New York banks
for some time to come-certanly not before the
assembling of Congress"