New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-19
SILVER P1YNENTS NOT NECESSARY.

In the opinion of The Sun, sunless Secretary
sManning abandons his proclaimed purpose oi
excepting in the Treasury $l0O,0OOOOO IN gold
as a reserve fund" we shall reach silver pay
-ments by tho lst of August, or Mt least the
LIST of September" True. provided the Secre-
tary violates the law, and refuses to use powers
intrusted to him for the express purpose of
maintaining the public credit. Otherwise the
exp,ctatjon seems To he based upon n grave
mistake. The Sun supposes that gold will run
out of the Treasury during the next twelve
weeks as fast ms it did during twelve weeks
after the panic last year. and that the Secretary
has no means of getting more gold into the
Treasury. But the fact ia that las has ample
power 10 sell bond, for the purpose of main
tanning the reserve for the redemption of legal
tender notes, and it is made his duty to exercise
that power whenever there is danger that the
reserve may otherwise become insufficient La
one weeks time, if he deemed it necessary, the
Secretary could put into tho Treasury
500. OOO. 900 more in gold by selling either
of tho descriptions Of bon Is described in the
act of 1870 which he is authorized by the
Resumption act to sell ito the extent neces-
sary to carry out the resumption therein di-
rectcd Hence. even II The Sun were right III
it's gloomy antcipatiOns in other respects, there
would be no need of abandoning gold payments
and the Secretary would be guilty of violation
of law if he should refuse to employ the powers
q ven to him for the purpose OF maintaining
such payments.
IL will be said by some dishonest regulators,
hut not, assurelly. by Tie Sun, that the act of
1875 does not require redemption of United
States notes in gold, but only in coin" But
in 1873 On act had formally recognized, what
had long been the fact, that the silver dollar
had ceased to be n coin OF the United States.
Long before 1869 this coin had gone entirely
ont Of use, so that when the act of 1869 WAS
passed soemnly pledging the public faith TO
the redemption of legal tender notes in coin"
it was known by all creditors Of the Nation,
and was by lawmakers intenl led to be known,
that such redemption could be in gold coin
only. This existing state OF facts the law of
1873 rec jgnized and lcgdlized, 80 that the gold
coins became the only standard of value. aud
were the only "colns" OF tho United States
legally available, except for the payment of
small sums, at the time the act of 1875 was
passed That act therefore required redemp-
ton in gold coin, and the Secretary of the
Treasury has no right to assume that the Na.ion
of its agreement, when it authorized the coinage
Of silver dollars again In 1878. Fidelity to
the public credit requires that the Silver act
shall be construed TO make silver dollars legal
tender for the payment of such public debts
only as were created after Its enactment, and
without express stipulation requiring gold pay
ments.
| In this state of facts, Secretary Manning will
not feel authorized to allow the public credit to
be destroyed "by the LIST of August, or Mt least
the LIST of September" inasmuch rs no is by law
required and intrusted with ample power to
prevent such a calamity But he will not have to
sell any bonds of the United States, il he man
ages wisely, for no can so curlail the use Of
silver certificates that she gold receipts of the
Treasury shall suffice to replcuish his reserves
and protect the public credit. If it were not be-
ieved that he could be trusted to do these
things, the public confidence that now exists as
to the commercial future would ba quickly de-
| of