The Portland daily press., 1888-12-05

the past few years the decrease Of circulation
caused by the cancellation Of national bank
notes and by the deposit Of money with the
treasurer by the banks to redeem their notes
when presented for that purpose has been but
little exceeded by the increased circulation Of
silver certificates and of standard silver dollars;
thus silver seems TO have filed the vacuum
caused by the retirement Of national bank cir
culation. The circulating medium in small
denominations has been largely converted into
silver certificates. And, finally business has
largely increased in the South and in portions
Of the country where there are few banking
facilities. All of these causes have CO operated
to postpone any evil effects which might arise
from continued and excessive coinage Of the
silver dollar; but the danger still exists, and
should be guarded against. This can be done
by the adoption Of the recommendation Of my
last report, viz, by fixing the maximum Of
silver which shall belong to the government,
and by providing that when it was exceeded by
SS,000,000, the purchase of silver bullion
should cease until the amount owned by the
government should be again reduced to such
maximum, or by cancelling United States
notes TO the amount Of the excess over the
maximum, provided the government held the
notes; if not. then by ceasing the purchase of
bullion. Such plan, if adopted, would pro-
Nluc u SAFETY NuiNc Which WOutu Dc -OptTh-
tive and would assure the country against any
possible danger from silver; for as soon as it
exceeded the amount which could be absorbed
in the business of the country. il would begin
to flow into the treasury in payment of taxes.
and would be there held until business called
for 1t, and when the governments ownership
fell below the maximum, the purchase Of the
bullion would again begin.
Thus the country's business demand would
regulate the country's silver circulation, and
there would be little danger of depreciation in
the value of the silver dollar as compared with
the gold dollar. l venture to predict that If
some such safeguard is not adopted and il
thereby the silver dollar is suffered at
some time to lose part of its purchasing pow
er, that the people viii demand the actual
stoppage of the silver bullion purchase, and
furthermore, the use by the government Of the
whole or portion of the silver coinage profits
for the redemption of the silver dollars which
are held by them. 1t is to be hoped that before
such crisis is reached the nations Of the world
will have agreed upon some standard Of bimet-
alism which will forever maintain fixed ratio
between gold and silver, but in the meantime
there is no occasion TO burden ourselves
with stock Of silver which may be trouble
some.
COIN CERTIFICATES.
The system of coin circulation by means of
certificates has certain conveniences and ad-
vantages, but it is a costly form Of money last
year the cost Of the $l05, 1000 900 silver certi6-
Gates issued was about $42l coo, and as more
and more OF these certificates are converted into
smaller denominations this cost is likely to
increase. There are also certain dangers con-
nected with il; for example, in time Of war,
the possession by the government Of such vast
a.. IL.
barrassing, and at time when the government
was in financial need the temptation 10 spend
the coin held against outstanding certificates
might prove too strong. The loss by the
abrasion Of the coin, if il was in circulation,
would not equal the cost Of the certificates; on
the whole think il may be said that the cur
rency Of the country would be more safe and
more economical if the coin were in actual
circulation instead Of being held by the gov
eminent on pledge against outstanding certif-
cations, as is now the case. But whatever
may be thought about the wisdom of the
certificate system. there can be no doubt that
with it the further coinage Of gold and silver,
except subsidiary com, is not necessary or wise.
Far more gold and silver coins are now in the
possession Of the government than probably
ever will be needed for the redemption Of
certificates. Further accumulation Of the
PtcOiOuo hcea4s ohOuAu Dc Ouly III tne lOfm Oh
bullion. which can be kept more safely and
counted more easily than the coin. 1t this
suggestion was adopted all but one of our
mints might be closed, and large useless ex-
pense be saved annually. | earnestly call the
attention Of the Congress to this subject.
NoN-PARTIsAN CIVIL SERVICE.
Almost all Of the subordinate service Of this
department is now appointed under the civil
service system Of rules. But also fve import
ant branches Of the treasury department are in
large measure removed from political influ-
ences and yet are not under what is technical
ly known as the civil service system. They are
the coast and geodetic survey, life saving SER
vice, the revenue marine, the marine hospital
service, and the lighthouse service. Much has
been gained in this regard in all Of these
branches, particularly the latter, during the
past three years and if their administration
continues to be conducted in the present spirit
il will be Of benefit to the country. II the
customs and internal revenue services were
amalgamated into one service and then made
strictly non partisan like the revenue marine,
it could be freed from its local character and
made general service, so that peculiarly ef-
hcient collector. appraiser. or other officer,
could be sent to port where his services were
specially needed; and the location Of these
officers might be changed from time to time,
thus providing an efficient check upon each
other. Such system, if adopted, would in my
Judgment promote efficiency and economy. It
has been tried TO a small extent during the past
year with very good results.