Morning journal and courier., 1891-01-30

the wealth and prosperity of the country. | The subject is very broad and my time
 very limited. I shall, therefore, confine
 my remarks to the two chief instrumental ities- transportation and money. A na-
 tion's wealth and prosperity are usually in
 proportion to the extent and success of
 commerce, and commerce itself is depend
 ent upon the adequacy and adaptation of
 these two essential instruments. The his
 tory of all civilized countries attests the I fact that the nation best equipped 1 in these respects rapidly becomes the l most powerful, the richest and most prosperous. Our own country is no excep- ton to the rule. Our increase of wealth from 1870 to 1880, as compared with that l 573, 481 ,493, Great Britain $3, ,250, ,000, 900, France s1, 75,OOO,0OO, Germany $685. COG, ,OOO.
 Our home markets in 1880 absorbed five | times as much of our manufactured prod ucts as Great Britain exported of hers to all the markets of the world. It is essen tial to commerce that the currency with which it is conducted be adapted, both in quantity and quality, to the wants of trade, as the vehicles of transportation should be adapted to their purposes. If the circula- tion be deficient trade is crippled, prices fall, obligations are dishonored, distrust is
 
 ensue. If, on the other hand, circulation be redundant, prices become temporarily inflated, wild speculations are stimulated, debts are recklessly contracted, credit is dangerously expanded and for a time trade seeks to float, when the failure of some large firm or banking house discloses the true situation and the entire fabric of fcti- tious prosperity falls with crash even more disastrous than can be produced bya deficient circulation.
 The ideal financial system would be one that should furnish just enough of ob- solutely sound currency to meet the legiti- mate wants of trade and no more, ,and that should have enough elasticity of volume to adjust itself to the varying necessities of the people. know this seems difficult of attainment, but believe it is substanti- ally possible These disasters have all ways come when unusual activity in busi- ness has caused an abnormal demand for money as in the autumn, for the move ment of our immense crops. There will always be great danger at those times under any cast-iron system of currency such as we now have. Had it not been for the peculiar conditions which enabled the United States treasury to disburse over $75 1000, 900 in two and a half months last autumn I am convinced that the stringency in August and September would have resulted in widespread financial ruin. Like commercial conditions will fire quently occur, but it is not at all probable that they can be encountered and their consequences averted by like action of the government; nor is it desirable that such power should be lodged with the secretary of the treasury. I am thoroughly con vinced that better method can be devised which will, in a large degree, place the power of extension and contraction in the hands of the people themselves. The op- portunity for securing such a currency may be found in our bonded debt, which should, in my judgement, be in part exchanged for interconvertible bonds bearing a low rate of interest and always interchangeable for money at the will of the holder. Of course I cannot now enter upon an argu- ment on this subject, but may be excused for briefly mentioning the only objection I have ever heard to the plan which has any apparent weight, viz, that it would cause an outflow of money from the treasury when speculations run high and an inflow in times of threatened panic and would there fore tend to inf1ate imitation and contract contraction. This objection was conclu- sively answered and the policy triumph antly vindicated in 1862 and 1868 under the administration of Salmon P. Chase, who was one of the ablest secretaries of the treasury we have ever had. MT. Chase had urged and congress had authorized what he called the ''savings bank of the people" whereby they could deposit in the treasury up to the limit of $100, ,O0O, 900 and receive an interconvertible bond draw ing not more than five per cent. interest, which bond was again convertible into cash at the will of the holder on ten days notice. It is well that the year of 1862 and the first half of 1863 was period of most
 1T continually increased, until on June 30, 1863, they had over-done the limit and amounted to $104 ,934, 102.