Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-02-04
TO COVER THE RESERVE.
The Natural Sequel to the sillion-DoIla
Congress.

| The Natural Sequel to the Billion Dollar
Congress.
Among the bills that have recently
been introduced in the house at WASH
ington is one to repeal the law Great
| ing the sinking fund and another to
cover into the treasury the one hum
dred million-dollar gold reserve held
for the redemption of greenbacks.
These are natural sequels to the acts
| of the Fifty-first congress. By abol-
| ishing some taxes on imports ami in
| creasing others SO as to make them
prohibitory, and by largely increasing
| the permanent appropriations, that
congress put an end to the excess of re-
| ceipts over expenditures and therefore
| put an end to the reduction of the pub
| lie debt for some years to come. BY
stopping the redemption of four and
| one-half per cent bonds before the
| end of the last fiscal year Secretary
| Foster threw a part of last years sur
/ plus over into the present year. and so
managed to meet in part the require
| ments of the sinking fund for the cur
rent fiscal year. But in his annual re-
| port the secretary admits that the
| total amount TO be applied to the fund
| for the year will fall nearly eleven
| million dollars short of the require
| ment, while for next year he estimates
| that there will be only about fourteen
| million dollars to be so applied out of
| about fifty million dollars required
| Inasmuch as it will be impossible to
meet the requirements of the fund
| without additional taxation, it is natur-
| al enough that representatives should
| propose to abolish a statutory require
ment which cannot be met
The last congress covered into the
| treasury all the money which had been
| deposited by the national banks for the
| redemption OF their notes, amounting
to more than fifty four million dollars.
| 1t treated the money which had been
| so deposited and all that might be
| deposited thereafter not as trust
fund to be applied to the specific pur-
pose for which the fund was created,
| but as revenue applicable to any gov
| ernmental use. 1t was, in fact, APP
| piled to the purchase of bonds at a
| premium.
| Since the fund for the redemption OF
| bank notes has been so treated, why
not treat the one hundred million dol
| lars held for the redemption of green
backs in the same way? This is the
| question that arises in the mind of MIR.
| Watson, of Georgia, who has intro
| duced the bill to cover this money into
the treasury. Secretary Foster has
| said that he would not hesitate to
break into this fund if he should find
| it necessary to do so in order to meet
current expenditures. He will prob
| ably feel grateful to the democratic
| gentleman from Georgia for proposing
| to remove all doubt as to the legality
of this proceeding and to place the en-
tire fund at his disposal.
| Mr. Watson seems to be one of those
| philosophers who think that green
| backs are not promises to pay, which
| the government is bound in honor to
redeem and for the redemption OF
which on demand it is under obligation
| to provide, but ''absolute'' money, or
fiat" money. which is not redeemable
| any more than gold coin is redeemab BILE.
Rational men do not accept this theory.
| We have about three hundred and fifty
six million dollars of greenbacks out
standing. These green backs are notes
| promises to pay-and the government
stands pledged by the act of January
IA, 1875, to redeem them and to make
| adequate provision for their redemption
| in coin on demand A hundred millions
is not an extravagant reserve to hold
for this purpose. In addition to the
| greenbacks the government has issued
over seventy-eight million dollars OF
treasury notes in payment for silver
bullion, and it has declared its purpose
to hold these notes at par with gold. 1t
| is adding over fifty million ayear to the
| volume of these notes and it is bound
to make suitable provision for main
| tanning them at par. In addition to all
| this the government has outstanding
| over three hundred and twenty million
dollars of silver certificates which con-
| gress has promised to keep at par with
gold. There is, therefore, about seven
hundred and fifty-four million dollars
| of paper af1oat. with more coming at the
rate of over fifty million dollars year.
all of which congress has engaged to
keep at par with gold. The hundred
million dollars reserve is certainly none
too large for the purpose of keeping
| this growing mass of paper at par.
| And yet it is proposed to cover every
| dollar of it into the treasury and leave
all this paper without support. 1t
| would be more rational to provide for
| an increase of the gold serve.-Chi-
| cago Herald.