Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-07-13


DC held in the treasury as reserve
Tor resumption purposes, This act.
which took effect January |. 1879.
contained provision that on and
after that date nil notes ana claims
against the government should be
paid in coin. at the option Of the
holder.
This sl0o. .ooe.o 600 provided for.
constitutes the reserve Of which so
much has recently been said and
written. aud all gold in the treasury
IN excess of this sum is termed free
gold. Under the silver net OF 1878.
which wns sabseanept b. ths .gesum.
ption act, silver certificates were au-
thorized upon deposits Of standard
dollars, the impossibility Of circnl-
ating the coins being from the first
recognized. Noprovision was made
in this act for gold redemption but
each successive administration has
deemed it wise TO deal with these
notes and coins the same as with the
legal tender notes and the act of
1890 contains the following:
That upon demand of the holder
OF any treasury notes herein pro-
videf for the secretary Of the treas
ury shall, under such regulations
as he may prescribe, redeem such
notes in gold or silver coin at his
discretion, it being the established
policy Of the United States to main
tain the two metals on u parity with
each other upon the present legal
ratio or such ratio rs may be pro-
vided by law.
1t sill be seen that ample author
ity has been given to maintain our
fiat money on par with gold but
no means have been provided in any
Of the acts following the resumption
act to enable the secretary to obtain
gold for the purpose of maintaining
this parity. 1t has, however. been
no difficult matter To maintain gold
parity on account Of the favorable
conditions existing during the fol-
lowing years.
The Situation To-day.
From 1879 to 1891 the balance
OF trade was, rs a general thing.
largely in our favor, and this covers
q period Of phenomenal growth and
prosperity, which seems to date
from the period when specie resum-
ptlon placed us in financial accord
with the balance Of the world. In
1879 the gold in the treasury a
mounted to s135, 900, 900, and the
total estimated in the country was
*244 1853, 900. The total United
States notes was E34G, 900, 900, so
that the gold on hand was 30 per
cent of the liability. In estimating
treasury liabilities for redemption
do not include national bank notes
or subsidiary silver coin.
In 1891 the gold circulation of the
was estimated at over $780,
900, 900, an increase over 1879 of
nearly 100000, 900. The silver
issues had increased the treasury
liabilities by s344, 900, 900, making,
with legal tenders, total OF $780,
900, 900. The gold in the treasury,
however, had increased to sl?7,
900, 900, leaving the reserve 22 per
cent. This was still sufficient, but
the increasing liabilities, under the
Bland bill, clearly indicated future
and it would have arrived
sooner or later. The Sherman bill
simply accelerated the effects OF the
Bland bill.
The treasury balance continued
to fall after 1890 as follows: Janu-
ary, 1891, 141, 900, 900; 1892, sII9,-
900, 900; January, 1898, s10S, ,O00,-
900; and at this time it is very
slightly in excess OF the 500, ,O0O,-
900 minimum reserve required to
be maintained. The liabilities have
increased at this date-May /, 1898
to 1922, 900, 900, leaving $780,
900, 900, reserve Of less than IL
per cent.
The demand for gold for export
now threatens the 500, 900, 900 re-
serve, and under the resumption
act, when this occurs, the deficit
must be restored by sale Of bonds.
Our Ridiculous Position.
Can anything more ridiculous be
conceived than the position this
nation 10 threatened to be reduced
to. Only short time ago it pur-
chased its per cent bonds at enor-
nous premiums in order to get rid
of its surplus money and now it is
proposed that its government shall