Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-04-22
The Condition Of the Treasury.

~ Ae9SAta euS uisSultLlHuduCe Oh the
issue of gold certificates in compliance
with the law has no significance at
| all. There is no particular reason
why the law should require their is
sue to be discontinued when the gold
in the Treasury is below hundred
millions, but as it is the law it must
be complied with. OF course, it makes
not the slightest difference to the bus
mess of the country whether gold
circulates as coin or as certificates
that the gold has been deposited in
the Treasury and is the property of
the holder of the certificate. Ii is sus-
pected by some the during the 'pinch-
es" under the last Administration
gold certificates were issued on depos-
its of paper. If that was done, 1t was
illegal and scandalous, liable to lead
to the most demoralizing abuses, but
it is not likely that such practices, if
they existed, had anything to do with
the recent order for the suspension Of
the issue of certificates on deposit Of
gold.
The only significance attaching to
this action is as it calls attention 20
the condition of the Treasury. 1t now
contains surplus of a hundred mil
lion in gold, held as a reserve for the
greenbacks, but oyer and above this
there is little or no "free" money Of
any kind, gold, silver on paper. The
few millions of surplus actually in the
Treasury are mostly In coin of denom-
nations below the dollar, which have
only limited legal tender quality.
OF course, under the circumstances,
gold is scarce in the Treasury because
there is no surplus in the Treasury Of
any kind-excepting the hundred
millions in gold mentioned above.
This being the case there courses are
open to the Secretary of the Treasury
in meeting the requirements Of the
Sherman Bullion storage act, which
requires certificates issued on deposits
Of silver bullion TO be redeemed either
in gold or silver coin.
Flrst-He may pay silver coin on
all notes issued on the deposit of sill
yer bullion.
Second--Ife may use every dollar
of the hundred million OF surplus
gold in Treasury in taking up the
sherman Silver Bullion legal tenders.
ThiFd-He must either do one of
the two things above or borrow gold
at interest and keep on borrowing it
without limit as the Wall Street Gold
Ring raids the depleted Treasury.
Of course, it would be pleasantest
to do nothing at all if that were pos
sibie, but as it not, the Secretary must
provide for the payment of coin on
demand for the Sherman legal tenders
issued on silver bullion.
To borrow gold to pay these bas-
tard notes would be to proclaim to
this country and to the world at large
that the Administration means to
treat the silver money Of the country
not as cash, an asset Of the people, '
but as debt Of the people, liability |
against them which they must be {
forced to redeem in gold. no matter t
what the price the Gold Ring charges
for it, Of course, no Democratic adj ]
ninistration vii! do that. i
The alternative then is to either a
spend the gold surplus OF hundred :
million in taking up the bastard legal
ender silver bullion notes issued I'M .
Ter the Sherman act OF else TO redeem
hem in silver coined from the bullion
N which they are issued.
1t seems TO US that merely to state 81
his case is to remove all doubt Of N
he proper course 70 pursue 81
Notes issued on silver bullion oughb Ii
a fairness to be redeemed in coin q
ro@ .ha bHiliJn yn which they are