The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-12-04

IF with ali the favor now accorded the sugar
refining interest in our tariff laws. it still IAN
cuisines to the extent of closed refinerles ana
thousands of discharged workmen, it would
seem to present a hopeless case for reasona-
| BILE legislative aid.
Whatever else Is done or omitted, earn
estlv repeat here the recommendations L
have made in another portion of this COM
munication that the additional duty of one
| tenth of a cent per pound, laid upon sugar
imported from countries paying bounty on
its export, be abroeated. 1t seems to me that
exceedingly important considerations point
to the propriety of this amendment.
AMERICAN REGISTRY TO FOREIGN
BUILT VESSELS.
With the advent of new tariff policy
not only calculated to relieve the con-
sumers of our land in the COST of
their daily life, but to invite bet
ter development of American thrift and Gre
ate for use closer and more profitable COM
mercia relations with the rest of the world,
| it follows as logical and imperltive necessl-
ty that we should at once remove the cher OF
not the only obstacle which has so long pre-
vented our participation in the foreign carry
ing trade Of the sea.
A tariff built upon the theory that it Is well
| to check imports and that home market
should bound the industry and effort OF
| American producers, was fifty supplemented
| by refusal to allow American registry to
| vessels built abroad though owned and navl-
| gated by our people, thus exhibiting
Willingness to abandon all contest for the
advantages of American trans-oceanic
carriage. Our new tariff policy, Dull
| upon the theory that it is well to encourage
| such importations as our people need and
| that our products and manufacturers should
| find markets in every part of the lnhabltahle
| GLOBE is consistently supplemented by the
greatest possible liberty to our citizens In the
l 49, t,tr, in yXyh Rh
| our products and manufactures may De
| transported. The millions now paid to for
eigners for carrying American passengers
| and products across the sea should be turned
into American hands, Shipbuilding. which
has been protected to strangulation, should
| be revived by the prospect of profitable
! employment for ships when built, and the
| American sailor should be resurrected and
| again take his place-a sturdy and industr-
| Gus citizen in time of peace and patriotic
and safe defender of American interests in
| the day of conflict.
The ancient provision Of our law denying
| American registry to ships built abroad and
owned by Americans appears, in the light OF
| present conditions, not only to be failure
] for good at every point, but to be nearer
relic of barbarism than anything
that exists under the permission OF
statutes of the United States.
earnestly recommend its prompt repe al.
| LIE OOLD hEOLhN Ls
| During the last month the gold reserved in
| the treasury for the purpose OF redeemfng
| the notes of the government circulating as
| money in the hands of the people became so
| reduced, and its further depletion in the near
| future seemed so certain, that in the exercise
| of proper care for the public welfare it be-
| came necessary to replenish this reserve and
| thus maintain popular faith in the ability and
| determination of the government to meet, as
| agreed, its pecuniary obligations. 1t would
| have been well if in this emergency authority
| had existed to issue the bonds OF the govern
ment bearing a low rate of interest and ma
turing within short period; but the Con-
| gress having failed to confer such authority
| resort was necessarily had to the resumption
act of 1915, and pursuant to its provisions
bonds were issued drawing interest at the
| rate of i've per cent per annum ana
| maturing ten years after their issue,
that being the shortest time authorized
by the act. L am glad to say
! however, that on the sale of these bonds the
premium received operated to reduce the
rate of interest to be paid by the government
| to less than three per cent. Nothing could
| be worse or further removed from sensible
| finance than the relations existing between
| the currency the government has issued, the
| gold held for its redemption and the means
| which must be resorted to for the purpose of
| replenishing such redemption fund when inn
| paired. Even if the claims upon this fund
were confined to the obligations originally in
| tended and if the redemption of these obli-
cations meant their cancellation, the fund
| would be very small. But these obligations
when received and redeemed in gold are not
cancelled but are reissued and may do duty
| MANY times by way of drawing gold from
| the Treasury. Thus we have an endless
| chain in operation constantly depicting the
| treasury's gold and never near final rest.
| AS if this was not bad enough we have, by a
statuary declaration that it is the policy of
the government to maintain the parity be-
| tween gold and silver, aided the force and
| momentum of the exhausting process and
| added largely to the currency obligations
| claiming this peculiar gold redemption. Our
| small gold reserve Is thus SUBJECT to drain
| from every side.
| The demands that increase our danger also
| increase the necessity of protecting this re-
| serve against depletion, and it Is most unsat-
sfactory to know that the protection afford
ed is only temporary palliation. 1t is per-
| fectly and palpably plain that the
| by which this reserve when dangerously
| depleted can be replenished is through the
issue and sale of the bonds of the
government for gold; and yet Congress has
not only thus far declined to authorize the
issue of bonds best suited to such purpose,
but there seems a disposition in some quar-
tiers to deny both the necessity and power
for the issue of bonds at all
cannot for moment believe that any of
our citizens are deliberately willing that their
government should default i'll its pecunary
obligations, or that its financial operations
should be reduced to silver basis. At any
rate should not feel that my duty was done
if omitted any effort could make to avert
such a calamity. AS long, therefore, as no
provision is made for the final redemption or
the putting aside of the currency obligation
now used to repeatedly and constantly draw
from the government its gold, and as long as
no better authority for bond issues is allowed
than at present exists, such authority will be
utilized whenever and as often as it becomes
necessary to maintain a sufficient gold re-
serve and in abundant time to save the credit
of our country and make good the financial
declarations of our government.
THE BANKING SYSTEM.
Questions relating to our banks and cur
rency are !cosely connected with the SUBJ
iect lust referred to and they also present
some unsatisfactory features. Prominent
among them are the lack of elasticity in our
currency circulation and its frequent concen-