The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-03-29

! it opposed to the demands OF the hoioer, Is
| entirely inconsistent with the effective and
| beneficial maintenance of the parity OF the
| two metals.
| If both gold and silver are to serve US as
money and if they, together, are to supply
| to our people safe and stable currency the
necessity of preserving this parity is obvi-
Gus. Such necessity has been repeatedly
conceded in the platforms OF both politlcal
| parties and in our Federal Statutes. 1t IS
| now, here more emphatically recognized
| than in the recent law which repealed
the provision under which the bullion now
on hand was purchased. This law insists
upon the maintenance of the parity IN
! value of the coins of the two metals and the
| equal power of every dollar at all times In
the markets and in. the payment of debts"
| The Secretary of the Treasury has, there
| fore for the best of reasons, not only
promptly complied with every demand FOR
! the redemption of these treasury notes IN
| gold, but the present situation, as well as the
| letter and spirit of the law, appear plainly to
| Justify, if they do not enjoin upon him. q
continuation of such redemption.
THE CONDITIONS.
The conditions have endeavored to pre-
sent may be thus summariZed:-
First-The Government has pur chased and
now has on hand sufficient silver bullion to
permit the coinage of all the silver dollars
necessary to redeem, in such dollars, the
| treasury notes issued for the pur-
chase of said silver bullion, and
enough besides to coin, as gain
| or sefgniorage, ffty-fve million one hundred
and fifty-six thousand six hundred and
| eighty-one additional standard silver dollars
Second-There are outstanding and now
| in circulation Treasury notes issued in pay
ment of the bullion purchased amounting to
| Sl52. .951. .2SO These notes are legal tender in
payment of all debts, public and private, ex-
cept when otherwise expressly stipulated;
they are receivable for customs, taxes and
all public dues.
be counted as part Of their lawful reserves,
and they are redeemed by the Government
in gold at the option of the holders.
These advantageous attributes were
deliberately attached to these notes at the
time of their issue, they are fully
understood by our people to whom such notes
have been distributed as currency and have
inspired confidence in their safety and value
and undoubtedly thus induced their con-
tinued and contented use as money, instead
of anxiety for their redemption.
SPECIFIC STATEMENT OF oBJEcTI oNs.
Having referred to some incidents which
deem relevant to the subject, it remains for
me to submit a specific statement of my OBJ
jections to the bill now under consideration.
This bill consists of TWO sections, excluding
one which merely appropr1ates sum suffl-
Gent to carry the act into effect The first
section provides for the immediate coinage
of the silver bullion in the Treasury, pro-
vides for the immediate coinage OF
the silver which represents the So
called gain or seigniorage, or which
would arise from the coinage OF all the bull
lion on hand which gain or seigniorage this
section declares to be $55, 156,6Sl. 1t directs
that the money SO coined or the certlhcates
issued thereon shall be used in the payment
of public expenditures and provides that if
I<l,< dc Of tteT Trors
tary of the Treasury may, in his discretion,
issue silver certificates in excess of such coin
age not exceeding the amount OF se1gnlorage
in said section authorized to be coined.
The second section directs that as soon
possible after the coinage of this Seigniorage
the remainder of the bullion held by the
Government shall be coined into legal tender
standard silver dollars and that they shall
be held in the Treasury for the redemption
of the Treasury notes issued in the purchase
of said bullion. 1t provides that as fast
as the bullion shall be coined for the
redemption of said notes, they shall
not be reissued, but shall be cancelled
and destroyed in amounts equal to the coin
held at any time in the Treasury derived
from the coinage provided for, and that sill
/ yer certificates shall be issued on such coin
In the manner now provided by law. IL is,
however, especially declared in said section
that the act shall not be construed to change
character or mode of redemption OF the
Treasury notes issued for the purchase of
the silver bullion to be coined.
BILL OF UNCERTAINTIES
The entire bill is most unfortunately con-
structed. Nearly every sentence presents
uncertainty and invites controversy as to It's
meaning and intent. The first section is es-
pecially faulty in this respect and it is ex-
tremely doubtful whether its Ian
guage viii permit the consummation
of its supposed purposes. am led
to believe that the promoters of the
bill intended in this section to provide
for the coinage of the bullion constituting
the gain or seigniorage, as it is called, into
standard silver dollars; and yet there is
positively nothing in the section to prevent
Its coinage into any description of silver
coins now authorized under any existing
law. / suppose this section was also intended,
in case the needs of the Treasury called for
money faster than the seigniorage bullion
could actually be coined to permit the issue
of silver certificates in advance of such coin
age; but its language would seem to permit
the issuance of such certificates to double the
amount of seigniorage as stated, one-haf OF
which would notrepresent an ounce OF silver
in the Treasury. The debate upon this sec
tion In the Congress developed an earnest
and positive difference of opinion as to its
object and meaning. In any event am
clear that the present perplexities and en-
barrassments of the Secretary of the Treas
ury ought not to be augmented by deyolv-
ing upon him the execution of a law SO un-
certain and confused.
I am not willing, however, to rest my
objection to this section solely on these
grounds; In my Judgment sound finance
does not commend further infusion of
silver into our currency at this time un-
accompanied by further adequate provision
for the maintenance in our Treasury OF
safe gold reserve.
DOUBTS AS TO SECOND SECTION
Doubts also arise as to the meaning and
construction of the second section of the bill.
If the silver dollars therein directed to be
coined and as the section provides, to be
held in the Treasury for the redemption of
Treasury notes, it is suggested that, strictly
speaking, certificates cannot be is
sued on such coin sln the
manner now provided by law"
because these dollars are money held in the
Treasury for the express purpose of redeam-
ing notes, on demand, which would ordin-
arily mean that they were set apart for the
purpose of substituting them for these
Treasury notes. They are not, therefore,
held in such way as tofurnish q basis for
certificates according to any provision Of ex-
isting law If, however, silver certificates
can properly be issued upon these
dollars, there is nothing in the section to in
dictate the characteristics and functions of
these certificates In circulation under exist
| ing laws they would at best be receivable
only for customs taxes and all public dues,
and under the language of this section it is
| to say the least, extremely doubtful whether
the certificates it contemplates would be
| lawfully received even for such purposes.3
| Whatever else may be said of the uncer-