Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-01-30
The Presidents Message.

action 10 avert. at once, business disaster
He regards the present time for patriotic
duty-when prejudices of partizanship
should be laid aside. He urges the retire
ment of the currency notes. he atiirms
that the real trouble which eonfronts us con-
sists in lack of confidence widespread and
constantly increasing, in the continuing
ability or disposition of the government to
pay its obligations in gold. This lack OF
confidence grows to some extent out OF the
palpable and apparent embarrassment at
tending the efforts of the government under
existing laws to procure gold, and to great
err extent out of impossibility of either keep
ing it in the treasury or eanceling obliga-
tions by its expenditure after it is obtained.
After referring to the bonded interest debt
and the past years financial events, whereby
S172 .OOO. 900 in gold have been drawn out
of the treasury for shipment abroad or
boarding at home, the President states that
obligations upon which this gold has been
drawn from the treasury are still outstand-
ing. and are available for use in repeating
the exhausting operation with shorter inter
walls as our perplexities accumulate. He
also saws: can adequate gold reserve is in
all circumstances absolutely essential to the
unfolding of our public credit and to the
maintenance of our high national character.
Our gold reserve has again reached such
stage Of diminution as to require its speedy
reinforcement. The aggravations that must
inevitably follow present conditions and
methods will certainly lead to misfortune
and loss not only to our national credit and
prosperity and to financial enterprise, but
to those of our people who seek employment
as a means of livelihood, and to those whose
only capital is their daily labor.
"Shall the payment of these obligations
in gold be repudiated? If they are to be
paid in such manner rs the preservation Of
our national honor and national solvency
demands, we should not destroy or even i'm
peril our ability to supply ourselves with
gold for that purpose.
"While am not unfrieudly to silver, and
while desire to see it recognized to such an
extent as is consistent with final safety and
the preservation of national honor and cred
it, am not willing to see gold entirely ban
ished from our currency and finances. To
avert such consequence believe thorough
and radical remedial legislation should be
promptly passed. therefore beg the Con
gress to give the subject immediate atten-
ton"
The remedy the President proposes "In
nv opinion the Secretary of the Treasury
should be authorized to issue bonds of the
government for the purpose of procuring
and maintaining a sufficient gold reserve
and the redemption and cancellation Of the
United States legaltender notes and the
treasury notes issued for the purchase of sill
yer under the law of July II, 1890 We
should be relieved from the humiliatiLg
process of issuing bonds to procure gold to
be Immediately and repeatedly drawn out on
these obligations for purposes not related to
the benefit of our government or our people.
The principal and interest Of these bonds
should be payable on their face in gold be-
cause they should be sold only for gold or
its representative and because there would
now probably be difficulty in favorably dis
posing of bonds not containing this stipula-
ton l suggest that the bonds be issued in
denominations of twenty and fifty dollars
and their multiples and that they bear in
terest at rate not exceeding three per cent.
per aunum. do not see why they should
not be pay able fifty years from their date.
I'VE Of the present generation have large
amounts to pay if we meet our obligations
and long bonds are most salable. The Sec
rotary of the Treasury might well be per-
mitted, at his discretion, to receive on the
sale of bonds the legaltender and treasury
notes to be retired, aud, of course, when they
are thus retired or redeemed in gold they
should be cancelled These bonds, under
existing laws, could be deposited by nation
al bsuks as security for circulation, and
such banks should be allowed to issue cir
culatiou up to the face value of these or any
other bonds outstanding bearing only , per
cent. and which sell in the market at less
than par.
National banks should not be allowed to
take on. circulating notes of a less denomi
nation than ten dollars, and when such as
are now outstanding reach the treasury, ex-
cept for redemption aud retirement they
should be cancelled and notes Of the demon
nation OF ten dollars and upward issued in
their stead Silver certificates of the deuom-
ination of ten dollars and upward should be
replaced by certificates of denominations
under ten dollars As constant means for
the maintenance of reasonable supply of
gold in the treasury our duties on imports
should be paid in gold, allowing all other
duties to the government to be paid in any
other form of money.
In conclusion desire to frankly confess |
my reluctance to Issuing more bonds in pres
ent circumstances and with no better results |
than have lately followed that course. |
cannot. however, refrain from adding TO an
assurance of my anxiety TO cooperate with /
the present Congress in any reasonable
of relief an expression of my deter