The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-12-04
Again disappointment awaited the

Again disappointment awaited the
anxious hopes for relief. There was not
ever a luli In the exasperatlng with
drawa1s OF gold. On the contrary, they
grew larger and more persistent than
ever. Between the 1th OF December.
1884. and early in February. 1895, pc
Rod of scarcely more than two montha
after the second reinforcement of our
gold reserve by the sale of bonds. 1t Ind
lost By such Withdrawals more thnn
| SOS. 100000, and had fallen to $4I, $40, ISL,
nearly $4,000 900 had beeS . Withdrawn
| ing this situation. In anticipation of
| impending trouble. 1 had on the 2Sth
day of January, 1885, addressed q com>
munication to The Congress fully set
ting forth our dangerous position, and
| earnestly recommending that author
| lily be given the Secretary of the Trea-
sury TO issue bonds bearing low rate
| of interest. payable by their terms in
| gold. for the purpose oil maintaining n
/! sufficient gold reserve, and also for the
! redemption ana cancellation OF out
standing United States notes and the
Treasury notes issued for the purpose
OF silver under the law of 1880. This
recommendation did not, however, meet
with approval
In February, 1895, therefore, the situu-
ton was exceedingly critical. With a
reserve perilously low anu Il refusal OF
Congressional aid, everything indicated
TINT the end of gold payments by the
W
OF prior bond issues had been exceed
ingy unsatisfactory, and the large
Withdrawals of gold Immediately sue
ceeding their public sale in open mar
ket gave rise to a reasonable suspicion
that a large part of the gold paid into
promptly drawn out again by the pre-
sentation of United States notes or
Treasury notes, and found It's way to
the hands OF those who had only tenn
porarily parted IT in the purchase
Of bonds.
In this emergency and in view OF It's
surrounding perpleXities, 1t became ne
cessarily APPARENT to those upon whom
the struggle for safety was devoived
not only that our gold reserve must, for
the third time in less than thirteen
| months, be restored by another Issue
| and sale OF bonds bearing 4, high rate
OF interest and badly suited TO the pur-
pose, but that plan must be adopted
| for their disposition, promising better
! results thnn those realized OH previous
| sales An agreement was, therefore
made with u number OF financiers and
bankers whereby 1t was stipulated that
bonds described in the resumption act
of 1875. payable in coin thirty years
| after their dates, bearing interest al
the rate of 4 pei cent. per annum, and
amounting to about s52000,0o0, should
be exchanged for gold, receivable by
S65, 100000. This gold was to be dcliv.
cred in such installnents us would com
plete its delivery within about 81.
| months from the date of the contract
and at least one-hnlf OF the amount
was be furnished from abroad. L
was also agreed by those supplying thi!
| gold that during the continuance of tn,
contract they would by every means II
| their power protect the Government
against gold Withdrawals The con
nf leo lnh
would authorize their issue bonds pay
able by their terms In gold and bear
ing interest at the rate of 3 per cent
annually, might within ten days be sub
! stituted at par for the per cent. bond
| described in the agreement. On the da
this contract was made Its terms wer
communicated to Congress by II spG
| cial executive message, in which II wa
stated that more than sixteen million
| OF dollars would be saved to the Gov
| eminent If gold bonds bearing 3 pc
cent. interest were authorized to b
substituted for those mentioned In tn
\ contract.
The Congress having declined to gran
the necessary authority to secure TIL
saving. the contract, unmodihed. WA
carried out. resulting in n gold reserv
amounting to Sl07, 1871 ,230 on the Sth da
of July, 1895. The performance of thi
contract not only restored the reserNt
but checked for u time the Withdrawal
of gold and brought on n period Of II
stored confidence and such peace uIl
quiet in business circles as were OF I'll
greatest possible value to every inter
est that affects our people. l have ne,
er had the slightest misgkving cor
corning the wisdom or propriety Of tn
arrangement and am quite willing
answer for my full share of respons
bility for it's promotion. j believe
aVerted Il disaster the imminence
which was, fortunately. not ut the tin
generally understood by our peopl
Though the contract mentioned stage
for a time the tide of gold WITHDRAW we
its good results could not be permanen
Recent Withdrawals have reduced tt
reserve from $l07 80 on the Sth
July, 1898, to s79,333, g6G How long
Will remain large enough to render Il
, , increase unnecessary Is only a matte
of conjecture, though quite large Will
drawals for shipment in the immediat
future are predicted In well-informe
quarters. About $500 900 has bee
withdrawn during the month of Noven
Der.
The foregoing statement of events an
= conditions develops the fact that II
, Icreasing our interest bearing bonded Il
= debtedness more than SlG2 600 600
: save our gold reserve we are near
! where we started, having now in sue
reserve $19,333, 1856, ms against S65. AIS. 3
. In February, 1894. when the first bono
: were issued. Though the amount
gold drawn from the Treasury nppea
to be very large, as gathered from II
. | facts and figures herein presented,
? actually was much larger, considera b
! sums having been acquired by Il