The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1895-12-06

,e do. 1t has stood immovably on tn
re historic ground OF the Monroe doctrin
l. in insisting on an arbitration of tn
y dispute and notifying England that n
/ high handed grabbing of territory wi
u be permitted. As it is ID matter tina
has now hung in allegiance for years
-. there is no chance for anything bu
6 praise for the vigor with which he ha
taken hold of it. The whole conduc
of our foreign affairs he shows to har
been such as BELTS a great people Xix
:. ours, dignitied, scrupulously just, ant
:, asking only Justice, avoiding even al
appearance of meddlesomeness witt
affairs that do not concern us, blu
t still holding to the far-sighted view
that it is our concern and duty to SET
that no territory in North or Soutl
( America that has been dedicated tc
free government shall be subject tc
the cncroachment Of the monarchicaI
; systems of Europe.
What the president says about the
tariff and the new policy inaugerated
by Democratic rule, must be left 10
time to Justify: it is too late for
argument now, and the country is in no
temper for it. 1t is to be doubted if
even the Republican leader, will ap-
proach it with anything more than
defamation.
The points of the message about
| which controversy will most center
and which are most fairly subject to
criticism, are his financial rccommcn-
dations He abandons his position of
| last year in favor of state banks and
offers as ii remedy for all the
present trouble the immediate issue of
$500, 600, 600 of low interest bonds TO
retire the greenbacks and treasury
notes, leaving any gap in the currency
to be filled by an increase of national
security. and he would allow such
issue up to the par value of the bonds
and would reduce the tax on bank cir.
culatIon. He is certainly not chargeable
with seeking popularity with this
proposition, for whether wise ar
not, nothingS could be more IN
popular 1t means pracrical
doubling of q our interest bearing !
debt, an interest burden of some sl5,
600, 900 IA year for the purpose of main |
tanning a bank currency. While a /
bank currency, properly regulated, !
and sufficiently elastic for business
needs, is on the whole the most desir-
able paper currency we can have. aud
while there is such great practical
in providing safe bank
currency that shall have the indispens
able element of absolute security that
perhaps national aystem is the only
resource. it yet remains true, AS the
worlds experience has shown, that
the bona basis is not necessary and
il is or not. the country will
not consent 10 it. II
Nor is the president quite fair to- {
wards the grecnbacks. There would !
% no trouble from them but for all !
he other paper that has been pumped :
nto our circulation on top of them. !,
md all dependent on the gold reserve. .
The thing to do is to get rid in some t
way of this other paper hanging in il
dangerous proportions over the re- :,
erve, and with that done the green y
Jacks will without disturbance ill the n
,lacc they have filled over since the p
assumption of specie payments. II is >
question simply between interest and
ION interest bearing debt and within p
he lines of entire safety. there is no Il
cason why the country should not OF
AVE the benefit of the latter. "
Again the president is right only in iii
modified way in insisting that the eeIi
elicit in the revenues has had nothing p
o do with the bond issues. The answer G;
5 obvious in the fact that but for The "
ond issues the cash would all have e.
cen drained out of the treasury to d
lcet the excess of expenditures over re
lcomc and there would he er
u gold reserve ON anything else left
lerc. The deficit. beginning back
nder the Mckinley act. increased by %
he hard times and also by the sus ~
1usn before the new tariff legislation. in
as Just been equal to the bond issue. VI
SIS the additional cash in the treas VI
r.. 1t is true. as he says. tina; the III
casury has always had II sufficient G,
lrplus for other purposes. at the time te
e bonds were issued, and they were ie'
lmcdiately compelled 10y the uccessi- No. -.
of rcplenishing the gold reserve. ne
nich has been drawn out twice and wi
arly three times over since. the pas vi
ge uf the Sherman act. which almost ",
,mediately stopped gold receipts. Il tn,
also true that while surplus of 10
venue would, as the Republicans s'h
que, operate to protect the reserve. A.
would have required bigger sur he