San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-12-16

ton under the laws providing for
the issue, redemption and reissue
Of legal tender notes by the gov
eminent.
Notes issued in payment for sill
yer bullion, together amounting at
the beginning to $500, l62,0lS, have |
been used and are still being used
to withdraw gold from the govern
ment whenever our own people, or
the governments, or other coun-
tries see proper to demand 1t for
any purpose, and under the laws
now existing the secretary Of the
treasury has no means Of comply.
ing with these demands except by
the issue and sale of interest bear
ing bonds, under the act Of Jan.
Ia, 1875, or by the purchase Of gold
coin with bonds or notes OF the
United States under section 300
of the revised statutes. Against
these demands the treasury has
no available means Of defense ex-
cept at the sacrifice OF the public
credit and the Immediate deprecia-
ton OF our entire volume Of cur
rency.
No surplus revenue, however
large, could extricate US from our
present difficulties or give assur-
ance of safety in the future, unless
1t should be required to be paid in
gold under a system which would
exempt the government from the
obligations to furnish the gold
which Is demanded to be used In
making the payments, and it is
scarcely necessary to suggest that
such a system Is impossible as long
as the United States notes and
treasury notes are kept in circula-
ton and are redeemable in gold by
the government itself, on presenta.
ton.
"Unless 1 am wholly mistaken 1t
is the kind Of money to be used
and not the amount that has led
investors to withdraw their CAPT.
tai and foreign creditors to collect
their debts and compelled our own
people to suspend, or contract their
business operations and thus dimin-
ish the incomes of employer and
greatly reduce or entirely stop the
wages Of labor. Large Withdrawals
have been made during the last
three years, simply because gold
was wanted and the desire to Sc
cure gold was due to growing
distTust of the other kinds of cur
rency in circulation and not at all
to any apprehension that the gov
eminent would not be able to dis
charge all its obligations in some
kind Of pay, or gold.
"There Ia but one safe and eff
fectual way" the secretary says
"to protect our treasury against
these demands and that is to re-
tire and cancel the notes which
constitute the only means through
which the Withdrawals can be
made. Many partial and temporary
remedies may be suggested and
urged with more or less plausibili-
ty, but this is the only one
that will certainly remove the
real cause OF our troubles
and give assurance Of perma-
nent protection against their
recurrence in the future.
"This can be most successfully
accomplished by authorizing the
secretary OF the treasury to issue
from time to time bonds payable
in notes bearing interest at rate
not exceeding 3 per cent per an
mum and having a long time to
run and to exchange the bonds fox
United States notes and treasury
notes upon such terms as may be
most advantageous to the govern
ment or to sell them abroad for
gold, whenever, In his judgment, it
is advisable to do so and use the
gold thus obtained in redeeming
the outstanding notes. Under the
operation of such a plan, IL judi
ciously executed there could be no
improper contraction of the circu-
lation because IL 1t should at any
time be found that other forms Of
currency were not being supplied
to the extent required, exchanges |
of bonds for notes would be sus.
pended and gold would be pro-
cured by selling the securities |
abroad. In order to further facil-
itste the substitution Of other cur
rency for the retirement Of legal
tender notes, the national banks
should be authorized to issue notes
equal in amount to the face value
of bonds deposited. To secure the
most taxation their circulation
should be reduced to one-fourth of
1 per cent per annum.
GAS a part Of the plan for the
retirement and cancellation Of the
legal tender notes, tine treasury
should be relieved from response
hiIitx, for tho national bank nntaa |