The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-10-05


The withdrawal of four million five
hundred and fifty thousand dollars Of
gold from the sub-treasury In New
York. for export, and its effect upon
the markets. strongly calls the atten-
tion of the country once more to the
unsatisfactory. not TO say periious.
condition OF the nations finances
The peculiar thing about the gold
movement Is that no one appears able
TO give thoroughly satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION OF t. The ''par OF exchange"
Is four hundred and eighty seven
That Is TO say. when bills OF ex-
change sell at four dollars and eighty
seven cents for an English pound sterl-
ing, gold shipments become possible; It
Is as cheap TO ship gold as TO buy
drafts II the exchange rate goes
higher than this. there is profit In ex-
porting gold.
The first cause Of the heavy move
ment OF the yellow metal Is that our
exports are small. Not only is their
volume diminished. but the prices are
low the world over, and the bills Of
exchange drawn against our exports
do not meet the demand for funds pay
able In Europe. Second. .there has been
IN unprecedented number of Ameri-
cans travelling in Europe this year.
and they have expended total Of not
less than one hundred million dollars
The bond syndicate disposed OF lnrgc
amount of our bonds abroad, at prices
lower than rule Mt present, and 1t Ia
SAID a large number of these have been
sent here TO find market, the demand
being good, and the prices high. These
are the factors which are causing the
drain of tho yellow metal to Europe.
This movement would be of no im-
portance were IL not for the fact that
the treasury OF the United States is
the holder of the gold reserve OF the
country. The grecnbacks and treas
ury notes of 1890 afford an easy way
Of obtaining gold in large amounts All
that is necessary is to present these
notes at the sub-trcasury in New
York. and demand gold for them. We're
it not for them. the banks would have
TO rely upon themselves for the gold
needed. and hence its shipment TO
Europe would have no effect upon the
treasury, nor affect the stability of our
financial system.
From business point OF view, there
could be no wiser step than for the
government TO retire these notes, and
thus get out of the banking business
To minds of the Coxey calibre. gov
ernmental legal tender notes are the
ideal circulating medium. They arc a
loan bearing no interest, and hence
are deemed cheap by peanut states
men. The fact Is, the greenbaclSs have
cost MS, MS people, many times their
total volume since they have been in
existence. 1t would have saved many
millions to us had the greenbacks
been redeemed and retired years ago.
1t would, at this juncture, be a profit
able thing to do. And 1t Is certain that
some step Of the kind must be taken,
before our finances are put on a stable
basis
The heavy gold shipments mako 1t
more and more probable that the gov
eminent will have TO resort to another
bond issue. OF course the treasury of
ficials stoutly deny that any such step
is In contemplation, but II is clear that,
If the outflow continues. the reserve
can only be maintained by another
bond issue, which will also serve TO
make up for the shortcomings of the
present unsatisfactory tariff law. The
purpose of such a law il to raise rev.
enue. The Gorman-Wilson measure
has SO far been the creator OF de-
ficicncy instead of n revenue-raiser. It
reduces the duties on the leading
lines of imports to such an extent that.
though our import trade is brisk, the
duties collected fall short of meeting
that portion OF governmental expenses
that they should.
Hence the Fifty-fourth congress,
when it assemblies next December, will
have two grave questions confronting
1.-THE maintenance of the public cred
it, which is constantly menaced by the
raids on the treasury gold. and the
amendment of the tariff law SO that IL
will produce sufficient revenue TO meet
the wants OF the government The
president certainly should recognize
the pcrilous condition of the national
finances. and, even at the sacrifice Of
some of his free trade theories, agree
TO some measure of relief, which IL
will be the duty of the republican
house TO originate. Toledo Blade.