The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-12-12
The Official Paper Of San Juan County,
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18th, 1895
THE PRESIDENT AND FINANCE.

The presidents message Is cl'arao-
ter;stic document, that is to say charac-
teristic of President Cleveland. 1t IS
verbose, ponderous and tiresome ana
as devoid of rhetorical sparkle as IL Is
of the ring of true Americanism with
ont which no presidential message can
he regarded as great state paper. HIS
utterances with respect to the foreign
nolicv of the administration are as
evasiye and unsatisfactory as the policy
itself. and his lengthy treatment OF the
financial question from his goldlte
standpoint, occupying nearly one nan
of the entire message, is little better
calculated to arouse enthusiasm or in
spire confidence He advocates the re-
demption and retirement of greenbacks
and silver certificates and the enlarge
ment of the power of issue of national
banks. and would raise the funds re-
ouired for redemption purposes, ap-
proximately $4S6,OOO,OOO, by issuing
more "long time" bonds, to be sold,
as he distinctly says, not to our own
people, but abroad. This would give
his good friends the Rothchilds,
chance for another enormous rake-otf,
and would bolster up the gold reserve
with borrowed capital and cause con-
siderable rise in the already great gold
tide of interest which flows from our
shores to Europe. How the presidents
patriotic breast must swell with pride
when he announces to the people that
i'm his opinion, under the Democratic
policy of retrerched exports, and the
free importation of countless foreign
products in competition with the pro-
ducts of American soil and industry,
the only way for the government to
continue to do business at the old stand
is to borrow British gold and postpone
payment "to period far removed from
present financial burdens and perplexi-
ties when, with increased prosperity
and resources, they (the bonds) could
be more easily met''
He argues with more or less ingenui-
ty in support of his theory that the
question of revenue receipts has moth
ing to do with the long continued de-
preston, and even denies the possibili-
ty that Sufficient revenue receipts
would in sentimental way improve
the situation by inspiring confidence
in our solvency and allaying the fear
of pecuniary exhaustion" With true
Democratic logic he argues that the
diminished revenues consequent upon
the operation of the new tariff law had
nothing to do with the depletion Of the
gold reserve, and as a natural cOrollary
of that proposition declares that the
Rothschild bonds were issued "to re-
plenish the gold reserve" and not ITO
supply insufficient revenue" 1t is
noticeable that all through his argu-
ment the insufficiency of revenue is
admitted, but he persistently denies
that that has had anything to do with
diminishing the surplus. Here is
dents chain of argument and one of
the things in it that may undoubtedly
be regerded as true:
'Of course, the general state of our
funds, exclusive of gold, was entirely
immaterial to the foreign creditor and in
weston. His interest could only be paid in
gold, and his only concern was our ability
to keep on hand that kind of money. On
July |, 1893, more than year and-a-half
before the first bonds were issued to re-
plenish the gold reserve there was a net
balance in the treasury, exclusive of such
reserve, of less than $l3,OOO,OOO, but the
gold reserve amounted to more than STA
100000, which was the quieting feature of
the situation. 1t was when the stock of
gold began rapidly to fall that fright
sspervened and our securities held abroad
were returned for sale and debts owed
abroad were pressed for payment. In
the meantime extensive shipments of
gold and other unfavorable indications
caused restlessness and fright among our
people at home. Thereupon the general
state of our funds exclusive of gold be-
came almost immaterial to them and
they, too, drew gold from the treasury for
boarding against all contingencies. This
is plainly shown by the large increase in
thearoportion of gold withdrawn which
was retained by our own people as time
and threatening incidents progressed.
During the fiscal year ending July 80,
1894, nearly $S5, 900 900 in gold was with
drawn from the treasury and about ST.
100000 was sent abroad, while during the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1895, over
Sll1,OOO,OOO was drawn out, of which only
about s66, 900 900 was shipped, leaving a
large balance of such Withdrawals to be
accounted for by domestic boarding"
Does the president believe for a
moment that this state of affairs can
be obvlated under policy Choking to
ultimate free trade" so long as the sim
gle gold standard is maintained and
all national, state, county, municipal
and school district bonds and interest
are payable in gold only? He argues.
and with abundant reason, against the
free and unlimited coinage of silver by
this country alone, at ratio intended
to maintain its parity with gold. i'm de-
nance OF ats commercial value, but he
avoids all mention of international hi
mesaiilsm which we believe is the only
certain remedy for the financial ills