Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-03-28

ard, debtor nation never. 1t may be
patriotic to boast of an American
monetary standard, independence of
other countries, and complete nation
al individualism; but at a time when
the American people are borrowing
and not lending, these things, if at
tainable, could bring nothing but I'M
precedented panic and ruin. 1t will
be time enough to have silver
standard when the citizens of the
United States are buying the govern
ment and railroad securities of Great
Britain, France and Germany, are
lending to foreigners American money.
and investing in their enterprises. So
long as the contrary situation exists
our people must remain, though it.
hurts the intense Americanism of
some of them, without choice in the
matter.
Every law upon the stgtute book,
therefore, which tends to make At
any time the Government credit in
the least doubtful must injuriously af-
feet every business relation and work
loss to every citizen whether or not
we maintain the gold standard. Al
most equally effective as cause of
weakness and distrust must be the
continual suggestion of laws which
would substitute either directly or in
directly silver standard Those who
know the temper of the American
people when they once realize tinan-
cial danger do not believe such
| standard will ever have the sanction
of enacted law, but the hope of its
friends lies in accomplishing through
| indirection what cannot be gained by
them as a direct measure of legisla-
ton.
The observant citizen who notes the
effect of events must see that the
greatest danger to-day to every busi-
stagnation in bank, factory, shop, and
store, is The legal tender currency is
sues and compulsory issues by the
Government. The operation of these
issues moreover is the hope of the adj
| vocates of free coinage, and they are
thus double hindrance to the return
of prosperity. They believe that
| through them a silver basis must ulti~
mately be reached, and because of this
| they resist their payment and cancel
| lation unless silver instead of bank
| notes shall be substituted in their
stead. The daily question whether the
| Government can maintain gold re-
serve adequate to meet these demand
obligations as they are presented, the
| anxiety arising from fear of a "gold
run" upon the Treasury, the necessity
of resorting to a cumbersome statute
| in order to issue coin bonds to main
| tain the parity of the metals, the fire.
quency of such issues-all, coupled
with the avowed hope of many free
silver legislators of breaking down the
Governments gold credit and reach
ing silver basis, are working meal
culable injury.
The legal tender issues of the Gov
ernment ought and must be redeemed
| and retired if we are to be rid of the
recurring danger and loss arising from
| their being part of our currency is
sues. They are demand obligations
| never retired, fixed as to volume, and
from their inception source of loss
and expense to the people, Their
were issued apologized for their issue
| and promised quick payment of them.
| At the time of their issue not dozen
| votes could have been obtained under
| other and different circumstances for
the 'legal tender principle" that was
| given to these issues. Secretary Chase
was dragooned only through dire ne
cessity into giving his official sanction
to them. He declined to advocate
them in his report to Congress. Itwas
| stated and uncontradicted at the time
| that prior to them "not only was such
d law never passed, but such law was
I
| introduced, never recommended by
| any department of the Government;
| the measure was never seriously en-
Sertained in debate in either branch of
Congress-" OneRepresentative graph
| ically described these issues as ''cheap
| in material, easy of issue, worked by
steam, signed by machinery" and he
declared that "there would be no end
to the legion of paper devils which
shall pour forth from the loins of the
Secretary" The present senior Sem
ator from Vermont, Mr.. Justin S. Nor
| rill, then a member of the Committee
OH Ways and Means of the House, in
an extremely able speech character
| lied them as 'the precursor of a
prolific brood of PROMISES and the
bill as ''a measure not blessed by one
sound precedent and damned by all. :"
Unhappily the temporary issues of
that day, despite the appeals of Chief
Executives and Secretaries of the
Treasury, are yet part of the fixed
volume of our currency. From first
to last they have been the greatest
burden and most expensive debt ever
placed upon the Government. The
loss to the people through the specu-
Iation engendered by them, the finan-
| cial heresies to which they have given
birth, the damage to individual busi-
ness enterprise and credit through re-
curing doubt as to the ability of the
Government to maintain the payment
| of them in gold, cannot be reckoned
in figures; but trustworthy statistics
which have recently appeared in the
"New York Times show that the di-
rect and indirect cost of maintaining
them from their inception to the pres
ent has exceeded two and one half
billions of dollars. Complete conf
dence cannot be restored by simply
increasing the governmental income;
but even if it could be thus restored
there would be no guarantee against
future impairment through the same
cause. Under existing laws wherever
there is disturbance in our business
world the embarrassment is made two
I ~