St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-27
WHERE Do THEY STAND.

" DO STAND:
The G % e feels inclined to offer
handsome prize to anybody who
will give an accurate description of
| the position of the average Repub-
| Hcan newspaper on the currency
question. The Minneapolis Tribune
has Wanted on frequent occasions
its devotion to the cause of sound
money" 1t would appear more nee
essary even for it than for MrTowne
to define what is meant by that
phrase. In last Sundays issue it
comes to the defense of the green
firmed Populist. 1t admits that the
greenbacks can be used Sin times
of panic as an endless chain to drain
the treasury of its gold" That is
the whole charge against them at
the present time, and the proof that
there can be no financial stability
in this country until the greenbacks
have been retired. Yet little later
on it comes out valiantly on their
side, as follows: 'The greenbacks
carried the nation through four years
of war, and prosperously through
thirty years of peace, and would
have carried US through thirty years
more without disaster if the people
had not, in an evil day, voted the
party of free trade into complete
power in the government
1t would be as logical if the Trib-
une were to charge our financial
difficulties to the repeal of the force
bill, or the recent discovery of a new
comet without tail. The green
backs are a burden upon the credit
of the nation. That credit can be
stretched only about so far without
yielding. In addition to the green
backs, the Republican party passed
one act after another initiating the
silver currency also, and continued
the charge upon the credit of the
to break down. We have shown al
ready in these columns that a super
abundance or a deficit of revenue
has no bearing whatever on the con-
dition of the currency. If there were
tax laws in existence which should
bring in a revenue Of $100,000,000 in
the next three months in excess of
expenditures, it would not necessar-
lily affect the financial situation in
the slightest. Those receipts, while
the national credit is impaired or
doubted, would be paid into the
treasury in greenbacks, silver GER
tificates and silver notes. They
need not add one dollar to the gold
| reserve.
If they did it would not be even
a temporary relief. AS long as there
is the least popular doubt about the
maintenance of gold payments, the
gold reserve will continue to be
drawn upon. AS we saw last Feb
ruary, when there is the beginning
of a panic from $5,000,0O0 upward of
gold can be drawn from the
treasury daily with ease. The
attention Of the Tribune should
be called first to the fact
that the Mckinley tariff act of
1890 was entitled a bill to reduce rev.
enue, and thAIt It did reduce revenue
so that the Harrison administration
ended with treasury deficit in
| clear view. 1t should observe, sec
| ond, the other fact that no matter
how great the revenue of the treas
ury might be at this time, it would
not protect or preserve the gold
| fund of the treasury unless some re-
| form is made in the direction of ex-
tinguishing a portion Of the paper
| currency that is redeemable on de-
| mand in gold. The position of the
Democratic administration on this
| question has been declared. Can any,
body tell us where Republicans
| stand, who, like the Tribune, bless
and curse the greenback in the same
| breath?