Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-21
No Action to Be Taken Until Con-
gress Meets.
FHE POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT
How the House Could Be Brought
to Act Quickly.
CAN WAIT FOR THE SENATE

The meeting of Congfess is so near at
hard that no action in regard to the issue
of bonds will be taken by Secretary Car
lisle before that date unless the situation
Of the gold reserve becomes alarming. The
present disposition of the administration
is to give the republican Congress an op
portunity to deal intelligently with the
problem which the last democratic Con-
gress so badly bungled. The President will
act promptly under authority of existing
law If the present Congress proves no more
competent and no more ready to deal with
the matter than the last one. 1t is re-
garded as possible by the administrations
supporters If the situation requires it, for
action to be taken in the House before the
holiday recess. and Speaker Reed and his
party associates, they point out will have
an opportunity to prove their efficiency in
protecting the public credit. The President
will not have cause to grieve, according to
the arguments of his friends, whether the
republicans are equal to this opportunity
or not. If they give him promptly such
authority as he desires for the protection
of the gold reserve, he can have no cause
for complaint If they refuse to give him
such authority and compe. him to act again
under existing law, they will only verify
the old proverb that criticism is much
easier than intelligent constructive action,
their future criticisms of the contracts
Which the President may be compelled to
enter into. This is the attitude of the ad-
ministration. as Interpreted Ivy its friends,
with only two and half weeks intervening
between the present ard the opportunity
of the republican Congress TO act, and II
probably represents the corrse which will
be followed
The Presidents Position.
The President according to his friends.
does not intend in any case to make the
financial security of the country the foot
ball of politics, but he feels now, as he felt
last winter, that official courtesy requires
him to at least give Congress an opportuni-
ty to express it's will when 1t is so soon to
be IN session. The gold reserve .aS Off
cially reported last night at $50, ,553, 594 but
the deduction of the 81, 10000 Withdrawn
at the New York subtreasury Tuesday and
the additional $l,OO0oOO withdrawn yester-
day makes the real reserve SS6 S03,J J94. 1t
would take Withdrawals of only SI2 0OO, ,0OC
more to carry the reserve below S75.oOO, ,O0O
and 1t is thought not unlikely that consid-
cradle losses will occur tomorrow, and per.
haps next week. If anything resembling
run on the treasury should set in, as hap
pened last January, The President would
throw considerations of courtesy to Con-
gress to the winds, but the present move
ment is regarded legitimate demand
for exchange in the absence of sufficient
supply of commercial bills. and it Is not
believed that it will attain any such char
acter the demands of last winter 1t is
believed that the knowledge tnat energetic
action was to be taken would be sufficient
to prevent Withdrawals of gold for hoard
Ing. and that this knowledge already vX-
lists. 1t is felt also that SO far as new as
surances are needed, they would be afford
ed by the announcement that a contract to
obtain gold was in process of arrangement
by the treasury, or by an overwhelming
vote in either house of Congress in favor
of currency reform, or authority to issue
bonds at lower rates and under different
terms from those now authorized
How House Action Could BE Quickly
Had.
The administration men believe that ac-
ton could be taken within week after its
meeting If Speaker Reed We're disposed to
appoint the ways and means committee or
the banking committee at once and direct
them to bring in a, report. The fact that
the Senate might be slow to follow the ac-
ton of the House would not be of supreme
Importance, 1t is argued, if the House, as
the direct representatives of the people, had
voted strongly to support the treasury The
administration democrats claim that Mr..
Reed will have to face the problem on the
day the Presidents message reaches Con-
gress. and that If he proves unequal to it
the country will again look to a democratic
President and Secretary of the Treasury to
maintain the public credit. 1t is probable
that Secretary Carlisle in his annual report
will make a strong presentation of the
needs and present situation of the treasury,
and incidentally refer to the necessity of
substituting a banking currency for the
conglomerate currency now in use, but the
weight of his recommendations will be put
upon the necessity of getting rid of the
greenbacks rather than upon a construc-
tive plan of currency reform.