The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-15

! question at Its conclusion.
I Mr. Wilson then proceeded to care
fully state the case. covering the
! ground traYersed by his report to the
| House yesterday. He said there was
no dearth Of revenues in the treasury.
I Today, he discovered there was an
| available cash balance in the treasury
| of Sle5,0O0OOO a larger balance than on
June 80, 1892, by $50, 000, 600 when il was
| S129 100000, including the gold reserve
Today, the gold reserve stood at
| $42, 213. 00O
History Of the Gold Reserve.
! Mr.. Wilson reviewed the history Of
| the gold reserve established to insure
! the resumption Of specie payments.
| The reserve had not been threatened
until the panic Of 1890, when in q sin
gle month (Noyember) $24.OOOOOO of
gold had been withdrawn. In the
| course of the panic OF 1890, the $40. 000,-
goo of bank trust funds had been
passed to the available assets of the
! treasury. Since then bonds had been
sold three times TO replenish the gold
I in the tredSury-tWice within six
months. The previous operations Of
the treasury had resulted, he said, in
| the United States exchanging its own
! bonds for its own sold, and now Sec
rotary Carlisle had done what Secre-
tary Sherman did time ana time again
when he was refunding the public
| debt-he had purchased gold in other
markets than our Own.
Mr.. Wilson contrasted the situation
Of the treasury in 1882 with its situa-
ton now in regard to the burden TO
be borne by the gold reserve. Then
no SreenbaChS were being presented
for redemption, and the reserve Was
only necessary for practical purposes
to support the outstanding silver
amounting to but $780, 600, 900. Today
it supported the entire currency fabric
$SUO 100000 Of oYer-Yalued silver and
all the national bank notes outstand-
ing.
ningIey Interrupts.
You admit" interrupted Mr.. Ding
ley Republicam. Of Maine, such SILL
ee0,e00 of gold have been purchased tc
maintain the gold reserve. How did
the treasury obtain the money to meet
the deficiency in the revenues Of S109,-
OOO OO0?''
Mr.. Wilson replied that. as he had
stated on former occasion, it was
partly true by the operations of the
endless chain process by which gold
| was drained from the treasury-some
/ Of the money obtained from the sale
of bonds had been transferred TO other
| accounts. and had been used to defraS
current expenses. He called lIr, Ding.
) ley's attention to the fact that under
7 the national bank act of 1917, the bani
} notes, being redeemable by the treas
I ury, could be used by conversion Il
t drain the treasury Of gold as well a:
the legal tenders.
l Mr.. Dingley, however, persisted upor
t a more specific answer to his origina
] question, and Mr.. Wilson finally ad
mftted that q large amount OF golc
! received from the sale OF bonds haC
been used 60 meet deficiency in TIT
1 revenues. Then OIr. Dingley, recur
: ring to Mr.. Wilson's former Statemen
about the transfer of the bank trus
[ fund to the available assets of tn,
= treasury, declared not one dollar o
$ that fund had been used TO defra!
current expenses.
The Difference.
HsThe difference between your meth
| DDS and ours" replied Mr. Wilson
q amid burst Of Democratic applause
\ is that when we needed money w
I borrowed it When you needed ii
you borrowed it from the trust fund.
Mr.. Dinsley insisted that the fun
was not used until 1898, Whereupol
MI. Wilson cited him Secretary Win
dorn's report, stating that on Septeni
= Der |. 1890, the only available cash i
the treasury was the amount of tn
trust fund turned over to that &C
count in the preceding July.
This ended the fencing between tn
e loppoging leaders, and Mr. Wilson con
: tinued his argument where it had bee
= broken off by Mr.. Dingley's interrupt
ion
J. Secretary Carlisle, IN borrowing thi
0 gold, had only done what Mr.. SheE
man had done He had sold four pc
; cent thirty-year bonds at the rate c
! 1917 with the right to substitute a
e par 8 per cent gold bonds. If the gov
eminent continued to maintain 1t
traditional policy, the per cent bond
iWould be virtually payable in gold be
: cause the government was bound [
, maintain all its currency on a parity
: I AS the bonds viii be paid in gold,
vas the sense of the Ways and Mean
G Committee that there ought not 10 b
I any hesitation in making these bond
Q uavable in gold and saving to the gov
Iernment the interest charges amount
n ing to over $4,000, 600. The contract
@ already made by Which the gold
p being put into the treasury and place
a on vessels for shipment to This cour
\ TRY 1t cannot be set aside: II MA
made under ample provision of law
: The question presented here is Whethe
- We VIII SUBSTITUTE IUI d LUul PC4 ICH
!, coin thirty-year bond, 3 per Ger
> gold bond,
e Mr.. Wilson asserted that for twenty
d I'VE years the gold standard HAD bee
the practical money basis in this eoun
I tryi that gentleman confused the stand
= ard of payment with the currency. q
Z payment Two experiments had failed
a give relief. and now the treasury ha
6 been obliged to resort as it had unde
Secretary Sherman, TO a special contrac
h AiSSiiIIin's Query
/, Mr.. McAfilin (Dernocrat, OF Tennesse'
= asked if it would not be as possible /
q raid the gold reserve in the future, as
= has in the past.
II NIr. Wilson replied that il has undoubt
eddy beea possible since the first day c
5 the resumption Of specie payments. br
, ! said it would not be done if we can mar
=, tain confidence 50 that our currency WI
y be as good as gold.
II lIr. Hopkins Republican,. of Illinois
II said the resolution was whether the go1
a ! eminent at This late day should. by th
= extraordinary methods OF Presider
IL I Cleveland and his secretary of the treai