Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-20
CARLISLE ON THE. CURRENCY
Legal Tenders, He Declares, Should Be
Retired.
They Drive Out the Gold and Deplete
,stitute-Plea for Sound Money,

Mr.. Carlisle, Secretary of the Treasury,
spoke at length on Our Currency System"
before the New York chamber of COM
merce last night. Besides the Secretary.
the guests were: Senator Julius c. Bur-
lows, Attorney General Harmon, Mayor
Strong, Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, Rev. DR..
NJ. w. Stryker. Charles Emory Smith, Rear
Admiral Henry Erben, Commodore Mont
gomery Sicard, James III. Constable, Carl
Schurz, Horace White, MIrat Halstead, st.
Clair Mckelway and Charles Butler. The
other tables were presided over. respective
ly, by Lowell Lincoln, Henry w. Cannon,
Gen. Horace Porter, ]. Edward Simmons.
George Rutledge Gibson and Alfred R.
Whitney.
In the course of his remarks the Secre-
tary said: Two years ago had the honor
to attend your al nual banquet and to
make some remarks, in the course of which
l said thai the disposition and ability of
the government to maintain its own credit
at the highest standard and to preserve
the integrity of all the forms of currency
In circulation among the people could not
be reasonably doubted and ought not to be
the subject of further controversy. While
scarcely any one now seriously doubts
either the disposition or the ability of the
executive branch of the government to ac
compliSh these objects, all who have given
any attention to the subject must realize
that in the existing state of our legislation
the task is both difficult and expensive.
Since that declaration was made here
interest bearing bonds to the amount of
$l62,p 400 have been issued to procure
gold for the redemption of United States
notes and treasury notes, and the obiSa-
tons of the government on account of the
notes still remain as at the beginning. The
notes are redeemed but they are unpaid,
and if our legislation is not changed no
matter how often they may be presented
and redeemed hereafter, they will still re-
main unpaid. If this policy of redemption
and reissue is continued, the interest-bear-
ing debt will be greatly increased while
the non-ir terest-bearing debt will not be in
the least diminished"
THE disadvantages of such system are
SO obvious that it is hardly necessary to
enumerate them. The government has I'M
dertaken to keep an unlimited amount of
circulating notes equal to gold coin, and at
the same time it has no legal authority to
compel anybody to give it gold in exchange
for the notes or to pay gold ON any demand
due to it. The obligation Is all on one side
and the power is all on the other. AL
though the amount OF United States notes
is liked at Si6,GSl, 900 and the amount of
treasury notes outstanding is little over
$lfO,OO0.otD, yet the total amount that may
be presented for redemption is unlimited,
because there is no restriction as to the
number of times the same notes may be re-
turned to the treasury and exchanged for
gold.
Every student of monetary science and
every PRACTICAL man or business knows
that the fundamental vice in our currency
system is the legal tender note, redeemahle
In coin by the government and reasonable
under the law.
No change that can be made in our cur
rency system will afford the relief to which
the government and the people are entitled
unless it provides for the retirement and
cancellation of the legal tender United
States notes.
The circulation of legal tender United
States notes and treasury notes has ten
dency to drive out of use and out of the
country the very coin in which the govern
ment Is compelled to redeem them; and It
has expelled millions of dollars from our
borders"
Mr.. Carlisle went on to say that it was
never contemplated that the Treasury
Department should convert itself Into a
bank of issue and furnish currency for the
people.
An evil growing out Of the continued cir
culation of legal tender money, the Secre-
tary said, was the widespread demoraliga.
ton of public sentiment, resulting in false
theories of money. He continued:
THE proposition that a promise of the
government to pay money is just as absurd
as the proposition that promise to deliver
a horse is a horse, and yet there are emil
nent men in the public councils who believe
actual money. and that the statute which
compels all the people to receive it as
actual money is constitutional and ought
to be continued in force
He also denounced the agitation for free
silver coinage, which, he says, would be
a forced loan from the people to the own
ers OF silver mines and silver bullion, with
out promise Of repayment by anybody"
He spoke at length on the need of stabil-