The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-02-21

for careful cons liberation. 1t Is one which
cannot be met by theorlzlng. advancing
party schemes or dodging responsibility.
When We see private enterprise In stag
mated condition, all business at u stand
sun. thousands OF our honest and Indus
trlous citizens actually suffering for the
necessarlee OF life, and even find our
National credit rated as that OF third or
circles, patriotic men are made to blush
with shame and sore disappointment Rs
they witness one step after another taken
In this downward road. That our path.
during tho past two years, has been rapid
ly leading to lower plane, no one can
deny. and as there ts never an effect with
out cause, there must be reason Tor
THIS unfortunatel condition. and II that
cause was discovered. and removed,
would not the effect disappear with 1t or
BOON thereafter
President Cleveland says that our pre-
sent embarrassment is due to II lack OF
confidence on the part OF the people,
which is evidently true as far as lt goes,
but is only another way OF stating that
serious trouble exists and shows plainly
that thele Is o cause back Of It, for public
confidence would not have been with.
drawn unless there had besn a reason for
it. That the confidence of the puolic has
weakened, is forcibly shown by the fact
that the recent loan made by our govern
ment cost IL So per cent. while the same
kind or bonds would have sold readily at
q percent. three years ago; and small
amount of bonds were actually placed Mt
per cent.
Wien u private Institution, which has
been succes5ful in business, suddenly
changes it's plan of operation to such an
extent as to cause Its expenses to exceed
It's Income. the confluence or It's creditors
ls at once Withdrawn when the fact OF it's
mismanagement becomes known; and
why should not the came rule be sup.
posed TO apply to the financial standing
OF governmentr And II II can be shown
that tho income OF our government is not
equal to ite expenses, is IL not reasonable
to conclude that there is the evil which 10
undermining our credit and causing pub
lie confidence to weaken?
The President tells US that there 10 a
comfortable 5urplus' in the treasury,
with which to meet the ordinary expenses
Of the government, bat In reply to re.
quest from tho Senate for q statement of
the amount Of gold paid out OF tine treas
ury from January lst, '93. to February LIST,
'95 and the purposes for which II was paid
Secretary Carlisle said that out of a total
oil Sl79 10000 (omiting all figures below
millions) he had u ed Sl05 600 900 In To-
fraying tho ordinary expenses aud sG7, .
600 OOO In redeeming government notes,
now are wo to suppose that this S105 900,
600 OF gold was used for purpuses for
which currency was equally good, while q
comfortable surplus OF the latter re
q
shall we conclude that deficiency OF
other money made it necessary to use the
gold?
| II the latter Is not the correct conclu-
sion, then the treasurer has been borrow
| ing gold to meet expenses, while q surplus
4 of currency remained Idle In the vaults;
we Will not accuse him Of thus Grim lnally
exceeding his authority, but must cou.
| clude that tho Presidents comfortable
| surplus" was not available. Now II 1t has
| haAn nanpAEarU n "a,
meet the deficiency for twenty-five
months. and during that period We have
seen cur National credit reduced lower as
each month passed, is II not fair to con.
clude that there must he sume connection
between the two ncldents2 In short that
the lalter ls the simple aud Inevitable re.
| suit OF the former.
In 93 President Cleveland told us that
tho Sherman Silver Bill was responsible
for the entire trouble and assured us
that, with its repeal. confidence would be
restored and prosperity regaineu. BY q
vigorous use Of his entire influence. in,
Guiding that OF public patronage, lie final
ly succeeded In getting the purchasing
clause oil the statute books, but. although
i about sixteen months have pnsBed since II
was repealed the promised result has moi
been realized but, In reality, tho situation
continues to grow worse ne time passes
tor the money which cost us per cent
one year ago now costs US 3gl per cont.
Three tines the President has sou ght L
remedy the evil by selling bonds, and or
each occasion the act has been applaudeC
by the public press as one maintaining
the credit OF the nation; and to certaiI
degree that process will maintain, bu
never regain, our credit. Why coDtinu,
the operation OF selling bonds to get golG
with which to pay our ordinary expenses
when the necessary money might b'
easlly raised, blessing conferred ON oul
labOriuR people aud the confidence OF tn,
nnlIlip rHfyaluaI hV "a EIiUlt an In, an
Import duties?
Uunder the embarrassing sit uatior
with which VIC are now struggling ther,
IL no other course open to us. except tina
OF selling bonds for the gold which W,
must have to redeem our currency wheI
} offered. But is this course TO have M
end2 by borrowing money We are en-
, auled to meet our existing deficiency. bu
can never remove the cause OF such deiicl
enCy nor regain tho confluence which 4
has weakened. these highly desirable end
can only be attained by making our In
come equal TO OF greater than our OK
penses.
While we admit the necessity of the re
: cent bond sale. some OF us are unable [,
understand why European gold should
command such an enorm Gus premiu IN
or why 10 ls 30 much more valuable II
meeting the requirements Of the uresen
: emergency than American gold. 1t Il
true that the demand for gold appear
1 stronger on the eastern than on tho west
ern side of the Atlantic, and has causot
! our gold to be exported. at an alarming
/ rate. for about two years past; but can VI
hope TO remove that difficulty by buyinl
. a small pol ;ion OF their gold ami shipping
1T west?
1t seems more reasonable to conclude
that II 1t produces any visible effect /
would be TO Increase the eastern demand
Then on what grounds are We to justlf
= tho private contract secretly made with
+; foreign syndicate und9r which Uont
| worth ll9lS was sold Tor l0Ils, ono half O
r the required gold to be brought from
A Europe2 by this contract we are to re
, ceiJe s65, ,O0O. 900 for Uonds which shoul(
have brought at least ga. 600 900 IN Amer
a lean gold, II they had been sold openl
, and to the highest bidders. We lind the
that the enormous price of 50 000, 900 na
=; been paid for the privilege Of importing
S32 50O, 900 OF foreign gold, or premium
of nearly 80 per cent
One hesitates to charge our chief off
i. GERS with dishonesty In the management
OF our financial affairs, but the terms o
4 which the last bonds were sold gave sucl
; an unlustiliable advantage % the purchas
. ers as TO make the situation q serlousl
Q suspicious one; and II the transaction la
I teen made for sJrle private institution
$ would have been followed by an arres
Q and an investigation. Besides furnishing
this syndicate with an opportunity o
prolltably investing large sum OF none
a bonus Of 900 was paid and will b.
distrIbutel; whether all will 20 to partle
:; OF tho second part or not outsiders wi
, never know.
0 Senator Shermon predicts that thes
y bouds will be selling on.the market at IN
0 inside of thirty days. which wll produc
Q profit of nearly 10000, 900. A measur
o has been Introduced IN the Senate, proh
biting the secret eale OF lands, In til
! future, and 1t ID to TO hoped 1t will bt
o como a law ana thus prevent repetition
}, OF. this unfortunate affair +. T. W.