Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-01-31

Washington, Jan. 29.-President
Cleveland sent a special financial
message to congress yesterday. After
stating that the issuing of bonds mad
not stemmed the outflow of gold, he
says: that the most dangerous and
irritating feature of the situation, how
ever, remains to be mentioned. 1t is
found IN the means by which the
treasury is deSpOiled of the gold thus
obtained without cancelling a single
government obligation and solely for
the benefit of those who find profit in
shipping it abroad or whose fears in
duce them to hoard it at home. We
have outstanding about five hundred
millions of currency notes of the gov
eminent for which gold may be de-
manded; and curiOusly enough the law
requires that, when presented and in
fact redeemed and paid in gold they
shall be reiSSued. Thus the same notes
may do duty many times in drawing
gold from the treasury; nor can the
process be arrested SO long as private
parties who profit or see an advantage
i'm repeating the operation are enabled
to do so. More than $300,0O0,000 in
these notes have already been re-
deemed in gold, and Notwithstanding
such redemption they are still out
standing. Since January II, 1894, our
bonded Understanding debt has been
increased $1OO,OOO,0OO for the purpose
of obtaining gold to replenish our coin
reserve. Two issues were made
amounting to S50,0OO,00O each, one in
January and the other in November.
AS a result OF the first issue there
was realized something more than
$5S,0OO,OO0 in gold. Between that is
sue and the succeeding one in NOvem-
Der, comprising "a period of ten months,
nearly $103,0OOOOO in gold We're drawn
from the treasury. This made the sec
ond issue necessary, and upon that
more than $5SOOO,OOO in gold was
again realized. Between the date of
this second issue and the present time,
covering period of only two months,
more than $69,OOOOOO in gold have
been drawn from the treasury.
These large sums of gold were ex-
pended without any cancellation of
government obligations or in any per-
manent way benefiting our people or
improving our pecuinary situation.
The financial events of the past year
suggest facts and conditions which
should certainly arrest attention. More
than $172,OOO,0O0 in gold have been
drawn out of the treasury during the
year for the purpose of shipping
abroad or boarding at home. While
nearly $1O3,OOO,OOO of the same was
drawn out during the first ten months
of the year, sum aggregating more
than two-thirdS of that amount, be
ing about $69,OOO,OOO, was drawn out
during the following two months, thus
indicating Il marked acceleration of
the depicting process with the lapse
of time.
Tile obligations upon which this gold
ilaS been drawn from the treasury are
still outstanding and are available for
use in repeating the eXhausting opera
ton with shorter intervals as our
are certainly supervening tending to
make the bonds which may be issued
To replenish our gold less useful for
that purpose. An adequate gold re-
serve is, in all circumstances, absolute
ly essential to the maintenance of our
high national character. Our gold re-
serve has again reached such a stage
nf inn, 70 DIV
reinforcement. The aggravationS that
must inevitably follow present condi-
Eions and methods will certainly lead
us to misfortune and loss, not only to
our national credit and prosperity and
10 financial enterprise, but to those
of our people who seek employment as
a means of livelihood and to those
whose only capital is their daily labor.
1t will hardly do to say that simple
increase Of revenue will cure our
troubles. The apprehension now eX-
listing and constantly increasing as to
our financial ability does not rest upon
n calculation of our revenue. The
time has passed when the eyes of in
yestors abroad and our people at home
were fixed upon the revenues of the
government. Changed conditions have
attracted their attention to the gold
of this government. There need be
no fear that We cannot pay our cur
rent expenses with such money as we
have. There is now in the treasury
a comfortable surplus of more than
S63,00O0 900, but it is not in gold and
therefore does not meet the difficulty.
l cannot see, says the president con-
tinuing, that differences of opinion
concerning the extent to which silver
ought to be coined or used in our cur
sency should interfere with the coun-
sells of those whose duty it is to rectify
evils now apparent in our financial
situation. They have to consider the
question of national credit and the
consequences that will follow from it's
collapse. Whatever ideas may be in
sisted on as to silver or bimettalism a
proper solution of the question now
pressing upon us only requires a rec
ognition of gold as we'll as silver and
a concession of its Importance, right
fully or wrongfully acquired, as ba-
sis Of national credit, necessity in the
honorable discharge of our obligations
payable in gold and a badge of sol
yency. >,ss,es
/ do not understand that the real
friends of silver desire a condition that
might follow inactiOn or neglect 10