St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-06
FURTHER REPUBLICAN TESTI-
MONY

We recently quoted from the re-
ports of the earlier Republican sec
retaries of the treasury their views
regarding the greenback and it's re-
lation to the currency of the coun-
try. Without an exception they re-
garded it as merely a temporary ex-
pedient put upon the country by
the rebellion, and to be retired as
quickly as possible After the paper
money craze had scared Republican
congressman into stopping the re-
tirement of the greenback and into
initiating the currency with silver
purchases, the Republican secre-
taries Of the treasury naturally felt
diffident about making recommended
tions to their congresses. But the
consequences which clear-eyed men
like McCulloch and Briston so plain
ly saw, hidden though they We're for
a period by the abounding prosper
ity of the country, yielding a sur
PAAo NSAihC, pCSail " COlilS W
judgment in and after the year 1896.
In the reports of Secretary Foster,
although we find no explicit criticism
Of the policy of permitting the green
back to remain in the permanent
currency Of the country, we do find
admissions that that which Nc
Culloch and the earlier officials
predicted had come to pass. In
his report of December, 1891, he notes
the decline of silver from s1.21 to
So cents an ounce, and admits that
he had been unable to meet the an
nual requirements of the sinking fund,
although something over $4,000, 900
belonging to the national bank note
fund had been virtually confiscated
and turned into treasury assets. But
if the chief of the department felt
diffident about criticising the policy
of his party, his subordinate, the
treasurer, was not SO reticent. He
speaks in his report Of that year of
the heavy exports Of gold-"the
heaviest recorded in the history Of
the nation"-the result, apparently,
he says, of ''the operation of natural
laws" but he intimates that ''finan-
cial legislation" may be one of the
contributing causes.
Secretary Foster met congress in
December, 1892, with very doleful
face. Zone of the embarrassment
of the treasury" he says, sis the in
ability, with the limited amount of
cash on hand above the S100, 1000, 900
reserve, to keep UP a sufficient gold
supply. When the demand comes
for the expectation of gold, the treas
| ury is called upon to furnish it. If
this demand should prove to be as
large for the coming year as it has
in the last two years, gold in. the
below the reserve line" He reminds
congress that if $100, 100000 had been
sufficient and suitable reserve be-
fore the expansion of the currency,
it had ceased to- be sufficient since
over s120 1000, 900 Of treasury notes had
been added to the currency by the
act Of 1890; to which, he says, ''We are
adding about $4,OOO,ooO each month
in payment of silver bullion. Gold
is drawn from the treasury by the
redemption of greenbacks, while
there is a marked decrease in the
receipts of gold in payment of GUS
TOMS"
AS one reads the report on the
finances Of Secretary McCulloch in
1866 in the light of the report Of his
successor, made twenty seven years
later, the sagacity Of the old financier
and the wisdom Of his urgent coun-
sells to congress to guard against
such dangers by the speedy retire