The evening times., 1895-12-03

cnue systciu, designed for the protection
and benefit OF favored ciassas at the ex
ense or the great mass OF our countrymen
! and which,. while Inefficient for The pur
! pose OF revenue, cnrtaiIed our trade rcIa
| tions and ipipesless our entrance to the mar
ket, OF the wcrId. has been superseded by Z
tariff policy which in principle 10 baset
iilJn IcnHi On ti.. rig ,,t .I,, III
! to obstrnct the avenues to our peoples cheaI
| living or lessen their. comfort and content
nient, for the sake of according especial ad
vantages to favoritrs, and which, while en-
couragiiig our intercourse and trade will
other nations. recog DiZes the fact that Ameri
can eclf-rciiance, thrift and ingenuity car
build up our con ntry q in,ust ries and develoI
paternalisn.
COINAGE OF SILVER.
The compulsory purchase and coinage
of silver by the government, unchecked
and unregulated by business conditions
and needless of our currency needs. which
circulating medium. unde rmined conf.
dence abroad in our financial ability, and
at last eliminated In dlstIcss ana panic at
home, has been recently stopped by the, he
less scheme upon the country.
The things thus accomplished, notwith.
standing tneir extreme Importance ana
benef!cent effects, fall far sLort uf curlf
the monetary evils from which We suffer
as Il result or lJng Indulgence in 1ll-advlsed
financial exped1eHts~
tNf,OilsiUdttu
notes and commonly known as greenbacks
was issued in large volume du Rug The Iaie
civil war, and Was Intended originally t, u,
meet the ex1gencies or that perIad- IL VIII
b.. seen by "a reference 10 tLe CeDates IN Cen .
gress at the time the laws were passed
authorizing the issue OF these notes tnat
their advocates declared they were IN
tended for only temporary use % and 70 meet e,
all the In VS. relating to them some provision
was made contemplating their voluntary
or compulsory retirement. large iuahtity
OF them. however, were Kept On Icot anu
mingled with The currency OF the country,
so tuat Il. tue ,i.sc =, tHe Wuf tncJ
amounted To. $3e ,S99,0T3.
january, 1876, u law was passed providing
for the resumption OF specie payments, by
which the Secretary of the Treasury was re-
auired. whenever ndditionai eircqlauoh 1.iioi,
States notes equal in amount TO 80 per
htion until such notes were reduced to
$500 100000. This law further provided
that on an after the 1st day OF January,
1879. the United States notes then out
standing should be redeemed In coin. ana IN
order to provide and prepate LOT suc.
was authorized not only to use any surplus
revenues OF the government. but TO Issue
bonds OF the United States and dispose OF
them for coin and to use the proceeds Tor the
purposes contemplated by the statute.
RETIREMENT OF GREENBACKs.
In May. 1873. and before the date thus
appointed for the redemption and retire
ment OF these notes. another statute was
passed rorbidding thcir further canceiiation
i.-I f-fiIl ~, ...st4 - ".Iti.-,, .Its+F '.r.
been previously redeemed and cancelled
upOn the issue OF additional national-bank
as permitted by the law OF
1875, so that the amount outstanding at the
time OF the. passage of the act forbiddlng
their further retirenlcnt was S346 .6SI Ol6.
The law of 1878 did not stop ut distinct
but contained. in addition. the
following express provision:
Aud when any oil said nouts may De re-
depfned or be received into the Treasury.
u uder any law, from any source whatever.
a nd shalt belong to the United states they
shall not be retired, cancelled or destroyed.
but they shall be reissued aud paid out
again and kept in circulation.
This was the condition OF affairs on the
I a day OF January, 1879, which had been
fixed upon four years before as the date
for entering upon the redemption ana re.
iireneut OF all these notes, and for winch
such abundant means had been PROVIDED
The government was put in the anoEla-
,ous situa ion of ow ing 10 the holders or It's
notes debts payable In gold on demand
" Mich could reither be retired by receiving
such notes in discharge OF opiiRdtlohs que
the government nor Cancelled by actual pay
nent in gold. II was forced To redeem
redemption and to- pay without ac-
luittance.
There had been issued and sold $685.
500 900 of the bonds authorized by the
act OF 1870, the proceeds or
which, together with otheI goia ih ,1e
Treasury. created gold fund deemed suffi-
lent to meet the demands whIch might Ge
made upon 1t for the redemption or the out
United States notes Ihis iund.
together with such other gold as might be
rom time 10 time In the Treasury avail
able for the same purpose. has been since
,aI4ed our gold reserve, aud Sloo,GoAoo
mas been regarded as an adequate amount
20 accomplish its object This ~ nd arnounf-
ri on the lst day OF January. 1879, To i
81 IA ,193. $50, and though thereafter con-
haa sum ntf until july. Isss. In April. 1888
or the first time since its establishment,
his reserve amounted to less ttlan SlOO.-
S7,0ii, $3.50.
In the meantime, and in July, 1890. an
ct had been passed directing larger gov
monthly purchases nf silver than
ad been required under previous laws. aud
that in payment for such silver
treasury notes ri the United states should
e issued payable on dcInand III gold or
liver coin at the discretiun uf tilr Secre-
airy OF the Treasury. 1t was, however, de-
red In the act to be the established
'olicy of the United States tn maintain the
wo metals on parity With each other
pom the present legal ratiu. ur sucf ratio
5 may be provided by law" In view OF
his declaration ii was Not deemed perinIs-
ble for the Secretary nf the Treasury to
Nercise the discretion /, terms C,rierr'"io on |
lin. by rcfuSin 10 pay gold on tbcse notes
hen demanded. because by such lIscr ,tiiilia-
ION in favnT of the gofd dollar the sn- |
alled parity of the twu metals wouid be |
estroyed, and grave and dangerous con- |
equeiices would be precipitated by affirm |
* or accentuating the constantly widening |
isparity between their actual values I'M |
or the existing ratio.
'REATED AS GOLD OBLIGATIONS.
1t thus resulted that the Treasury notes
sued in payment of silver purchases under
le law of 1890 were necessarily treated
5 gold obligations, at the option of the
older. These notes ON the st day OF No
ember, 1893. when the law compelling the
ionthly purchase OF silver was repealed.
mounted to more than 81 80, ,0GO,Guu. The
Dtes of this description now outstanding
ided to the United States notes still undi-
finished by redemption or cancellation
mounting to- nearly SoO0,Oou,ooo. These
bligations are the Instruments which.
,cr since we have had gold reserve.
ave been used to deplete it.
This reserve, as has been stated, mad
,lien in April, 1898, to S97 OIL $50. 1t
as from that time to the present, with
tents, steadily decreased, except as 1t has
cen temporarily replenished by the sale OF
Dnds.
Among the causes for this constant and
inform sfrinkage in this fund may be men-
oned the great falling off of exports under
le operation of the tariff la W until recently
force, which crippled our exchange or
with foreign nations and ne
,ssitatetl to some extent the pa yment Of
lr balances in gold; the unnatural infusion
silver into Our currency and the increaS-
g agitation for its free and unlimited ccin-
&c, which have created apprehension as to
ir disposition or ability to continue gold
4 yments; the consequent boarding OF gold
home and the stOppage of Investments of
reign capital, as Well 4 the return OF cur
curIties already sold abroad and the high
tie OF foreign exchange, which induced the
Iipnent OF oar gold TO be drawn against.
u matter or speculation.
conditions 1
Nd reserve on the lst day of February. |
1874, was reduced to S65, ,43s ,377 Having