The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-12-18
CHICkERING & SONS.

put gold boarding precarlous, and SO ar
resting the borrowing of capital. The
rate of interest, at which capital can be
borrowed, indicates the restricted demand
for it for farms, farm buildings, inple-
ments and stock, for ships and factories,
for railways and other Instruments of
transportation, for all those enterprises,
that Indicate the prosperity and growth
of community. Cut off from using
their capital in legitimate, domestic bust
ness, the owners of it are driven either
to hoard 1T, or speculate in Its apprecia-
ton, or to invest it in those manufac
lures which have become profitable:among
"the weak and laggard nations that have
silver alone as their standard of value"
BULLING THE GOLD MARKET
Very we'll, boarding and specializing
being s(1h symptoms of financial bad
health, how does the President think he
is going to better the situation by "bull-
| ing' the gold market? He wants $500, :
100000 to retire the circulating treasury
notes, including those issued for purchase
| of silver bullion under the Sherman act
| But does he not want very much more
than this? Is he going to discontinue
paying the silver certificates in gold, and
| let the holders of them shirk, getting
| StlCu pGlC0o as UuCh SllfCI Will ScIl LUZ DIS
old metal? Can he go into the market
and buy in a lump $500, 000 QUO of gold,
without greatly enhancing the price of
gold?
The President cannot expect to be more
successful in getting his gold than he was
before Let us see. He added 1852, 0OO,-
| 600 to the Understanding debt of the
| United States and acquired thereby $14,-
| 600, 600 of gold. How much will the five
| hundred million cost him, or rather cost
us, the people? 1t Is a simple sum in arith-
metic. As IA millions are to 1862 millions
so are 500 millions to 5, 785 millions True
he means to replace the national currency
| by bank notes, but will he want any less
gold for redemption purposes, or is he
| going to pay the securities of the United
States with bank notes that are not even
legal tender; and if that can be done
hereafter, Why could it not have been
done last summer?
| But how is the diversion of the demand
for gold that now falls upon the Treasury
to the national banks going to check
boarding and speouating, il the causes
of boarding and specializing instead of
| having been removed have been greatly
aggravated. Let us suppose the difficulty
of getting gold to have been overcome or
evaded and new bank currency of $780, :
0O0 600 to have been safely reinstated in
place of all United States treasury notes.
| Ii all this has only increased Che 'sauri
sacra fames," when the hoarder and
speculater comes with his budget of bank
notes and demands gold what is the
national bank, say. of Skowhegan going
to do? 1t can pay gold as long as it has
it. but will not have the Presidents adj
vantage of getting more by construction
of the act of 1875. 1t can pay legal tender
silver coins as the strongest banks in
Germany and France would do under
similar circumstances, and SO give the
United States treasury officials lesson
in common sense. 1t can not pay in
lawful money, so called, for all that will
have been cancelled and retired. LET
it be carefully considered that the de-
mand for specie will fall on the weak.
country banks that have small deposits
and large circulation, and not on the
strong, city banks that have large de-
posits and small or no circulation; and
that banks are not liable to redeem each
others bills
There is one recourse not now open to
the banks-that is to suspend specie paw
ments. They must pay or fail. A fail
ure to redeem their notes is under the
statutes, forfeiture of their bonds and
a peremptory arrest of their business,
After that the Comptroller of the Cur.
rency must step in, and convert the
banks bonds into cash and there with re-.
deem their circulating notes. So that the