The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-10
VAN EXCUSES.


session by the proclamation Of the
President, and urged to repeal the law
which provided for the enforced pur-
chase of 4,5OOOOO ounces of silver bull
lion per month, for which the secre-
taTy of the treasury was to issue Uni
ted States treasury notes redeemable
in coin-gold or silver. The president
in his message to the congress con-.
vened in special session expressed the
belief that "Our unfortunate financial
plight is not the result of untoward
events, nor of conditions related to
our natural resources; nor is it trace
able to any of the Affections which fire.
Quently check national growth and
prosperity. With plenteous crops with
abundant promise of remunerative pro-
duction and manufacture, with I'M
usual invitation to safe investment,
and with satisfactory assurance to
business enterprise, suddenly financial
distrust and fear have sprung up on
every side
The President thought he saw in this
enforced purchase OF silver the cause
of the financial distress in 1893,
here outlined by him, and hence
had convened the congress to
repeal the purchasing clause of the
law. The men in congress who be-
lieved in the single gold standard
were extravagant enough in their ex-
pressions as to the benefits that would
at once follow the repeal of this law
confidence would return, commerce re-
vive, industry would awaken into &C
tive life The law was repealed so far
as it required the purchase of silver,
but the results prophesied failed to
put in an appearance. There was an
attempt at tariff reduction, but little
worthy the name was accom- plshed,
still there came slight revive1 of in
dustrial activity. Meantime it was dis
covered that the repeal of the Sher-
man law had not by any means abol-
ished the governments financial per-
pIexities; and the existence of the
United States notes and treasury notes
payable on presentation in coin, but
always redeemed in gold, was singled
out as the cause of the governments
financial difficulties. Authority was
asked to issue interest-bearinS, long
time bonds to purchase these demand
notes for the purpose of retiring them,
but that, up to date, has not been grant
ed. Meantime it was thought that if
only a sufficiently large bond sale was
negotiated to replenish the treasury
gold reserve, then confidence would
return, business revive and all
would be we'll. The bond sale
was negotiated and under such
circumstances as created very
extravagant notions as to its sal
utary effect upon industrial revival and
commercial activity. Now, however,
the very papers that predicted such
marvellous results as were des-
tined, in their opinion, to grow
out of the success of the bond
sale, are exhausting their ingenuity to
excuse the failure of their predictions.
''The traditional oldest inhabitant,"
says one Of them, never saw before
so many crises threatening trouble
between two or more great nations as
have appeared since last October or
November. First there were the Ar
menian outrages, which seemed to open
up the whole eastern question and to
foreshadow q general European war.
Then came the Venezuelan controver-
sy, with its possibilities of conflict be-
tween England and the United States,
followed Immediately by the Transvaal
affair, William IFS outburst, the flying
squadron and other incidents. The dis
turbing influence at the present mo-
ment is the passage of the Cuban bel
ligerency resolutions in the senate and
the possibility which it involves of
war between Spain and the United
States
And for these reasons our financial
condition has not improved as this
class of newspapers predicted It ap-
pears strange that our eastern friends
cannot see that there must be some
thing radically and fundamentally
wrong in a country's financial system
when that country can be prevented
from attaining prosperity, or is liable
to have its financial affairs unsettled
by such paltry circumstances as
enumerated above by the st. louis
Globe-Democrat. The country has
been relieved from the compulsory
purchase of silver, but prosperity did
not follow. The government has re-
plenished its gold reserve, but prosper
ity has not followed. How 1t could
possibly prosper by increasing its
bonded indebtedness and contracting
the volume Of its currency, no one has
yet been able to explain. 1t is time
that these expediency measures were
set aside, constitutional money re-
stored to the people, and the CONNER
cial and industrial affairs of our land
removed as far as possible from the
influence of party politics to the regu-
lation of the great natural laws of
trade and commerce, which would
largely control in these affairs if only
given a chance.