The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-07
CURRENCY REFORM.
Necessity for Remedial LegisIati tiOn
Made Plain hY the President

Necessity for Remedial Legislation
Made Plain by the President.
Tariff legislation having been settled by
the extra session of Congress- the question
next pressing for consideration is that of
the currency. The work of putting our
finances upon sound basis, difficult as it
may seem, will appear easier when we re-
call the financial operations of the govern
ment since 1866. On the 3Oth day of June
of that year we had outstanding demand
liabilities in the sum of $72S, ,S6S, ,44741. On
the LIST of January, 1872 these liabilities
had been reduced to $443 SS9, ,495.sS. OF our
interest-bearing obligations the figures are
even more striking. On July 1, 1866. the
principal of the interest-bearing debt of
the government was $685., S31, 2OS. On the
1st day of July, 1898, this sum had been
reduced to $5S5, ,O37. .1O0 or an aggregate re-
ducton of ST. 747, ,294, ,10S The interest bearing
debt of the United States on the 1st day of
December, 1897, was $S47, 1865, $50. The gov
ernment money now outstanding Dec. y
consists of S346 6S1, ,O16 of United States notes,
$1O7, .28O of treasury notes issued by au-
thority of the law of 1890, $685., 1868, ,5O4 of sill
yer certificates, and s61,2SO76 of standard
silver dollars.
With the great resources of the gov
of the past before us, we ought not to
hesitate to enter upon a currency re-
vision which will make our demand obli-
cations less operous to the government and
relieve our financial laws from ambiguity
and doubt
The brief review of what was accom-
plshed from the close of the war to 1893
makes unreasonable and groundless any
distrust either of our financial ability or
soundness while the situation from 1898
to 1897 must admonish Congress Of the
immediate necessity of so legislating as
to make the return of the conditions then
prevailing impossible.
There are many plans proposed as
remedy for the evil Before we can find
the true remedy we must appreciate the
real evil. 1t is not that our currency of
every kind is not good, for every dollar
of it is good =. good because the govern
ment's pledge is out to keep it so, and
that pledge will not be broken. However,
the guaranty of our purpose to keep the
pledge will be best shown by advancing
toward its fulhllment.
The evil of the present system is found
in the great cost to the government of
maintaining the parity over different forms
Of money = that is. keeping all of them
longer needless of the burden this imposes
upon the people, even under fairly pros
porous conditions while the past four years
have demonstrated that it is not only an
expensive charge upon the government, but
a dangerous menace to the national credit.
1t is manifest that we must devise some
plan to protect the government against
bond issues for repeated redemptions. We
must either curtail the opportunity for spec
ulation, made easy by the multiplied re-
demptions of our demand obligations, or in
crease the gold reserve for their redemp-
tion.
We have $500 900, 900 of currency, which the
government, by solemn enactment, has un-
dertaken to keep at par with gold. Nobody
is obliged to redeem in gold but the gov
ernment. The banks are not required to
redeem in gold. The government is obliged
to keep equal with gold all its outstanding
currency and coin Obligations, while its re-
ceipts are not required tc be paid in gold.
They are paid in every kind of money but
gold and the only means by which the gov
ernment can with certainty get gold is by
borrowing. 1t can get 1t In no other way
when u naost neeIs d ~, ~ me soxerhnent
to maintain gold redemption, which it has