The herald., 1897-12-20
M'KINLEY ON FINANCES

President McKinley's plan for the re-
tirement of the greenbacks is not quite
clear to anybody. including the presi-
dent himself. In his message to con-
gress he says that they should be re-
deemed, set apart and only paid out for
gold Now. since the gold is In the
pockets OF spectators in government
bonds and in the vaults of the bankers
who replenish the public treasury with
gold "for revenue only" 1t will be In
order for the president, or anybody else,
to explain by what process he expects
to touch the hearts of these men and of
these soulless institutions, without at
the same time tickling their pockets.
From q gold-bug standpoint the ordi-
nary citizen would have right to be-
lieve that the present financial system
is an ideal one. The parties and plat
forms which, in the last campaign, con-
demned it and pointed out it's iniquities,
were ridiculed and called bad names.
And now comes the president of the
United States, the chief defender and
upholder, during said campaign, Of this
same system, and says:
The failure Of the present (HnanciaD
system IS found In the great cost to the
government of maintaining the parity
of our Different forms Of money-that
is, keeping all of them at par with
gold. We surely car.not be longer
needless CT 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 rational credit.
President Mckinley has evidently
been studying some Of Mr.. Bryans
speeches.
In the same message the president
says that the government is obliged
to redeem demand obligations (by
which it may be surmised he means
greenbacks and treasury notes) in gold.
The fallacy of this statement has so
often been pointed out that there Is no
excuse for its repetition by the president
of the United States. There is not de-
mand obligation, or any other obliga-
tlon of the United States Except few
gold certificates), that is payable in
gold. This political joke, like it's brother,
"the foreigner pays the tax" needs
much deserved rest; it is stale. The
president has, however, built his whole
currency reform system upon it. The
funny papers are missing rare oppor-
tunity.
II the demand obligations are not
payable in gold, then according to
President McKinley's ideas, whatever
they may be, the reform Of the present
financial system is not necessary. But
every school boy knows that the de-
nand obligations are payable in "coin," Z"
and that coin is either gold or silver.
If President Mckinley had instructed
his goldbug secretary of the treasury
to redeem the demand obligations in
silver, or had recommended to congress
the enactment of a law which would
coiiiPei ,liS SeSielaiS VI tHc u eaouis ~
redeem these obligations in silver,
whenever the gold reserve should fall
below the amount established by law,
the whole question would have been
solved. so far as the evils complained
of in the presidents message are con-
cerned, and he would need have no
anxiety about a future issue and sale Of
bonds, except for the purpose Of meet
ing the deficit caused by the Dingley