The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-13
GAGE ON THE VALUE OF GOLD.
HIGH CREDIT BIG FACTOR IN
CASE OF WAR.

/
the birth of Abraham Lincoln was gener-
| ally observed here to-day by exercises in
the schools and by various banquets. The
principal banquet of the evening. how
ever was the twelfth annual affair of the
Marquette Club, which was held at the
Auditorium Hotel. Fully 600 members of
the club were present and the speeches in
reply to the toasts were received with
great applause.
| Ex-Prestdent Harrison was one OF the
speakers of the evening and his address on
Abraham Lincoln" was received with en-
thusiastic manifestations of approval.
| Following Mr.. Harris came Justice
David ]. Brewer of the United States Su-
preme Court, who spoke eloquently on
THE Nations Anchor" the court of
which he is a member.
He was followed by Lyman ]. Gage,
| Secretary of the Treasury, who spoke on
Government and Finance" Secretary
| Cages speech follows:
ION an occasion where patriotic senti-
ments are given the place of honor. where
| the preconceived purpose is to indulge in
| retrospection of noble life and its heroic
| NNNdSJ bllC lillI VI d tuCilAC DIS SOAN
| and commonplace as is that which you
| have allotted to me, strikes the mind in
| its first impressions as a false note in
an otherwise beautiful strain of music.
| On second thought, however, it will be
| perceived that in the great patriotic strug-
| gle which engaged the heart and brain
| of Lincoln this question of government
finances was a question not less difficult,
nor less perplexng, than those other
| primal questions which burdened him with
| their inconceivable weight.
| 1T was quickly recognized by the new
! President that the three elements neces-
sary to be combined for a successful re-
suit to any war were armies, ships and
| the power of credit These three elements
| are as necessary now as they were them
| and, until human nature is transformed
they will be equally necessary in the flu
| ture. How could these be combined, CO.
ordinated, each experimenting in proper
| time and place the other This was the
| problem forced upon that comparatively
obscure man of the people, who went to
| his task with the simplicity of good will
| for all men, man who loved peace and
hated war. Was ever man burdened like
! TINS man? Yes, one other. In the birth
| throes OF the republic there was another
broadly like him, like him in unselfsh
devotion to liberty, capable of all sacrifice
patient and hopeful where others despair
! ed' free from guile and evil ambitions
In graceful remembrance of them both
| the world speaks in one breath the names
| of Washington and Lincoln.
| unframed In finance, within a period
Of four years Mr.. Lincoln was to provide
| the means for an expenditure
greater than the total expenditure from
the pubic treasury during its
| whole previous history of seventy years.
| NO wonder that, under the awful pressure
OF events, with discordant voices loud in
| conflicting advice, he should have once
| exclaimed: l am worse off than St
| Paul. He was in straits betwixt two; 1
am IN straits betwixt twenty
| Happily, at the outbreak of the war
there was no national debt worth men
| tioning. No Immediate provision had 70
be made for the payment of goods al
ready mad and consumed. If distrust ex-
lsted as to the ability of the treasury. that
dlstrust did not relate to a then present
situation, but was born out of doubts
ana Iears concerning a future over which
Ile uarh clouds OF uncertainty were gath
eFlhg with an ever-increasing menace
Looking backward now to that dark
period, 1t is refreshing to remember that
at the hrst sale of government bonds
! occurring as it did after the depressinp
TACT of the first battle of Bull Run. one
hundred and fifty millions of these seem
rltles were subscribed for at par and paid
| BIN Ny TIE associated banks of
| rev York, Philadelphia and Boston. The
gradual degeneracy of the national credit
| was marked by falling off in realization
| 10 the treasury from par in gold upon ito
poho issue to price realizing hardly forty
| cents on the dollar. That the issue Of
| legal tender notes, soon irredeemabIe in
CON oy the government, and further dis
credlted by being refused in exchange at
the will of the holder for interest haor;ne J,
oDhgatons was a contributing agency to
me great decline, is nowhere denied
| whether or not they were an indisnan'
SABLE incident to the financial needs Of tba
| government, is still an unsettled debate
as the war progressed and the country
| became poorer, this currency Increased
| giving new Instruments and faci,ities ~
expend Just in proportion as the means of
| payment We're consumed
| w men the war was over the debt Of o,,r
| government, as then known amounted -
me appailhg sum Of $2Sl4 100000. OF this
amount S4ll, UO,VOO was payable on dernead
d ne aunuaI interest charge was $125. 600. :
| wv Inc means secured by this great
| deDt were not alone sufficient for tbe We ,
| expenditures. The revenues of the COW
| eminent mad been increased bv taxntio,
upon everything that could be made 10
yield revenue; the income of the traasY
| 1858, 00O, 900. LOW " as
| AHe uispdhulHg OF the army, the reduc-
| ton of the navy and discontinuance ~ tha
| great semi-military, semi-civil adiun ,ts n
| both, relieved almost at once the en,bar.
! rassment Of the treasury, or. rathar tta
! soerce of embarrassment was reversed
! Hitherto there had been inadeouacv. mr. u,
! there was redundancy. During the wears
! lS66-lSl9 there was a surplus revenue over
! expenditures of $67600O,0O0. 1t was annlied
| substantially to the reduction of the in
| terest-beering debt. Coin was accunu-
! lated to the extent of 500 900. 900 by tho soIe
of bonds preparatory 10 the redemption of
| the demand debt In 1879 the hour of Test
/ had come. Would the government he a b1e
to redeem its notes in gold? Had IRE
| credit of the government become fully re
stored? A nation waited for the fatnfnl
day of Jan. l, 1879 which many had pronb-
esied would end in shame and humiliation
| That day witnessed a triumph. peaceful
| in kind, but scarcely less deternoinative
| than victories in the field
The expectation existed that Reclamation
meant a retirement. at least a gradual
retirement of the demand OBLIGATIONS
Statesmen, with scarcely an excention
while supporting their issue, Deprecated
the seeming necessity and plead for tbe
narrowest and briefest use of the dancer
| Gus agency.
why were these notes not retired9 Pv
what strange wtchery of the imagination
has 1t come about that they are wIde1y,