The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-13
LINCOLN THE LIBERATOR
Continued From First Page.

payment of goods that already had been
consumed. If distrust existed as to the abil-
ity OF the treasury, that distrust did not re-
late to then present situation but was
born out Of doubts and fears concerning a
future over which the dark clouds of I'M
certainty were gathering with an ever-in-
creaSIng menace.
Looking backward now to that dark pc
rico. 1t is refreshing to remember that at
the first sale of government bonds, occurring
as 1t did after the depressing fact of the
securities were subscribed for at par and
paid for in gold by The association banks
OF New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
Fall of Credit.
The gradual degeneracy of the national
credit was marked by falling of in reall-
cation to the treasury from par in gold
upon its bond issue to a price realizing
hardly 40 cents on the dollar. That the is
sue of legal tender notes. soon irredeemable
in coin by the government. and further dis
credited by being refused in exchange, at
the Will or the holder for Understanding
oDllSatlonS, was n contributing agency to
the great decline is nowhere denied Wheth-
or or not they were an indispensable incident
10 the financial needs of the government is
still an unsettled debate LAS the war
progressed and the country became poorer
this currency increased, giving new instru-
ments and facilities to expend lust In pro-
portion as the means of payment were con-
sumed."
government, as then known amounted to
the appalling sum of $2S44, COO OF this
amount $4ll,OOO,GO0 was payable on demand.
The annual interest charge was SIPS 600 OOO
The means secured by this great debt were
net ore suff lent fer the war expenditures.
The revenues of The government had been
increased by taxation upon everything that
could be made to yield revenue; the income
or the treasury from all sources in the year
1866 was $3.50 900. 000
The disbarding of the army the reiuc-
ton of the navy, and disc0ntinuance of the
great semi-military, sem-civil adjuncts to
both, relieved almost at once the embar-
rassment CT the treasury. or rather the
source of embarrassment was reversed
Hitherto there had been nadequacy; now
there was redundancy. During the years
lS66-lS19, there was surplus revenue over
expenditures of $675. O0O,O OO. 1t was applied
substantially to the reduction of the in
terest-bear1ng debt. Coin was accumu-
lated to the extent of $S6 OOO. coo by the sale
OF bonds preparatory to the redemption of
the demand debt
In 1879 the hour of test had come Won. d
the government be able to redeem its notes
IN gold? Had the credit of the govern
ment become fully restored? nation
waited for the fateful day of Jan /. 1879
which many had prophesied would end In
shame and humiliation. That day Witness
ed triumph, peaceful in kind but scarce
field. ..s-=. - -
The expectation existed that redemption
meant retirement at least gradual re-
men with scarcely an exception, while sup
porting their issue. deprecated the seem
Ing necessity and pleaded for the narrow
est and briefeSt use of the dangerous
agency. +-.-a
Why were these notes not retired? BY
what strange witchery of the imagination
has it come about that they are widely re-
garded not as evidences of an unpaid debt
but as money itself? That has happened
which Mr. Sumner foreboded when. speak
ing Of such forms Of government issues
Of
ton must not become its daily bread"
Rad Banking System.
We have seen that at the beginning of
the war, with a banking system hetero-
geneous: unrelated by any common avs or
rules OF action, yet with these disabilities
the associated banks had advanced S15O,-
oOO,CoO In gold to the government without
endangering specie payments. Indeed. the
record shows that so rapid were the gov
ernments disbursements. and so strong
the circulating current. that with the pay
ment of $50 600 completed. the gold re-
serve of the banks had been depicted only
81, GOO, 900.
We have seen that the interjection of gov
eminent notes into the field of circulation
| excusable as it may have been-crowded
| bank note issues back for redemption filled
bank vaults with government notes In
place of specie and led to the suspension Of
| specie payments by both the banks and the
government Viewed from the present point
of time, there is a concensus of the best
opinion that had there then existed
| banking system uniform in it's general feat
ures, operative in all the states. the de-
| ranging influence of government notes would
| not have appeared; that specie payments
would have maintained; that prices of com
| modities would have remained not far from a
normal standard; that the sudden fortunes
won from legitimate industry by specula-
| tive craft and cunning would net have APP
| peared in dazzling mockery of a nations
! distress; that hundreds of millions lost
through depreciation of government notes
would have been saved to the people
| If this be true. or approximately true. the
! inquiry may be repeated Why, out CT the in
| flowing surplus. were not these notes. as the
! most dangerous part of the war debt. re-
| tired and Cancelled? Was it considered, is 1t
now considered, that war banners have
| been forever furled? Resting as we may
| In sense of security as to peace at home
have all the nations given us satisfactory
| pledges against unjust aggressions from
J without? Why do we build warshies and
spend millions in coast defenses and main
tain an army?
Experimentation, costly. bumiIiating ex-
| perience-has taught US that behind the army
and the navy must be a strongly intrenched
| treasury and an unquestionable public
credit. A floating debt. payable on demand
is an element of weakness. 1t is the very
opposite of strength.
In pointing out the dangers of govern
pient paper money, Secretary Chase empha-
| sized The ever-pCesent liability to be called
on for redemption beyond the means OF pay
ment however carefully provided and man
aged; the hazard of panics prccipitating de-
mands in coin. concentrated on a few points
| and single fund"
1t requires but little reflection to convince
the mind that this danger to which for many
years we have been exposed would be real
ICED to its fullest extent in the initial move
ment of great war. In such movement tie
folly of our present situation would be fully
revealed The immunities Of peace cannot be
accepted safe conditions against the
tngencies of war. 1t Is this which justifes
navies and coast defenses. 1t is this which
not only justifies but demands that in its
finances the government shall pursue that
policy which shall be safe. not only in a
time of peace, yet one so guarded and pro-
tected that no surprise throw it in con-
fusion-a policy which will always be able
to reinforce the army and the navy with
the supporting power of an impregnable
credit.
Great applause greeted Bi-hop Potter
of New York. when he arose TO deliver
an address on 1.-THE Humor of Lincoln. -
T he reverend speaker told many anec-
dotes Of Lincoln in a most happy man
ner and contributed greatly to the en-
ioyment of the evening.
The other addresses of the evening
were by President Garfield. OF tho uni
versity Of Ohio, who responded to ECU
cation and the Nation" and j. Calhoun
of Danville, Ill, who replied to Till
nOis"