Year: 1862

The ApprOscbang sessfcn Or OonSre<ss-


The Public Ffasaces a.d the Ourrese. !


OF the Cosntry.


In three weeks from to-day tie Senators and


Representatives from the loyal States will meet


IN the Capitol at Washington and proceed TO the


business OF the third and last session Of the


Thirty-seventh Congress- Let Us indulge the


hope that learning wisdom from the-history Of


the past SIX months and being taught modera-


tion by the results Of the recent elections. they


will bring to the service OF the nation chasten-


ed hearts and rejecting minds. and endeavor.
by the wisdom Of their future acts, to atone for


the folly and inconsiderateness of the measures
which have marked the first two sessions Of


their existence


One Of the most important matters to which
the attention Of Congress is to be directed Is the


condition Of the public finances and OF the cur
rency Of the country. From that arises the


chief danger to which the republic IL exposed.
With all branches Of industry 1ourishing in the
loyal States as perhaps they never fonrished


before, we find that the difference between. the


market value of gold and that Of the govern
ment securities is ranging from thirty per cent
upward. In other words, the national credit
| has fallen one-third within the last twelve
months. To what ia that state Of things
due! Evidently it is the result of the un-


wise financial policy carried out by the
Secretary of the Treasury. And the true re-
medy lies in the reversing Of that policy and
the substitution sor il of system Of finance
that will be consistent with good sense and with
the lessons Of history.


Mr. Chase cannot have been ignorant of the
fact, though he has been willully blind to
| it, that England was able, through wise fnan-
cial policy, to carry on her wars for q quarter
of . century against the great Napoleon, defray-
| ing not only all her own expenditures, but
large portion Of those incurred BY the various
! European coalitions formed throughout that
memorable struggle, and yet to maintain her
national credit. She did it principally through
| the means Of comprehensive system Of taxa
| tion, which afforded her the means Of paying
| regularly the interest on the public debt, and
| of forming at the same time sinking fund for
| the gradual extinction of the capital. We have
| spent year and a half in a most costly war,
! involving ourselves in q debt Of enormous mag





through the means Of taxation has thus far
proved abortive. And whys Not because the
| sources Of taxation are not fruitful enough but
from Incidence. neglect of duty or want Of
capacity on the part Of the administrative officers
of the Treasury. The government might to-
day be richer by untold millions if the Tax bill
had been put in efficient operation on the lst
Of August last---ths day when it became opera
tive by law. Bnt the Secretary of the Treasury
| WAS too busy with bis military intrigues. and
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue too
much engrossed with his political aspirations, to
attend TO the duties for which they draw their
salaries, and the business of the country has
been, therefore, allowed TO go 10 The dogs. Tae
high premium on gold is one of the natural re-
sulis OF such conduct


But it is not by the depreciation of the gov
ernment credit alone that the country loses on
| account of the neglect or ncapacity Of its Trca-
sury officials. II loses millions in much more
positive and direct manner. Congress. at its
last session, authorized the issue Of postal cur
rcncy, and the business Of the country would,
in the scarcity Of silver change, have quickly
absorbed ten millions Of such currency, or, in
fact, any amount that the Treasury Department
chose to issue. That would have been so much
money paid into the Treasury. But so con-
temptiby small and slow has been the issue Of
the currency-coming in little driblets which
afforded no perceptibe relief-that the munich
palnes all over the country have had TO take
the matter in hand, and exercise very ques-
tonsble right by issuing shinplssters. This
city has authorized the issue of $500, 900 in this
, way; Albany, Sl00, 900; Newark, 900, and
80 ON all over the country, according to the
population Of the place. The postal currency
ought TO occupy the place that will be filled by
these corporation promises to pay. and the gov
ernment ought to have the advantage Of this
currency, instead of encouraging the opening
! up OF those fountains Of corruption at which
city officials will be too apt TO slake their thirst
for iil.gotten gains.


But, after all, the great mistake in our finan.
cial policy has been the permitting the curren-
| cy OF the banks all over the country 10 compete
with the national currency, thus swelling the
paper money in circulation to such undue pro-
portions as to necessitate its depreciation. The
| $500 000, ,0c0 Of Treasury notes, added TO the
paper circulation Of the banks, was more than
the business OF the country could properly en-
| ploy. The market was oyer gluttcd with
| paper money. and the natural result took
place--i,s depreciation and the corresponding
risc in the price Of gold. All this could have
been prevented, and the national credit main.
tanned above par, by the imposition Of such
| tax on bank notes as would have materially
restricted their issue, if ID did no! eventually
cause their entire Withdrawal from circulation
Nor would that measure have been one Of hos.
tility to those great mcneyed institutions, which
stood BY the government in its day Of great peril;
! for IL is well known fact that the New York