Year: 1868

Z
that western half Of our country,
whore they are now almost unknown.


Mr.. Morton, can you really believe
that we workers and traders-cap-
tains Of industry and distributors Of
wealth-are SO short.sighted aud
foolish as to stop working aud ira
ding in order 20 run the Treasury
dryof goldi We, for example, pay
out nearly all the money We get-iu
some years, quite ali Of it-iu pay
msnts for the materials and'labor re-
quired in our business. A tho mon
ey comes in, i. is wanted TO bo paid
out again. Do you think VIC shall
withhold it from our paper>mIkcr',
our uorkmsn, TO-, aud run TO the
Sub Treasury to convert it into gold 2
Do We not know that this would be
70 bring all buainsm to a standStill,
our own Included 7 Do you suppose
men in business to be natural fools 2
Yet il is by uI-not by brokers and
gold gGmhlers-that money iI kept
in circulation. l doubt whether the
aggregate money payment Of the
| United States are so little as one
One Thousand Millions per month.
Ninety-uine OF every hundred pay
out as fast as they roceivs-only the
nearest fraction hoard money.
Do believe, Mr.. Senator, that money
10 kept shost because it iS needed,
and performs a bonihcent function,
aud that this was the case before
Suspension and will be after Resump>
tion.


III. Let us suppose the Government
to resume tomorrow, or, il you
choose, on the lst Of January at hand
who will hasten to drain the Treas.
ury Of its Seventy Millions Of coin
Not you aud l certainly-not the
great mass Of our busy, active work
ers and traders for the money now
in our hands being now equal to coin,
We have no inducement, no motive,
to do SO. We would 90 on working
and trading, receiving and paying,
out precisely as VIC now do; only
sending to the Mint or the Treasury
for i little coin a. change or to
satisfy some other need. The
fact that our money was at par
with and would bring coin at will
would diyest US of all desire to ex-
change it.


But there would be a olass-I am
sure not large nor = strong one
who would rush for coin, either fear
ing that the Treasury would, or dc.
sirous that it should run dry. How
soon, think you, could these gam
blers in National insolvency raise
money enough to drain the Treasury
Of Seventy millions /? Mind that
every public officers, every pensioner,
every solvent banker, every bondhold.
er, every railroad, every creditor,
every one having salary or other
fixed income, would have a PERSONAL
interest in the success Of the efforts
to maintain Specie Payments. Can
you imagine that the lame ducks OF
Wall street, the spectators in Ma
tional dishonor, are strong enough
to overcome them


III. But do not rely on the Sew
enty Millions of coin in the Treasury.
/ would have them backed by the in-
come and credit of the Government
the Country-tho People. would
forthwith issue an American Cousol,
and urge every one who has 500 or
over to spare to invest it therein. l
believe Consul, payable expressly
in specie, having one hundred years
to run, ,,untaIable and paying interest
quarterly, could be aoatcd at four
per cent; 1 am very confident that
such Consol, drawing five per cent.
interest could be brought TO pre-.
MUM and kept there. Say that it
stood barely one per cent. above par,
the Government might issue it so
fast and so far only as to meet the
run on the Treasury for specie.
This Consol, backing the Seventy
Millions of coin, would give the lame
ducks more than they could digest.


But would arm the Treasury,
moreover, with power to borrow on
temporary loan at such rate as should
be found necessary to retain Resump-
ton. If coin run low, and the Con-
sol fell below par, would authorize
the Secretary to so into the market
and borrow, at three, six, nine, and
twelve months, on the faith and cred
it Of the United States, such sums as
he might need and at the best attain,
able rates. If six per cent. would
not serve l would have him pay
more.


! Now be good enough to remember
that every dollar of coin taken out Of
the Treasury must be placed some
where else. 1t would not be annhila.
the and very little Of it, under the
stringency that such struggle must
produce, would 60 abroad. Those
who owned it would wish 1t safely
placed where it would carr then
something; andwhat could they do bet
ter than lend it to the Government
Two-thirds of it would return, like
Noah's dove to the Ark, after a briei
soiourn elsewhere. The lame ducks,
if they should draw it, would be un'
able to hold it.


". Let us now imagine the case
which deem most improbable, o
the Treasury being wholly depleted
Of coin-what of it2 We have hon
estly and earnestly tried to MAKE
good our promises-we have paid out
our Seventy Millions on hand, will
all we can borrow on long bonds a
moderate rates and on temporary
loan at higher; where is the harm
J The coin haA gone to pay our debts
aud we owe at least Seventy Millions
L.. kLau vwaaank frhaHa ia ~