Year: 1877




| abolish the creenback but to make II "a gcon
rs coin that the promise to pay money mover
can he permanently made as good as the money
nromised. except by restoring absolute ex-
cbangeablity on demand; that the United
States has pledged its faith to accomplish tlls
January |, 1879; and he shows with admirable
clearness that the Resumption Act has aread!
effected a large part of the change required
! 1t has removed more than one half the diuef-
ence between greenbacks and coin, has causeu
n considerable reduction in the amount OF
notes for which means of payment must ne
nroyided. and has enabled the Treasury to ac-
cumulate $20,O00,000 Of the specie which
will be needed in payment.


II is hardly necessary to say that we dissent
from Mr.. Shermans statement of his powers
under the law, so far as he conceives that he
ought not to hoard legal tender notes without
express authority from Congress. He says on
this point


construction OF the Resumption Act has often been
pressed upon the Department that, If correct would
make IL still more easy to carry 1t into execution III Is
insisted that the Secretary has the power, in preparing
for resumption sell bonds for coin and then TO sell
the for United States notes to be boarded in prepa
ration for resumption The Department has not acted
upon any such construction sold gold only IN the
current course of business for the actual redemption
OF notes suppanted by national bank notes III this
power exercised II should only be In pursuance OF te
plain will OF Congress- and in the execution OF so delicate


duty should be used except such as ls clearly
given.


We note, first, the important admission that
this construction of the act "would make 1t
"more easy to carry it into execution" But
will Mr. sherman seriously claim that he has a
"clearly given" power TO sell gold for the ex-
ecutiOn of one part of the Resumption Act, but
not to sell gold for the execution OF another
part of the same act He admits that he does
sell gold in the current course OF business
'and for the actual redemption of notes up
"planted by the national bank notes." and
therefore for the purpose of executing one of
the provisions of the Resumption Act Is IL not
palpablv unreasonable to claim that he cannot
use the same power in order to execute tilat
other provision which requires him to prepare
for the redemption of all notes that may De
presented? Is it so that Mr.. Sherman is al
ready using a power not "clearly givenf" by
exnress enactment, which we. have often
quoted. the Secretary had been empowered,
long before the Resumption Act was passed,
to sell any gold in the Treasury" not needed
for payment of the interest on the public
debt. If that power is not "clearly given"
for the purpose of performing other duties
subsequently prescribed i'll the Resumption Act
or Others it is not easy to see how 1t could
be so given by any form of words. No one
claims that the Secretary has power to re-
deem or retire legal-tenders obtained by sales
of gold but it seems to us not III any degree
or sense an exercise of doubtful power to sell
gold for the purpose of increasing the legal
tender balance and thus being the better pre-
parsd TO redeem all legaltenders that may be
presented after the prescribed date If it is
an exercise of doubtful power to increase the
legal-tender balance, the Secretary has been
doing that already, and to the extent of
81, 900, 900 by means of purchasing the legal
tenders required to be retired, instead OF re-
firing part of those already in the Treasury


While holding this view, and regrettDg that
the Secretary has made statements which will
be construed as putting it out Of his power to
pursue course which may yet prove to be
the only mode by which resumption can now
be attained within the time required, we desire
to do full justice to the courage and ability
with which he has once more combated oppo-
nents of resumption in his own State. The





makes it the more proper to award him high
praise In stating his own views of his duty,
and his purposes, Mr. Sherman is very clear
and strong He holds that the power to obtain
coin bv the sale of bonds 6" is as full and lib
"eral as human language can frame it," and
that il "can be, ought to be, and will be exc
"cutedr He feels confident that all the gold
necessary can be obtained, points for proof to
the ease with which some accumulation has been
effected already and reasons that the condition
of our foreign trade will enable us to prevent
the expectation of our large yearly product of
precious metals. If the Secretary proves to be
right in these opinions, his failure to accumu-
late legal-tenders more rapidly may not pre-
vent success in resumption. His language Is
that of a man who means to do his best for
the enforcement of the act, and we feel sure
that he realizes that failure would be as
damaging to his reputation as a success would
be honorable to him. The question whether
the Resumption Act was rightly called "Sher-
"mans Sham" can be answered by no one ex-
cept Secretary Sherman himself, and it is
gratifying to find that he has so much deter
mination to answer it satisfactorily and conf
dence that he will be able to do so. We only
regret that he feels compelled, by Western
opinion or any other influence, to forego
methods which he admits would make his sue
cess more sure and easy.