Year: 1878




The report of the Secretary of the
Treasury is clear, able and businesslike,
and, although some of it's minor points are
open to criticism, its broad general posi-
tions will be &C septed by the friends OF re-
sumption as sound and satisfactory. 1t
touches on many other things than the
preparations for specie payments, but this
subject is OF such engrossing interest that
the details of ordinary fiscal administration
sink into insignificance beside it. The
public has for some time past been eager
Tor precise information respecting the prac-
tcal methods which the Secretary of the
Treasury would adopt for carrying ont the
Resumption act. This lucid report con-
veys his mature and settled intentions on
that subject.


Of these the most important in its practi-
cal effect is his decision to receive legal
tender notes in payment of duties. This.
is equivalent to an annual redemption OF
the notes to IN amount equal to the annual
revenue from customs. The facilitating cf-
feet OF this change will be double. In the
first place, it will diminish the employment
for gold and thereby lessen the demand
for it at the Treasury. In the Sec
ond place, it will increase the en-
ployment for legal tender notes and
thereby absorb the surplus if there Is
any surplus) Of that part Of our paper cur
rency. The reception of legal tender notes
at all the custom houses in payment of
duties would Of itself bring them to par
without any other form of redemption, pro-
vided there was no increase OF their amount
and no increase Of the bank note circula-
ton. The barely nominal premium on gold
proves that our currency is but slightly
redundant, and with the increased use for
it there will be deficiency which must be
supplied either by the circulation Of coin
in current transactions or by enlarged
issues of bank notes.


Another important decision by Mr.. Sher-
man is the refusal to give any further gold
certificates alter the date Of resumption.
Every legal tender note will then be in
effect gold certificate, and notes are to be
prepared Of the same denominations as the
present gold certificates, in the expectation
that the mercantile community will con-
tinue to deposit its gold in the sub-treas-
uries for safe keeping. This will absorb an
amount of legal tender notes equal to that
of the gold certificates which they replace,
and will tighten the burden Of resumption
to that extent.


Another decision is to offer legal tender
notes in oil payments by the government
which are now made in gold, including the
interest on the public dcbt. When the
notes are precisely equivalen to gold the
public creditors will in most cases prefer
them, but their option of receiving gold
instead is, to be scrupulously respected
Payment OF all classes Of public creditors
in legal tender notes will still further in
crease their use and prevent them from
becoming redundant.


We had hoped that Mr.. Sherman would
establish other points Of redemption be-
sides the Sub Treasury in this city, but he
seems to have decided otherwise This is
Of little consequence since his decision to
receive legal tender notes in all the custom
houses, which is virtual redemption very
widely distributed.


The new silver dollars will cause no eni-





barrassment until their amount shall be
considerably larger than it is at present.
When legal tender notes are offered for re-
denaption they ore to be paid in silver or
gold, according to the choice of the appli-
cant. We shall then be able to see whether
the ".daddyites" really prefer silver dollars
to gold ones. Secretary Sherman wall ac-
commodate them with either to the extent
Of the greenbacks they may ofiisr for re-
demption.


These several mutually supporting arrange
ments are more than satisfactory: they are
sagacious and excellent. With the agree
ment made with the New York Clearing
House for the convenience of transacting
business, with the ample gold reserve
which the Treasury has in possession and
its unlimited power OF acquiring more by
the sale Of bonds, it is difficult to imagine
any contingency which could cause the
great experiment of resumption to mis-