Year: 1874




Considerable hostility is expressed to the
weekly sales of Treasury gold. 1t is thought
that If the surplus coin were allowed 70
accumulate it would be step toward
specie payments. Undoubtedly 1t would
if the Treasury, as in former years.
were in the receipt of surplus rcVe-
nue.. But the truth is, that in the ten
months since the beginning OF the current
fiscal wear there has been q deficiency IN the
revenue and an increase in the Public Deot.
IF We suppose a financial condition in which
the recejpts and expenditures are about eq'iai
and that is the situation at this time, and
il. we fear, not likely to be changed for the
better by any action Of the present Congress
it il plain that the Government can
not add to its stock of gold without increas-
ing its outstanding lcgal-tender notes. we
| have mentioned several times before that tDe
| Governments income in paper money Is ohiy
| from 800 900, 900 to $10,0O00OO year, whiie
| its disbursements in paper are from Sloo'Voo'Voo
| TO 100000. Hence it is necessary 10 sei
from four to FIVE millions of gold each month
TO supply grcenbaclSs to pay the ordinary OK
nenses. On the other hand, the customs reVe-
nue. il about sixty million dollars greater than
the sum reauired to pay the interest on
the Public Debt and that small portion
of the expenditures payable in gold. 1t
the Treasury should entirely suspend its sales
of gold for the rest of the year, the cohse-
ouence would be that long before January
next we should be importing gold from the
Rank of England. But persistence in p".cy
of accumuating gold under existiTg condl-
tions of revenue and expenditure is clearly
impossible without simultaneous imitation OF
the legal-tender circulation,


No better illustration of the truth of the
foregoing statements could be asked for than
the consequences which followed the suspen-
sion of gold sales from last October to jan
nary inclusive. The Treasury succeeded In
relieving itself from the dangerous position
in which it had been placed with regard
to its gold balance by Secretary Richardson's
concessions to the Syndicate and the falling
due of twenty millions in bonds on the first
Of January; but that relief was obtained at
the cost of initiating the greenback circulation
twenty-six million dollars. The case would
have been much worse had not the holuers
of two-thirds of the bonds consented
TO take in exchange five per cent
bonds of the Funded loan. With Ordl-
nary foresight on the part of Mr.. Richardson,
and with a balance of coin in the Treasury
such as it now contains, there would have
been no necessity for issuing dollar OF
paper money in excess of the 356 million
limit. The Treasury could have obtained all
the currency it needed by continuing its regu-
lar sales of gold. Had the Secretary done SO
we are decidedly of opinion that we
should have now been nearer to specie pay
ments with net balance of only twenty-five
millions of coin in the Treasury and with 800
millions greenback circulation, than we are
with over fifty millions of coin and 3S3 mil
lions of paper. Leaving out the question OF
return to specie payments, which Is not
practically involved common sense shows
the absurdity of keeping great stock OF
coin, of which the quantity coming III
always exceeds that going out, and small
stock of legal-tender notes, of which the re-
| CENTS are less than twO-thirds the payments.
| Had the exact reverse of the policy adopted
| by Secretaries Boutwell, and Richardson been
| followed, we should have at least escaped the
late imitation. AS to gold gamblers, we think
the people can protect themselves without any
help from the Treasury. If they cannot, the
safest way is to get back to hard money as
| soon as possible.