Year: 1876

we should not hesitate. The

 Government ought not to specu

 late on its own dishonor in ordcl

 to save the interest of it's broker

 promises, wliich it still compeis l private dealers to accept as iic

 titious par. The highest nation

 al honor is not only right but

 would prove profitable. Of the

 public debt, S983, ,000,000 beal

 interest of six per cent. in gold

 and $65,000,000 at , per ccnr. in gold. The average interest is

 5-5S per cent. A financial policy

 which should secure the highest

 credit, wisely availed of, ought

 gradually to obtain a reduction ol

 1 per cent. in the interest on most

 of the loans. A saving of 1 per

 cent. on an average would be $l7, 100000 q year in gold. That

 saring regularly invested at four

 and half per cent. would in less

 than thirty yeight years eXtin- guish the principal, and that

 whole sum of $l, $l,700,000.000 of the funded debt might be paid by their savings alone without cost to the people.

 THE PROPER TIME FOR RESUMPTION

 is the time when wise preparations shall have ripencd into a perfect ability to accomplish the object with certainty and ease that will inspire confidence and en- courage the reyiving of business. The earliest time in which such a result can be brought about is best. Even when preparation shall have maturcd the exact date would have to bc chosen with ref crence to the then existing state of trade and credit, operations in our country, the course of foreign commerce and the condition of our exchanges with other nations.

 The specific measures and act ual date are matters of detail hay- ing reference to the cverchanging condition, and they belong to the domain of practical adininistra- tive statesmanship. The captain of steamer about starting from New York to Liverpool does not assemble a council over his oceen chart and fix an angle by which to lash the rudder for the whole voyage. A human intelligence must be at the helm to discern the shifting forces of the water and winds. A human hand must be on the helm to feel the ele- mcnts day by day and guide to a mastery over them. Such prepa- rations are everything. Without them legislative command fix ing Q day, they arc shams; they are worse; they are a delusion and snare to all who trust them. They destroy all confidence among thoughtful men whose judgment will at last sway public opinion. An attempt to act on such com mand, or OH such promise, with out preparation, would and in a new suspension. It would be fresh calamity, prolific of confu- sionj and distress. The act of Congress in 1S4S, and of July, 1875, enacted that on and after the lst of January, 1879, the Sec retary of the Treasury shall re- deem in coin the legal tender notes of the United States on presentation at the office of the Assistant Treasury in the city of New York. It authorizes the Secretary to prepare and provide for the resumption of specie pay ments by the use of any surplus revenues not otherwise appropri- ated and by issuing in his discre- tion certain classes of bonds. More than one and half of four years have passed; Congress and the President have continued ever since to unite in acts which have legislated out of existence every possible surplus applicable to this purpose. The coin in the Treas ury claimed to belong to the Gov ernment had on the Both of June, fallen to less than $45, 100000 | against $59, ,000,000 on the Ist of | January, 1875, and the ayailabil- ity of n part of that sum is said l to be questionable. The reve- ntles are falling faster than the | appropriations, and the cxpcndi- lures are reduced, leaving the Treasury with diminished re sources.

 A RErRoGRADE POLICY.

 The Secretary has done nothing | under his power to issue bonds. ! ne legislative command and the | official premise fixing q day for resumption have been made. There has been no progress; there have been steps backward; [ -here is no nccromancy in the op erations of the Government; the rha&iins of everyday life ire the best standards of its con lnct. A debtor who should promise to pay loan out of a surplus income, yet he seen every lay spending all lie could lay his hands on in riotous living, would oosc all character for honesty md yeracity. His offer of a new promise or his urorassion ac to