Year: 1875

destroyed, OF will it be reissued ?
! SENATOR Sherma1-It il not to be


reissued. The law is explicit upon


that point. 1t Is only to be redeem sd


as presented, and the process is to 20


on until it Is all redeemed.


| Correspondent-How and by what
steps would 8 fair and sincere ad-


ministration Of the Resumption Act


bring about specie payments st the
time prescribed without aiiitiOuAl


legislation


Senator Shermaa-Well, that is an
important question. It is one that


should be fully and fairly discussed.


| have often said that the law could


be executed without serious disturb.


anee to business and without further
legislatiOn. Many ways could be
pointed out under the powers confer


FED upon the Secretary To bring this


about. 5Jme Of these will name.


First of all there must be 3 Secretary


and an Administration iii harmony


with him as to the purpose to be ac-


mplished-the purpose proposed by


the law second, he shoqll secure as


large a surplus revenue as possible


not by new taxes, but by large reduc-


tions OF expenses, for which there is


room and verge enough, In this way,


and by the sale OF bonds, If necessary,


he should secure before the time


named one hundred millions Of dol


lars in gold, aud as large . reserve ia
greenbacks as practicable. The ins


evitable effect OF such preparations,


with the power to sell all the bonds


m p kat


will be amply sufficient for the pqr-


pose. And it is the opinion OF saga
ciOus men that. no very large


reduction of the volume OF green


backs will be made by specie re-
sumption but even If il became nee
essary to redeem one hundred millions
of green backs, and issue in their
stead one hqndFsd million dollars of


United States bonds,-a far greater
amount than will be necessary under
any possible condition of affairs,-the
loss in interest will be made up c
hqndfed-fold by the benefit of q specie
standard. Observe that the power of
the Secretary eushles him to sell
bonds both to prepare for as we'll ss
to maintain resumption, and this
power can be exercised either by the
accumulation OF coin or greenbacks.
To say that he can't Resume with all


these powers ut his back is simply
prepOsterOus. Aud when the power
TO resume aud the determination to
resume becOmes manifest, the prob=
lem is solved and RESUMPTION becomes
an established fact, with far less diff
Guilty than vas feared. So it has al
ways been. .


Correspondent-DJ you think then
that such q resumption as you have
indicated as possible and practicable
under the act, Is possible and practice
able without q very material eQntsac-
ton of the volume of paper currency
in circulation


Senator Sherman-That necessarily
must be a matter of opinion, Ny
opinion is that the banks will find it
TO their interest gradually to retire
their issues, availing themselves Of
The present high price Of bonds and
the dullness of the money market
To what extent this will go il Is hard
to say, but certainly to the extent Of
retiring currency not demanded by
the wants of business. Banks will
only keep In circulation that amount
which they can make available In
their busiHes. This should be so.
Each bank will judge for itself, and
every citizen OF the United States is
at liberty to go into banking business
or to 20 out OF it as he would do with
other business.


Correspondent--But where Is all
the gold to come from 70 maintain
specie payments?


Senator Sherman-In the first place
we have a Surplus revenue OF sixty
millions OF dollars iu gold, which we
now sell. We have sixty millions OF
gold on hsnd-one-half OF all tnat
will probably be required. We pro-
duce q hundred millions OF dollars Ia
gold and silver annually in our mines
which we now export becSuse We re.
fuse to use 1t as other Nations do.
Surely, If any Nation in the world
has the ability to maintain rssump-
ton ours has.


Correspondent-Will not the ex-
port Of gold continue to be just as
large after resumption In order to set
tie trade balances +?


Senator ShermAn-Not necessarily.
That article which is cheapest In the
country of export will go to settle
balances. At this time gold is the
cheapest product 10 this country, and
goes to settle balances
where there Is q demand for it. II
there was q demand here for gold for
use as currency, the vacuum would be
supplied by cotton, corn and other
usual articles OF export. Besides,
with our industries, based upon q gold
standsrd, like those of other great
Nations, we can manufacture q null
titude of articles and export them,
and compete in the markets Of the
world. Now our exports are chiefly
to the raw productions OF
labor. Now, fortunately for US, the
balance OF trade Is largely In our IA
vor, and is increasing. The tenden-
oy of gOld. to this country Is already |
great, and when it is settled that con-
tracts here are based upon the specie |
standard, capital will naturally flow
into our midst from foreign countries,
where rates Of interest are lower. |
The one thing needful now Is to dis |
regard the difficulties In the way OF
hut stesdily to overcome !
them, and then we will be able to
emily the full ADVANTAGE OF our posi-
ton, resources, and unexGmpled
wealth.


COrrespOndent-Wi not this PROF.
ess result in q great red uetlOn in the |
price of products


Senator Sherm an--I have thought |
q great deal of that, and have studied |
the very excellent statistics |
furnished by Mr. Young on the labor |
of Europe and America, and am thor !
oughly convinced that In no case will |
the nominal price Of products fall to q !
point below the difference between |
gold and greenbacks; and, rs to many |
products, and especially those OF
which the price is fixed by the for
eign market, the reduction will not
be so great. The price OF labor has
already fallen from other causes be- |
low It's natural limit, and especially in
the production Of iron. This, every
intelligent man can see was the re-
suit OF overproduetlon and the neces-
sity of suspending production until the
supply was diminished. believe that
the necessary reaction that will. fol-
low specie standard will tend to adj
vance prices in many cases, and
In those articles like cotton,
corn and petroleum, which can be
produced here cheaper than elsewhere
In the world. AS matter OF course,
if there is q reduction in the price OF
products there Is corresponding re-
ductien in the articles TO be pur-
chased.


Correspondent-Mr. Sherman, do
you anticipate any violent or revo-
lutionary attempt on the part OF the
majority in the next HOuss OF Repre-
tO coeree the Senate into
the repeal or modification Of the Spe-
Gle Resumption Act-sueh as making
that repeal or modification clause IN
one OF the general appropriation bills,
aud insisting upon keeping it there


Senator Sherman-Certainly not,
unless the Democrats are predestlned
TO commit acts of extreme folly
for the benefit of the Republican
party.


Correspondent-So you don't believe
iu what we hear so much about from
some quartars-that Is, postpouinR
specie payments until the business Of
the country grows up to it-whatever
that may mean


Senator Sherman-No, / do not.