Year: 1876




A Joint resolution adopted at the late session
of Congress provides for commission OF
three Senators and three Representatives, with
whom are to be associated not more than three
experts, the duty Of the commission to be
"to inquire into tho change which has taken
"place in the relative value of gold and silver,
"the effects thereof upon trade. commerce,
"fnance, and the productive interests oT tho
Country, and upon the standard value IN TINS
"and othnr countries; second, into the pohcy
"of the restoration of the double standard in
Z" this country, and if restored, what the rela-
Z" ton between gold and silyercOins should be /;
third, into the policy of continuing legal
"tender notes cOncIITenty with the metallic
STANDARD, and the effects thereof upon the
"labOr, industries and wealth of tho cOun-
"try; and fourth, into the best means
"for providing for facilitating the resump-
"tion of specie payments" The commission
is composed of Senators Jones of Nevada,
Boutwell,, and Bogy, and Representatives Glib
son, Bland, and Willard. AT the outset, we
are regretfully compelled to speak unfavorably
of the composition of the commission itself.
The East, generally supposed to be for "hard"
money, has one member out Of the six the





posed to lean toward "sOft" money, has four.
Senator Jones, who will probably be chairman,
is an able man and pronounced advocate of
coin he has given q good deal of study to the
silver question, but it is no reflection upon him
to say that his relations with the bonanza
mines are liable to warp his judgment and
ought according to the oldest rules, to dis
qualify him for and exclude HIM from an in
vestigation of the silver question. Mr.. BOgy of
Missouri is an inflatiOnist and has no particular
reputation in Congress except that OF sometimes
extreme loquacity. Mr.. Boutwell, can hardly rate
very highly in an inquiry of this nature. OF
the Representatives. Mr.. Gibson of Louisiana
has maintained firm stand for hard money !;
Mr. Bland of Missouri is the author of one of
the persistently pressed bills for making al
unlimited legal tender of silver; Mr.. Willard
has not been active in the matter. Two mem-
bers of the commission enter upon the inquiry
with their minds already made up; the major
ity certl linly cannot be counted upon with con
fidence as on the side of hard money; and the
commission is a weak one for its purpose, and
one from which no very valuable results can
be expected. OF course much depends upon
the selection of the three experts, which is to
be made at a meeting in this city Sept. IL,
after which date the inquiry will commence,
the report being called for by the resolution
on OF before Jan. 10. The commission is
charged by the resolution to report the evidence
taken, "with such recommendations for legis
"lation as they think proper" but formal bills
are not usually reported by committees Of in
auiry, and as the next session is the short one,
Congress and the Administration going out to-
gether, the legislation may not improbably pass
over to 1878.


The inquiry proposed is very broad one to
which the ablest minds are scarcely equal, but
which the self. suilciency often found Iii public
places may think only simple matter. Every
topic of the financial discussions of the last
six years--eXcept that of the medium and rate
of interest on the public debt and the question
whether new issues of paper produce new
prosperity-is covered by this inquiry, and so
important a one was never consigned to a
Congressional committee. Our regret that the
inquiry is not given to the strongest men in
stead of to very ordinary ones is therefore the
greater, and our fear is that the members will
not approach tho subject in the right
spirit, but rather with an inadequate
idea of its seriousness, or with desire to
find confirmation of views already acquired.
The difficulty of tho inquiry is best under
stood by those who have given it the most
attention. The discussion during the past ses-
sion, chiefly in the newspapers by volunteer
writer's, has certainly added to the confusion
rather than to the aggregate information on
tho subject One writer. for example. haS