CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



ISfi 



ii- 



tlio increase of imports. It will not do to 



;.ttulutc ourselves on the past fall trade aa 

 haii^c in our favor. Whatever there is 

 f it mav lio traced to transient and extraor- 

 dinary causes. If it were otherwise, our case 

 would he i-v.-n more critical, in that it would 

 i'lem-e of u disturbed condition in Europe, 

 which might tend to weaken contidenoe in our 

 M'.-uritu'.s which are held there. Our indebted- 

 over the sea is so great and our commer- 

 cial relations are so intimate and dependent 

 that trouble there would increase our embar- 

 i ament here. 



"Hero I am naturally led to the inquiry as 

 to the amount of gold in the country and its 

 supply. The amount in the States east of the 

 Kooky Mountains in 1861 has been given by 

 competent authority at $165,000,000. The 

 annual productions of the mines average about 

 $60,000,000, making a total for the thirteen 

 years beginning with the fiscal year which 

 closed June 80, 1861, and ending June 80, 

 1873, of about $780,000,000. The imports of 

 coin for the same period were $248,459,652. 

 On the other hand, the exports of coin and 

 bullion amounted to $922,641,003. Allowance 

 must also be made for a portion of the produc- 

 tion of the mines which have been employed in 

 the arts. What amount has been devoted to 

 this use cannot be accurately determined ; but 

 if I fix it at $120,000,000 for the thirteen years 

 it will be low enough. Treating the amount 

 brought into the country by immigrants as 

 offset by the amount taken away by travelers, 

 the balance will stand thus: 



Colnln 1861 v .. $166,000,000 



Production of mines for thirteen years. . . . 780,000,000 

 Imports for same time 244,459,652 



Total $1,189,459,652 



Exports for thirteen years. . . . $923,641,003 



Used in the arts . 120.000,000 



$1,042,641,003 



Coin in Atlantic States, 1873 $146,816,649 



" I have no doubt this sum is equal to the 

 present amount of specie, notwithstanding the 

 larger importations during the fall months a 

 sum about equal to the annual interest upon our 

 indebtedness held abroad. To state the case 

 another way: The average amount in the 

 Treasury during the past few years has been 

 about $80,000,000. The banks hold also pos- 

 sibly $25,000,000, and $40,000,000 would be a 

 liberal estimate for all that may be found in 

 other hands: making not far from $145,000,000, 

 or less than one dollar of specie to every five 

 of the paper issues. How are specie payments 

 to be maintained with such a disproportion? 

 Gold, if left free, will tend in the direction 

 where there is the greatest demand. It may 

 accumulate from temporary causes for a brief 

 period, even when there is a redundancy of 

 paper currency, but it will surely flow away 

 again to other countries where it will have em- 

 ployment as a standard of value. We have, as 

 matters now stand, little reason to hope for 

 any permanent accumulation here. This posi- 



tion is fortified by the movements of specie dor- 

 ing the last six years: 



" It thus appears that during these six years 

 the net exports of specie amounted to $855,- 

 096,268, while the whole production of the 

 mines for the corresponding period has been 

 $360,000,000. 



"This leads me to repeat that for a resump- 

 tion by the Government there must be a re- 

 duction of paper, so that paper and specie 

 shall bear a recognized relation to each other." 



Mr. Morton, of Indiana, said: "Mr. Presi- 

 dent, I do not desire to make a speech on 

 this subject, but before voting on this resolu- 

 tion I wish to give some reasons for my vote. 

 In the first place, I desire to call the attention 

 of the Senate to what this resolution is. It 

 contains two propositions, and I will now read 

 the first one : 



That it is the duty of Congress daring its present 

 session to adopt definite measures to redeem the 

 pledge made in the act approved March 18, 1869, en- 

 titled " An act to strengthen the public credit," aa 

 follows : 



And the United States also solemnly pledges its 

 faith to make provision at the earliest practicable 

 period for the redemption of the United States notes 

 in coin. 



" The question first presented is, whether it 

 is the duty of Congress at this session to take 

 definite measures for the redemption of the 

 United States notes in coin, for that is the 

 pledge given in the act of 1869. I agree that 

 the faith of this Government is pledged to re- 

 deem what are called greenbacks in coin. I 

 agree to that as fully and as strongly as any- 

 body ; and I further agree that we are to keep 

 steadily in view what is called a return to 

 specie payments ; but the question is, whether 

 it is our duty at this session of Congress, at 

 this time, in the present condition of the coun- 

 try, to look to and adopt such measures ; and 

 at this point I differ with the committee. 

 There is a wrong time to do a right thing; 

 and in my opinion this is not the time in which 

 we should adopt definite measures to redeem 

 these notes in coin unless the time be put off 

 so far that it will not increase the present em- 

 barrassment or intensify the effects of the panio 

 upon the country. 



" The Senate/ from Massachusetts (Mr. Sum- 

 ner) has repeatedly declared before the Senate, 

 and I think in substance the other day, and 

 that declaration was made very strongly this 

 morning by the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. 

 Howe), that every day we failed to redeem the 

 legal-tender notes the faith of the public was 

 broken ; that wo were ' lying,' and that the 



