CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



187 



money became plenty; ami when tin- period 

 tor re.Mini|>tion came around, people seemed to 



rtTi.lt.. ii all al.oiit it. 



In 1>">7 and my friend from Connecticut 

 (Mr. KucUiijJiaiiii \\ill remember it well the 

 panic I'oiv down \\iih crushing force until tlio 

 l.aiiU of Now York and all the Eastern Stat. >, 

 mmon consent, determined to suspend, 

 and from that time there was ease; from that 

 'liscouuts hocame free. No, sir; suspen- 

 sion is the remedy for panics, and resumption 

 is a thing for times of prosperity. That is ex- 

 peri once. 



1 lay down this as a general proposition, to 

 bo established by reference to the history of 

 panics for the last one hundred and fifty years, 

 that the true relief for a panic, to bring about 

 a restoration of confidence, has been, not re- 

 sumption, not contraction, but by making ad- 

 ditions to the currency at the time. This is 

 a very important proposition, if it is true. 



" The remedy has been by making a small I 

 use the word ' small ' addition to the volume 

 of the currency at the time. 



"One word in regard to the action of the 

 Government. The Government, when this 

 panic took place, authorized the purchase of 

 bonds to the amount of the currency balance in 

 the Treasury at that time, about $44,000,000, 

 if I remember correctly. It was said that that 

 was taken up by the savings-banks in New- 

 York, Philadelphia, and Boston, and so it was. It 

 was said that it was unwise, because the money 

 did not go into circulation. It was the very 

 wisest thing that could be done, and in my 

 opinion prevented great mischief and circum- 

 scribed the evil effects of the panic at once. 



" Mr. President, instead of following theory 

 in a matter of this kind, let us follow rather the 

 lights of experience. And now what is being 

 done by the Treasury Department ? Acting on 

 that principle whether they are doing it for 

 that purpose or not, that is what they are doing. 

 The Government is to-day, by the disbursement 

 of the $44,000,000 reserve, adding to the vol- 

 ume of the currency ; and those small additions 

 which are being made, of which the whole 

 country is aware, are doing much to-day tow- 

 ard removing the effect of this panic. So that 

 this falling off in the revenue, while it is a great 

 7nisfortune, is not an unmixed one ; it is carry- 

 ing some benefit to the people. The Govern- 

 ment is not responsible for this panic. Why, 

 sir, this panic was an accident, just as much as 

 the explosion of a boiler of a steamboat, or a 

 collision upon a railroad an accident, the re- 

 sult of an event that nobody could foresee. It 

 had no connection with our Government sys- 

 tem of finance or any thing in our currency. 

 It was an accident that might have happened 

 just as well in a country that had nothing but 

 gold and silver as a currency. It was an ac- 

 cident, and shall not relief be provided for this 

 accident? Our Government is now relieving 

 against it. I was very sorry when the panic 

 commenced that our Government did not see 



its way clear to put into circulation at once the 

 whole $44,000,000 reserve. I believe, i. 

 Government had been able to do that, thi 

 panic would have stopped at once ; it would 

 IP. t have lasted three weeks ; bat the President 

 was not at liberty to do that, tic- > -retary of the 

 ury did not feel safe in doing that. Why f 

 He anticipated, and with a sagacity that he, 

 perhaps, has not got credit for he anticipated, 

 as did the President, that there mi^ht be a fall- 

 ing off in the revenues, and that that falling off 

 would require this $44,000,000 reserve to carry 

 on the ordinary operations of the Government ; 

 and those anticipations have turned out to bo 

 correct to the very letter." 



Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, said : 

 "Mr. President, what plan should we adopt to 

 render the legal tenders convertible into gold ? 

 In attempting to answer that inquiry I realize 

 that we are entering upon a dangerous sea. 1 1 is 

 easier, much easier, to theorize and criticise 

 than to act affirmatively; but I will suggest 

 a measure rather for the purpose of seeing 

 whether our excellent Committee on Finance 

 will not by placing it in its crucible evolve 

 from it gold, than because I imagine that there 

 is not much of alloy in my suggestion. 



"The Secretary of the Treasury should bo 

 authorized to issue bonds of the United States, 

 bearing six per cent, interest, payable in United 

 States specie-paying notes, or in gold ; and 

 these bonds should be issued in exchange, at 

 not less than par, for gold, from time to time, 

 as the opportunity occurred, or be issued and 

 sold, and the proceeds used from time to time in 

 the purchase of gold, such gold to be held in 

 the Treasury until enough was accumulated 

 wherewith to commence the redemption of the 

 outstanding United States notes in specie. 



" That there be no unnecessary issue of these 

 bonds in obtaining the requisite amount of gold 

 wherewith to commence the redemption, and 

 that a sufficient supply of gold may be contin- 

 uously in the Treasury, the Secretary should 

 have the right to reissue the redeemed Treasury 

 notes in exchange for coin at par, and for no 

 other purpose, the aggregate amount of such 

 notes which may be outstanding and those 

 which may have been redeemed and held at no 

 time to exceed the amount that shall have been 

 lawfully issued at the date of the passage of 

 the proposed act. 



" And to put it beyond question that when 

 the redemption is commenced it will not be 

 discontinued, the Secretary should be author- 

 ized, in the event of the supply of gold being 

 unequal to the redemption, and in that event 

 only, to redeem the said notes in sums of 

 $1,000 with such of the six per cent bonds as 

 have not been issued. 



"To this plan Cas to any other) plausible, 

 perhaps grave, objections can be urged. L< t 

 us briefly consider those objections. The first 

 objection is, that we could not get the gold ; 

 that any great accumulation of gold in our 

 Treasury would, to a degree, disturb the 



