196 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



crease of currency then by the influx of gold 

 will follow the moderate increase of oar cur- 

 rency now." 



Mr. Boutwell, of Massachusetts, said : " If I 

 am, as I am, in favor of the resumption of 

 specie payments, with such limitations as were 

 set forth in the annual report of the Secretary 

 of the Treasury for 1872, I may be asked, Why 

 not come at once to specie payments? The 

 statement has been made here that during four 

 years no progress has been made toward re- 

 sumption. I am incapable of comprehending 

 the value of facts if considerable progress has 

 not been made. In 1868 the average premium 

 on gold was 39J per cent. ; in 1869 it was 32|; 

 in 1870 it was a trifle less than 15 ; in 1871, a 

 little less than 12; in 1872 it was 12.4; and 

 in 1873 it was 13.84. Consider, if you please, 

 four years. In 1869 the premium on gold was 

 32, and in 1873 it was 13.84. 



"Do not these facts, in themselves con- 

 sidered, open to explanation of whatever sort, 

 demonstrate conclusively that in these four 

 years we have made an advance toward re- 

 sumption, unless the delusion has taken posses- 

 sion of men's minds that it is of no consequence 

 whether, commercially considered, paper and 

 coin are substantially at the same value or not 

 when we consider the ability of the country 

 to resume specie payments ? If the theory be 

 abroad that it is of no consequence whether 

 the premium on gold be much or little, that 

 the ability of the country to resume specie 

 payments is substantially the same in each 

 case, then I can only say that those who enter- 

 tain that opinion are beyond the reach of any 

 argument which I can present." 



Mr. Morton : " Will the Senator allow me in 

 this connection to ask him a question ? " 



Mr. Boutwell: "Yes, sir." 



Mr. Morton : "I ask him to give his opinion, 

 if he will, to the Senate as to the cause of the 

 decline in the price of gold from March, 1869, 

 to March, 1873, and how much of that decline 

 does he attribute to the influence of the act 

 respecting the public credit passed in March, 

 1869?" 



Mr. Boutwell : " I attribute great impor- 

 tance to that act, because it was an initial step 

 in a policy by which the public credit was 

 established a policy by which up to this time 

 the public credit has been maintained. When 

 that act was passed the credit of the United 

 States in Europe was substantially that of 

 Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the dishonored coun- 

 tries of Europe that for a generation have been 

 struggling under the weight of heavy debt, 

 and have not received those ideas by which 

 the resources of nations are developed. 



" From the passage of the act of March 18, 

 1869, which declared the purpose of the coun- 

 try, followed as it was by the collection of -the 

 public revenues and the appropriation of the 

 surplus to the payment of the public debt, the 

 credit of the country steadily and rapidly ad- 

 vanced, until in all the markets of Europe it 



has been the equal of any other nation. For 

 three years our bonds have been sold in more 

 markets of Europe than the bonds of any other 

 state, and commanded as high a price as any. 

 But the depreciation in the price of gold, duo 

 largely to that fact, was not due exclusively 

 to it. It was due also to the fact that the 

 business of the country increased, that the uses 

 for money were enlarged, that the field in 

 which money circulated was extended ; and it 

 is to further similar progress, which is a nat- 

 ural progress, supported, as I should hope it 

 might be, by such legislation as would develop 

 the resources and increase the business of the 

 country, especially with reference to its com- 

 mercial marine, that I look to the ultimate 

 and not distant equalization, commercially, in 

 the value of paper and coin. 



"Until that time arrives, I say advisedly, 

 until that time arrives, any policy looking to a 

 resumption of specie payments by direct and 

 specific legislative action is fraught with the 

 greatest danger to public and private interests. 



"There are two ways of securing specie 

 payments. One is by a contraction of the cur- 

 rency. By contracting the currency you can 

 diminish the volume, so that a dollar in paper, 

 commercially, shall be of the value of a dollar 

 in coin. But that process of force will pros- 

 trate the business of the country, close up our 

 factories and workshops ; not only reduce the 

 wages of labor, but drive hundreds and thou- 

 sands of men from employment in every part 

 of the land. Believing this, I of course cannot 

 consent to any policy by which the power of 

 the Government is to be directly applied in 

 the contraction of the currency. Not appre- 

 hending merely, but believing, knowing even, 

 as far as I can know any thing in the future 

 that is not capable of absolute demonstration, 

 that results like those which I have stated, or 

 results kindred to them, are sure to follow, I 

 cannot take the responsibility imposed by a 

 policy of direct specific contraction. On the 

 other hand, I am certain that the development 

 of the resources of the country, the increase 

 of its business, the addition of uses to which 

 currency can be applied, will certainly and 

 without great delay close the slight difference 

 that exists between the value of paper and the 

 value of coin." 



The formal debate on the resolution was 

 here suspended. 



Subsequently, on March 23d, Mr. Sherman, 

 of Ohio, from the Committee on Finance, re- 

 ported to the Senate a bill " to provide for the 

 redemption and reissue of United States notes, 

 and for free banking." On March 24th the 

 bill was considered. 



Mr. Sherman said: "Mr. President, some 

 complaint has been made in the Senate and in 

 the country at the delay in the presentation by 

 the Committee on Finance of some bill covering 

 the financial question ; but a moment's reflec- 

 tion will, I am sure, convince every Senator 

 that there has been no fault on the part of that 



