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PROFESSIONAL CARDS.
R. 11. JONES,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
SiBEHTOK, GA.
Special attention to the collection of claims, [ly
L. J. GARTRELL,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ATLANTA, GA,
PRACTICES IN THE UNITED STATES ClR
cnit and District Courts at Atlanta, and
Supreme and Superior Courts of the State.
SHANNON & WORLEY,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
ELBERTON, GA.
V\J ILL PRACTICE IN THE COURTS OF
VV the Northern Circuit and Franklin county
JGgfSpecial attention given to collections.
J. S. BARNETT,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
BLBBHTOK, GA.
JOHN T. OSBORN,
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW,
ELBERTON, GA.
TT7 ILL PRACTICE IN SUPERIOR COURTS
VV and Supreme Court. Prompt attention
to the collection of claims. nevl7.ly
ELBERTON BUSINESS CARDS.
T."^?BoWMA>r&^oo^
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
ELBERTON GA.
WILL attend to the business of effecting
sales and purchases of REAL ESTATE
as Agents, on REASONABLE TERMS.
ggg?" Applications should be made to T. J.
BOWMAN. Scpls-tf
LIGHT CARRIAGES & BUGGIES.
J. P. A ULI)
(Carriage 3 J^nufact’R
ELBERTON, GEORGIA.
WITH GOdD WORKMEN!
LOWEST PRICES!
CLOSE PERSONAL ATTENTION TO
BUSINESS, and an EXPERIENCE
OF 27 YEARS,
He hopes by bonest and fair dealing to compete
any other manufactory.
Good Buggies, warranted, - $125 to $l6O
REPAIRING ANDBLACKSMITHING.
Work doije In this line in t Very best style.
The Best Harness
TERMS CASH.
i y22~l y
J. M. BARFIEL.D,
THE HE A L LIVE
Fashionable Tailor,
Up-Stairs, over Swift & Arnold’s Store,
ELBERTON, GEORGIA.
B@f"Call and See Him.
THE ELBERTON
DRUG STORE
fl. C. EDMUNDS, Proprietor.
Has always on hand a full line of
Pure Drugs and Patent Medicines
Makes a specialty of
STATIONERY and
PERFUMERY
Anew assortment of
WRITING PAPER & ENVELOPES
Plain and fa ncy, just received, including a sup
ply ot LEGAL CAP.
CIGARS AND TOBACCO
of all varieties, constantly on hand.
F. A. F. NOBLETT,
mmm&L mm,
ELBERTON, GA.
Will contract for work - in STONE and BRICK
anywhere in Elbert and Hart counties. [jel6-6m
W. O. PRESLEY,
IYJAITPR
LI LL It cLVt Lit £J £1 JLIIHIYJLIItv
ELBERTON, GA.
Will make first class harness to order, war
ranted, and at prices to suit the times.
Will be glad to show specimens of his work
to parties, and no harm is done if ho work is
wished.
Repairing Done Promptly.
r. W. JACOBS^
HOUSE i SIGN PAINTER
Glazier and Grainer,
ELBERTON, GA.
Orders Sc licited. Satisfaction Guaranteed.
’ MEASE 9 ® -
PALACE DINING ROOMS,
ATLINTA, GEORGIA.
The Champion Dining Saloon of the South
BVEKYBODV IS INVITED TO CALI,
THE GAZETTE.
ESTABLISHED 1859.
ISTew Series.
BELLE BOYD.
Yesterday evening, hearing that Miss
Bello Boyd had arrived from Galveston
and was stopping at the Dissin house,
an Age reporter called and in the
second-story parlor of the hotel met
this lady, whose name will live to future
ages along with that of John d’Arc, as
one of the romantic characters that
looms up from the great war of 18G1.
Miss Boyd appeared neatly attired,
and is rather a handsome woman,
whose dark eyes flash with something
of the'Virginia beauty in times gone
by.
After a few minutes’ conversation the
discourse drifted to a discussion of the
war.
In reply to a question of the report
er, Miss Boyd gave the following ae
count of her saving of Stonewall Jack
son’s army in the valley, in 18G3.
At the time she was a prisoner of war
in Winchester, which was then held by
the federals. Ono evening Miss Belle
was in the parlor talking with Captain
Jones, of the Twenty fourth Indiana,
when she overheard an officer remark
we’ll get old Stonewall this time.”
Whilst pretending to talk to the captain
she intently listened, but heard no more.
A few minutes afterwards she managed
to get to speak to a negro man employ
ed on the premises, but without being
overheard. She slipp ed a note in his
hand, at the same time giving him $5,
and telling him to deliver the note - to a
certain lady of her acquaintance in
Winchester.
The note requested her friends among,
other directions, to send Miss Bello a
country woman’s suit of clothes imme
diately. The note was promptly an
swered by the appearance of a negro
servant girl, carrying a bundle contain
ing the ‘'country suit.” It was convey
ed into the hands of the “spy” without
exciting any suspicion. She immedi
ately habited herself m the coarse robes
of a servant, and with a long bonnet—
such as used to be worn by negro ser
vant girls before the war. Covering
her features, she passed the guard, who
supposed her to be a servant girl sure
enough. Having escaped, she made
Gibson, five miles from Winchester,
her way on foot to an old “rebel,” Mr.
The “spy,” to whom Mr. Gibson was
well known as an old friend, said :
Mr. “Gibson, I want a horse ?”
Gibson—“ What in the world do you
wani with a horse V’
Miss Boyd—■“ I want to go to Jack
bod s
Gibson—“But bow in the nation can
you think of going in that dress 1”
Miss Belle—“I don’t care how I go, or
what 1 wear, so I get to Stonewall Jack
son to-night. I want to save his army.
I don't care what they take mo for, or
whether thej think I'm ‘a nigger or
not.”
The old man found it was of no use
persuading her. She mounted a high
mettled Virginia steed and struck out
at a gallop. After riding some seven
miles from Gibson's, sho heard voices
in the woods near the road, it being
night. She drew rein, and rode into
the bushes. The voices drew nearer
The Yankees lvave pursued and cut me
off, she thought. But it turned out to
be some boys out coon and possum
hunting. This dissidated her fright.
She knew one of the hunters.
“I want you to tell me if you know
any thing about Stonewall Jackson’s
army,” she inquired of him.
“Yes, his army is some six or eight
miles towards the mountains,” was the
reply.
The “female spy” rode on, and the
dawn of the morning was breaking up
on the historic hills of Virginia as she
reached Jackson’s camp. One of the
first persons she encountered was an
officer of his staff who had previously
known hes.
“Hey ! Miss Belle,” said he, “what are
you doing [here?” I thought you were
in Winchester yesterday evening a pris
ner.
•‘I was,” she replied, “but am at Stone
wall Jackson’s headquarters this morn
ing.”
Regarding her servant’s apparel, the
officer said:
“Miss Belle, who in the world has
been hiring yon for a chambermaid
since you’ve been to Wincester?”
“Oh, nobody has been hiring me, but
I’ve come to be Stonewall Jackson’s
waiting maid to-day 1”
She was immediately carried to Gen.
Jackson’s tent, where she informed
him of the intentions of fremont and
Banks to fall upon him, and that his
only move was to retreat. He did so,
and intercepted Banks at the Gap, and
afterwards Fremont, with what result
history tells. [Houston Ago.
<£>+
Andrew Johnson, Jr., son of the late
President has announced himself a candi
date for the Legislature of Greene coun
ty, Tennessee, subject to a preliminary
election to bo held on the 13th of August.
The Nashville American says he is “a
true chip of the old Democratic block,
and that the Democracy of Greene
county .could not better commemorate
the viirtnes of his illustrious sire than
by electing him.”
*
Glyconin. —A mixture of five parts of
glycerine and four parts of the yelk of
an egg, under the name of glyconin, has
been used to some advantage for the
healing of wounds, the mixture forming
a varnish over the skin impenetrable to
air and moisture
ELBERTON, GEORGIA, AUGUST 23,1876.
For the Gazette.]
AN ORGAN AT DEEP CREEK.
Mr. Editor : As some set forth the
most prominent occurrences in their vi
cinity, I think of giving you the details
of an unusual incident, which took place
on last Sabbath. The congF'eatiofi met
at an early hour, and were engaged in
vocal music, when two gentlemen were
seen in a buggy, approaching the church,'
with some large object in the btiggy,
which some said was a sewing machine.
They halted before the door, and what
was their suprise to fin 1 that it was an
excellent organ, and that the owner was
;an excellent performer ! It was carried
into the church, and the performer be
i gan to play, and from twenty to fifty
: fine voices joined with it, making the
! grove resound with the melodious
I harmony of instrumental and vocal music.
1 Never were any people more attentive to
| anything than were those people to the
music. After performing sometime, Di
vine service commenced, and we had an
intcresling discourse by Rev. Duncan.
Mr. V. hau come to perform on his or
gan and to try to make a singing school;
and although the preacher urged them
to make the school, we learn that there
was biit one scholar entered. I learn that
there are many who object strongly to
instrumental music in the church. Now,
if such people would read carefully the
last Psalm of David, it seems that they
might alter their notions, for David
strongly urged instrumental music.
It used to be the case that all instru
mental music was condemned. Take
the violin for instance. Some will say
that the violin has been used in dissi
pated circles, and that it is a sinful act
to go to hear any instrument, because
Throw harm may have been done by
them. To such wo would say: a
way your ax; for some man has been
cut by an ax. Put out your fire, and never
kindle it again ; for fire has burnt up
much property and many houses. Throw
awav your pen and ink ; for much harm
has been doue by writing. Stop all your
preachers from preaching; for some have
preached false doctrine. Never call in a
physician; for somo accident has hap
pened, and a doctor has administered
the wrong medicine. Any reasonable
man or woman can readily see the futili
ty of such arguments. Good music,
either vocal or instrumental, elevates the
soul, and makes us for a moment forget
the troubles of life. It fills the soul
with devotion ; it softens the most cal
lous lit arts; and makes one better in
many respects. Then, frmuJs, Go nuL
object to the organ ; for in thus doing
“thou reproachest Elberton also.” But
make a school—a large school—a good
school —a musical school—and sing and
play with the spirit and with the under
standing ; for in so doing you will serve
the Lord acceptably. A.
THE WAY JEREMIAH BLACK DEFEND
ED BELKNAP.
The N. Y. World, in speaking of tho
speech made by the Hon. Jeremiah
Black in defence of Belknap, says it was
“a piece of rare and audacious cynicism
that will take rank with his ironical de
fense of Stanton, published in the Galaxy
some time since.” Ho argued that
Belknap should go free because he
was no worse than Grant and his At
torney General. He charged that the
whole administration was as guilty as
Belknap and that one man should not
be singled out for punishment because
he has had the misfortune to get caught
while all the others go free. What a
commentary upon the condition of
affairs brought about by Radical misrule
that a man of profound legal knowledge
a man who h< s made many bad cases
appear clear as the sun at noon-day
by his command of language and argu
ment can find no better defense for the
Secretary of War than that in taking
bribes, he was only doing what every
official with whom he camo in contact
was at least countenancing in others if
Hot actually engaged in the same nefar
ious ti ansactions. The man who under
takes to bring this government back to
the priciples of honesty and economy
will have a most Herculean job and one
which no President elected by the Re
publican party can possibly accomplish,
no matter how much he may desire to
do so.
The Cot Ton Situation. —Refurring to
the Manchester market as the key to the
situation lately Messers. Smith, Edwards
& Cos., the well-known Liverpool cotton
brokers say in their circular that has just
come to hand; “The depression there
has become worse than has been known
for many years,and low as cotton is the
price of goods and yarns is relatively
much lower. Indeed, we believe we are
within the mark when we say that a fur
ther fall cf ,ld. per pound in cotton wo’uld
be required, without any decline in Man
chester, to put the trade on as good a
footing as they occupied at the beginning
of this year. We hear on all sides the
loudest complaints of the difficulty of
moving stocks of goods. It is said that
such an accumulation has not been known
since 1860, and with no pofitable ciltlet
in any foreign market the prospect is
not cheering.”
♦
Wasn’t it rough oil Lida, just as
she was telling Frederick at lunch how
othereal her appetito was to have the
cook drawl out, “I say, will yo have yor
pork and greens now, or wait till yer
feller’s gone ?”
• ♦ ♦
Republics come to an end by luxuri
bus habits; monarchies by poverty.
GOV. TUiDEN’S LETTER.
Gextlbmen : When I had the honor to receive
a personal delivery of your letter on behalf of
, the Democratic National Convention, held on
the 27th of June, at St. Louis, advising me of
my nomination as the candidate of the constit
uency ssented by that body for the office of
Presidency' the United States, I answered that,
-at my earlier convenience, and in conformity
with usage, I would prepare and transmit to
you a fornjal acceptance I now avail myself
of the first interval in unavoidable occupations
to fulfill that engagement.
The Convention, before making its nomina
tions, adopted a Declaration of Principles,
which, as a whole, seems to to me a wise expo
• ition of the necessities ot our country, and of
the reforms needed to bring back the government
to its true functions, to restore purity ot admin
istration and to renew the prosperity of the
people. But some of the teforms are so urgent
that they claim mot e than a passing approval.
The neeesity of a reform “in the scale of pub
lic expeuse—Federal, State and Municipal,”—
and “in the mode of Federal taxation,” justifies
all the prominence given to it in the Declaration
of the St. Louis Convention.
The present depression in till the business and
industries of the people, which is depriving la
bor of its employment, and carrying want into
many homes, has its principal cause in excessive
governmental consumption. Under the illusions
of a spacious prosperity, engendered by the
false policies of the federal government, a waste
of capital has been going on ever since the
peace of 1865) which could only end in univer
sal disaster.
The federal taxes of the last eleven years reach
the gigantic sunt of 4500 million. Loc il taxa
tion has amounted to two-thirds as much more.
The vast aggregate is not less than 7500 mil
lions.
This enormous taxation followed a civil con
flict that had greatly impaired our aggregate
wealth, and had made prompt reduction of ex
penses indispensable.
It was aggravated by most unscientific and
ill-adjusted method#'of taxation that increased
the sacrifices of the people far beyond the re
ceipts of the treasury.
It was aggravated, moreover, by a financial
polity which tended to diminish the energj-,
skill and economy of production, and the fru
gality of private comsuuiption, and induced
miscalculation iti business and an unrcmuuera
tive use of capital and labor.
Even in prosperous times, the daily wants of
industrious communities press close!} upon their
daily, earnings. The margin of possible national
savings is at best a small percentage of national
enrui igs. Yet now for these eleven years gov
ernmental contumption has been a larger pro
portion of the national earnings than the whole
people can save in prosperous times for all new
investments.
Tii consequence ot these errors are now a
prese it public calamity. But they were never
doub ful, never invisible. They were necessary
and inevitable, and were foreseen and depicted
wbefitiie waves of thai fictitious prosperity ran
liighf t. ,
Tig s reform will be resisted at every step, but
if n. persistently. We see to day
ptesentttlives of till: people in
u.. .... , while.struggling to re
duce expenditures, compelled to confront the
.menace of the Senate and Executive that unless
the objectionable appropriations be consented
to, the operations of the government thereunder
shall suffer detriment or cease. In my judgment,
an amendment of the Constitution ought to be
devised separating into distinct bills the appro
priations for the various departments of the
public service, and excluding from each bill all
appropriations for other objects, and all inde
pendent legislation. In that way alone can the
revisory power of each of the two houses and
of the Executive be preset veil and exempted
from the moral duress which often compels as
sent to objectionable appropriations, rather than
stop the wheels of the government.
An accessory cause enhancing the distress in
business is to b' found in tho systematic and
insupportable misgoveinment imposed on the
States of the South. Be. ides the ordinary ef
fects of ignorant and dishonest administration,
it has inflicted upon them enormous issues of
fraudulent bonds, the scanty avails of which
were wasted or stolen, and the existenco of
which is a public discredit, tending to bank
ruptcy or repudiation. Taxes generally oppres
sive, in some instances have confiscated the en
tire income of property,' and totally destroyed
its marketable value. It is impossible that these
evils should not react upon the prosperity of
the whole country.
The nobler motives of humanity Concur with
the material interests of all in requiring that
every obstacle be removed, to a complete and
durable reconciliation between kindred popula
tions once unnaturally estranged, on the basis
recognised by the St. Louis platform, of the
“Constitution of the United States, with its
amendments universally accepted as a final set
tlement of the controversies which engendered
C'vil war ”
But, in aid of a result so beneficent, the moral
itifiueuce ot every good citizen, as well as every
governmental authority, ought to be exerted,
not alone to maintain their just equality before
the law, but likewise to establish a cordial fra
ternity and good will among citizens, whatever
their race or color, who are’ now united in the
one destiny of a common self-government. If
the duty shall be assigned to me, I should not
fail to exerci-e the powers with which the laws
and the constitution of our country clothe its
Chief magistrate, to protect all its citizens, what
ever their foimer condition, in every political
aud personal right.
“Reform is necessary,” declares the St. Louis
Convention, “to establish a sound currency, re
store the public credit and maintain the national
honor;” atld it goes on to “demand a judicious
system Of preparation by public economies, by
official retrencl tHelits, and by wi-e finances,
which shalletiatde llie nation soon to assure the
whole V.orld of its perfect ability and its perfect
readiness to meet any of its promises at the call
of the creditor entitled to payment.
The object d' miinded by the Convention is a
resumption of specie payment on the legal ten
der notes of tile United States. That would
not dnly “restore the public credit” and “main
tain the nationalhonor,” but it would “establish
a sound currency” for the people.
The methods by which tlrs object is to be
pursued, and the means %y which it is to be
attained, are disclosed by tthat the Convention
demanded for the future, and by what it de
nounced in tlie past.
Resumption of specie payments by the Gov
ernment of the United States on its legal tender
notes would establish specie payments by all
the banks.on all their notes. Tbebffltial state
ment, made on the 12th of May, shows that the
amount of the bark notes was 300 millions,
less 20 millions held by themselves. Against
these 280 millions of notes the banks held Ml
millions ot legal tender notes, or a little more
than fifty per cent of theifi amount. But they
also held on deposit in the Fedeial Treasury, as
security for these rotes, bonds of the United
States, worth in gold about 3CO millions, avail
able and current in all the foreign money mar
kets. In resuming, the bonds, even if it were
possible for ali their notes to be presented for
payment, would have 500 millions of specie
funds to pay 280 millions of notes, without con-
Vol. Y.-No. 17.
tracting their loans to their customers, or banks,
undertaking to resume, have usually been oblig
ed to collect from needy borrowers the means to
redeem excessive issues and to provide reserves.
A vague idea of distress is, therefore, often as
sociated With the process of resumption. But
the conditions which fcau.-e’l distress in those
former instances do not now exist.
The government lias only to make g'o'od its
own promises and the banks can take care of
-themselves Without distressing anybody. The
government is, therefore, the sole dclinqu mt.
The amount of the legal lender notes of the
United State now outstanding is less than 370
millions of dollars, besides 34 millions of dollars
of fractional currency. How shall the govern
ment meke these notes at nil times as good us
specie ?
It lias to provide, in reference to the mass
which would be kept in use by the Wants of
business, a central reservoir of Coin, adequate
to the adjustment of the temporary fluctuations
of international hiilahccs, and as a guaranty
against transient drains artificially created by
panic or by speculation.
It has also to provide for the paytnent in Coin
of sucii fractional currency as may be presented
for redemption, and sucii inconsiderable portions
of the legal tenders as individuals may, from
tunc to time, desire to convert into special use,
or in older to lay by in coin their little stores
of money.
To make tho coin now iu the treasury availa
ble for the objects Of this reserve, to gradually
strengthen and enlarge that reserve, and to pro
vide for sucii other exceptional demands loreoin
ns may arise does not seem to n.c a work of
difficulty. If wisely planned and discreetly
pursued, it ought not to cost any a..orifice to ihe
business of the country. It should tend on the
contrary, to a revival of hope and confidence.
The coin in the treasury on the 30th of June,
including what is held against the coin certifi
cates, amounted to nearly 74 millions. The
current of precious metals which lias flowed out
of our country fot the eleven years from July 1,
18(35, to June 30, 1876, averaging nearly 7(3 mil
lions a year, was 832 millions in the whole
period of which <317 millions were the product
ot our own mines.
To amass the requisite quantity by intercept
ing from the current flowing out of the country,
and by acquiring from the stocks which exist
abroad without disturbing the equilibrium of
foreign money markets, is a result to be easily
worked out by practical knowledge and judg
ment.
With respect to whatever surplus of legal ten
ders the wants of business may fail to keep in
use, and which, in order to save interest, will be
returned for redemption, they can either be paid
or they can be funded. Whether they continue as
currency, or to be absorbed into the vast mass of
securities held as investments, is merely a ques
tion of the rate of interest they draw. Even if
they were to remain in their present form, and
the government were to agree to pay on them a
rate of interest, making them desirable as in
vestments, they would cease to circulate and
take their p’aee with government, stale, muni
cipal, and other corporate and private bonds, of
which thousands ot millions exist among us.
In the prefect ease with which they can be
changed from currency into investments lies the
only danger to he guarded against in tho adop
tion of general measures intended to remove a
clearly ascertained surplus ; that is, the
drawn! of any which.are *.jt a permanent excess,
beyond flic wants of business. Even more
mischievous would beany meitstir'e which affects
the public imagination with the fenrofnn.np
prehended scarcity. * In a community wucrc
credit is much used, fluctuations ot values and
vicissitudes in business are largely caused by
the temporary beliefs of men even before those
beliefs can conform to ascertained realities.
The amount of tho necessary currency, at a
given time, cannot be determined arbitrarily,
and should not be as. timed on conjecture. That
amount is subject to both permanent and tem
porary changes. An enlargement of it, which
seemed to be durable, happened at the begin
ning of the civil war by a substituted use of
currency in place of individual credi.s. It va
ries witii certain states of business. It fluctu
ates, with considerable regularity, at different
seasons of the year. In the autumn, for instance,
when the buyers of grain and other agricultural
products begin their operations, they usually
need to borrow capital or circulate credits by
which to make their purchases, and want these
funds in currency capable of being distributed
in small sums among numerous sfellers. Tho
additional need of currency at shell times is five
or more per cent, of the whole volume, and, if a
surplus beyond what is required for ordinary
use does not happen to have beett fin halld at
tho money centers,a scarcity of currency ensiles,
and also a stringency in the loan market.
It was in reference to such experiences that,
in a discussion of this subject in my annual
message to the New York Legisla ure of Janua
ry 5, 1875, the suggestion was made that:
“The federal government is bound to redeem
every portion of its issues which the public do
not wish to use. Having assumed to monopolize
the supply of currency, and enacted exclusions
against everybody else, it is bound to furnish
all the wants business require.” * * * *
“The system should passively allow the volume
of circulating credits to ebb and (low, according
to tlie ever-changing wants of business. It should
imitate, as closely as possible, the natural laws
of trade, which it has superseded by artificial |
contrivances.” And in a similar discussion, in ;
my message of January 4, 1870, it was said that |
resumption should be effected “by such mcas- i
ures as would keep amount of tlie
currency self-adjusting during all the process,
without creating, at any time, an artificial scar- I
city, and without exciting the public imagina- 1
lion with alarms which impair confidence, con ■ j
tract tlie whole largo machinery of credit and ;
disturb tlie natural operations of business ”
“Public economies, official retrenchments and
wise finance” are tlie means which the St. Lottis
Convention indicates a6 provision fot reserves
and redemptions.
The best resource is a reduction of the ex
penses of the government below its inedme; lor
that imposes no new charge on the people.
If. however the improvidence anl waste which
have conduced us to a period of falling revenues
oblige us to supplement tlie results of economies
and retrenchments by some resort to loans, we '
should not hestate. The government ought not
to speculate on its own dishonor, in order Ur!
save interest on its broken promises, which it j
still compels private dealers to accept at a ficti
tious par. The highest national honor is not 1
only right, but vt till Id prove profitable. Of the 1
public debt, 985 mill ions bear interest at six per ;
cent, in gold, and 712 mtlliods at five per cent,
in gold. The average interest is 558 per [cent.
A financial policy which should secure the '
highest credit, wisely availed of ought gradually
to obtain a reduction of one per cent,
in the interest on most of the loans. I
A saving of one per cent. on the
avferngs would be 17 millions a year in gold. \
The savings regularly invested at four and a
half per cent, would, in less than thirtyiciglit >
years extinguish tlie principal. The wlio'lc j
1,700 millions of funded debt might be; paid ;
by this saving alone, without cost to the people. '
The proper time tor lesumption is tlie time
when wise preparations shall have ripened into |
it perfect at).lily to accomplish the Object with a
certainty and ease that will inspire confidence,
and encourage tlie reviving of business The
earliest time in which such a result can be
brought about is tJb-.Wcst. EVeit when the i
preparations shall have been matured, the exact
date would have to be chosen with reference to
the then existing state of trade and credit oper
ations in our country, tlie course of foreign
commerce, arid the condition of tlie exchanges
with Other nations, The specific measures and
tlie afcthal date i'.'rq matters of detail having
reference to evcr-cliiiltgiiig conditions. ,T. - y
belong to tlie dohtain of practical administrative
statesmanship. Tlie cabinitioF l a l steamer, aboujf
starting from New York to Liverpool, does .not
assemble a council over liis ocean chart and tig
an angle by which to lash the rudder fpr tlie
whole voyage. A human intelligence trust be
at the helm to discern tlie shifting forces of tho
waters and the winds A human hand must bn
on tlie helm to feel tlie elements day by day,and
guide to a mastery over them. ,
Sueli preparations are everything. Without
them, a legislative command fixing a day, an
official promise fixing a day, are shams. They
are worse—they are a snare and a delusion to
nil who trust them. Tliby destroy all confidence
among thoughtful men Whose jiulgme it w ill pit
last sway public opinion. An attempt toact ou
such a command or sucii a promise, without
prepnwniotl, would end in anew suspension,
it would iic a iVesh calamity, prolific of confu
sion, distrust and distress.
The Act of Congress of the 1-lth of January,
1870, enacted tlmt, on and after the Ist of Jan
uary, 1879, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
redeem in coin the legal tender notes of tlie
United States oil presentaUpn at the office of
tin* assistant treasurer in tiff City of New York,
it, authorized, tho sieretnry “to prepare and pro
vide ior” such resumption of specie payments
by the use ot any surplus revenues not other
wise appropriated ; and by issuing, in his dis
cretion, certain classes of bonds., (
Mote than tine and li half o ’ the ipur years,
liuvt) passed. Congress aud tlie President have
continued ever since touuite in acta which have
legislated outof existence every possible surplus
applicable to tins purpose.
The coin in tjie treasury claimed to belong to,
tlie government, bad, bn the 30th of Jiine, fallen
to less than 45 niiiiiotis of 'dollars as against 59
millions on the Ist of January, 1876, and the,
availability of a part of that sum is said to be
questionable. Tlie revenues are failing faster
than appropriations and expenditures are re
duced, leaving the treasury with diminishing
rosourebs. The secretary, has done nothing un -
der Ids power to issue bonds.
The legislative command, tlie official promise
fixing a day for resunijitipn, have thus far been
barren. No practical preparations towards re
sumption have been made. There has been no
progress. There have been steps backward.
There is no neeroraany in tlie operations ot
government. The homely maxims pi,every-day
.life are the best standards of its conduct., A.
debtor who should promise to pay a loan out ot
surplus income, yet tie seen every day spending
all lie could lay Ids bands on in riotous living,
would lose all character for honesty or veiacily.
ilis offer of anew promise or Ids profession as
to the value of the old promise, would alike
provoke decision.
The Bt. Louis platform denounces tho failure
for eleven years to make good tlie promise ot
the legal Under notes. It denounces the omis
sion to accumulate “any reserve for their re
domhtiott.” It denounces the epffdtict “which,
during eleven ycaCs of peace, baa ttii.de no ad
vances towards resumption, no preparations for
resumption, but instead lias obstructed resump
tion, by wasting our resources and exhausting
all our surplus income, and while professing to
intend a speedy return to specie payments, lias
annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto.”
And having first denounced the barrenness Jof
the promise of a day of resumption, it next
denounces that barren promiso as a “hindrance''
to resumption, it then demands its repeal,and,
also demands tlie establishment of “a judicious
system ot preparation” Ibr resumption. It can
not be doubted that tlie substitution of a ,l sys~
tern of preparation,” without tlie promise ot a
day, for tlie worthless promise of a day without
“a syst*. m of preparation” would lie tlie gain ot
the substance of resumption in exchange for its
shadow.
Nor is tlie denunciation unmerited of that im
provijience which, in tlie eleven years since llio
peace, lia3 consumed 4,500 millions ot dollars,
and yet could not afford to give llio people n.
sound and stable currency., Two and half per
cent, on the expenditures of these eleven years,
or even less, would have provided it!! the addi
tional coin needful to j-esuniption.
The distress now felt by the people in alt
their business and industries, though it has its
principal cause in the enormous waste of capit
al occasioned liy tlie false policies of our gov
ernment, has ticcn greatly aggidtVated Jty _thq
mismaiiiigetpeiit of the currency. Uncertainty
is the prolific parent oi mischiefslnjaii business..
Never were its evils mure filt than now. Alert
do nothing, because they arc unable tb makb
ally calculations on which they cari shfcly rely.
They undertake nothing, because tliey tear it
loss iii everything tliey would attempt. They
stop and v. ait. The merchant dares not buy
for tne future consumption of his customers.
Tho manufacturer does not make fabrics
which may not refund his outlay. He shuts
his factory aud discharges his workmen.
Capitalists cannot lend ou security tliey consid
er sale, and their funds lie almost without in
terest. Men of enterprise who have credit, or
securities to pledge; will not borrow. Con
sumption has fallen belotv the natural limits
of a tbasonable ecbhoiiiy. I’ricbs of many
tilings are Under their ratigb in frugal, specie
paying times before tlie civil war. Vast masses
of currency lie in the banks unused. A jcai*
and a half ago the legal tenders were at their
largest volume, and the tlVelVe, millions sinco
reiired have been replaced by fresh issiics of
fifteen millions of bank notes. In the meantime
the banks have been surrendering aliout four
millions a thumb, because they cannot find a
profitable, use for so many of their notes.
Tlie public tfiitid will no longei - accept sUatns.
It lias suffered enough from illusions. An in
sincere policy increases distrust. An tinsfablo
policy increases uncertainly. The people need
to know that tlie government ts moving in the
diiection of ultimate safety and prospeiity, and
that it is doing so through prudent, sale and
conservative methods, wl ich will fie sure to iii
flibt no new sacrifice on tlie business of tlie
Country. Then the inspiration of new hope and
well founded confidence will hasten the restor
ing probesseS (if tiatitre, and proip rity will be
gin to rettiru.
Tlifc Bt. Louis Convention fcoitcUtdes its ex
[irestibn In regard to tlie currency Question of
its cbtiVictlbns its to the practical results of tho
sysloffi of ((reparations it demands, it says:
“Ve belieVe stieli a system, well devised, aiidj
above all, intrusted to competent hands lor ex
ecution, Creating at lit) time an artificial scarcity
of ciirretifcy, and at no time alarming the public
mind ittiff a withdrawal of that vaster machine
ry of credit by which ninety-five percent, of all
business transactions arc performed —a system
open, public, and inspiring general confidence
would, from tlie day of its adoption, bring heal
ing oii its wings tb al! b'uf - liarrassed industries,
set in motion tlie wheels of ctfitintei'ce, manu
factuf’cs and tlie mechanic arts, restore eniploy
tnent ot labor, anil re hew in all itS natural
sources tlie prosperity ot tlie people, , .
The government of the United Stales, in nay
opinion, can advance to a resumption of spccio
payments on its legal tender note by gradual
and safe processes tending to relieve tlie present
business disiress. If charged by the people
witii the administration of the executive office,
1 should deem it a duty so to exercise the powJ
ers with which it lias bben or may be invested
by Congress sis bfcst and soonest to conduct
the country to that beneficerit result.
The convention justly affirms that reform 's
ficcessary in tlie civil service, ncccsSaty to its
purification, necessary to Jit4 economy and its
efficiency, necessary in order that tlie ordinary
employment of the public bust nisi may hot be
“a prize fought for at tlie ballot box, a brief re-
lof party zeal instead of uosts of honor
assignodlfor proved competency, ari l held for f>-
and lit/ in the public employ. ’ The convention
wisely added that “Reform is necessary even
more in higher grades 6'f the public service:
I’rcsiilent, Vice-President, JudgtS, Senators.
Representatives, Cabinet Officers, these and alt
others iu authority aro.the, people’s servants.
[Nee secondi<ajc ]