Appeals To Congress

Washington, Jan. 29. - President Cleveland submitted to congress to-day a special message on the financial situation. The message itself was as follov,: "To the Senatü and House of Rej'hf.sentatives: In my last annual message I commended to the serkras considerrAtion of congress the conditicn of our national finances, and in connection with the subject indorsed the plan of currency legislation whlch at that time seemed to furnish protection against impending danger. This plan has not been approved by the congress. In the meantime the situation has so changed that the emergency now appears so threatenintr tliat I deem it my duty to ask at He hands of the legislative government snch prompt and effctive action as will restore confidence hi our financia! soundness and avert business disaster and universal distress among our people. Whatever be the merits of the plan outlined in my anaual message as a reinedy for ills then existing and as a safeguard against the depletion of the gold reserve then in the treasury, I am now convinced that its reception by the congress and onr present advanced stage of financial perplexity necessitate additional or different legislation. With natural resources unlimited in variety and productive strength, and with a people whose activity and euterprise seek only a fair opportunity to achieve national success and greatness, our progress should uot be checked by a false financial policy and a heedless disregard of sound monetary laws, nor should the timidity and fear which they engender stand in the vvay of our prosperity. "The real trouble which confronts us oonsists is a lack of confidence, wide spread and constantly increasing, in the contin ing ability or disposition of the government to pay its obligations in gold. This lack of confidence grows to some extent out of the pable and apparent emparrassmeiit attending the efforts of the government under existing laws to procure gold, and to a greater extent out of the impossibility of either keeping it in the treasury or cancelling obligations by its expenditure af ter it'is obtained. "The only way left open to the govermnent for procuring gold is by the issue and sale of bonds. The only bonds that can be so issued were authorized nearly twenty-five years ago and are not well calcula ted tomeet our present needs. Among other disadvantages, they are made payable in coin instead of specifioally in gold, which, in existing conditions, detracts largely and in an increasmg ratio f rom their desirability as iuvestments. It is by no means certain that bonds of this description can much longer be disposed of at any price creditable to the finaucial character of our government. "The most dangerous and irritating feature of the situation, however, rema i ns to be mentioned. It is found in the means by which the treasury is despoiled of the gold thus obtained without canceling a single obligation, and solely for the benefit of those who find profit in shipping it abroad or whose fears induce them to hoard it at home. We have outstanding about five hundred millions of currency notes of the government for Which gold may be demanded; and, curiously enoxigh, the law requires that when presented, and, in fact, redeemed and paid ín gold, they shall be reissued. Thus the same notes may do duty many times in drawing gold from the treasury; nor can the process be arrested as long as private parties, for profit or otherwise, see an advantage in repeating the operation. "More than three hundred millions of dollars in these notes have already Ifèen redeemed in gold, and notwithstanding such redemption they are all still outstanding. Since the ]7th day of January, 1894, our bonded interest bearing debt has been increased SjOO, 000,000 ior the purpose of obtamic(ï gold to replenish our coin reserve. Two issues vvere made, amounting to $50,000,000 each - one in January and the other in November. As a result of the first issue there was realized something more than $f8,000,000 of dollars in gold. ltetween that issue and the exceeding one in November, comprising a period of about ten months, nearly $103,000,000 of dollars in gold was drawn from the treasury. This made the seeond issue ecessary, and upon that more than 58,000,000 in gold was again realized. Between tle date of this seeond issue and the present time, covering a period of only about two months, more than 809,000,000 in gold, has been drawn from the treasury. These large suvns of gold were expended without any cancellation of government obligations, or in any permanent way benefiting our people oi improving our pecuniary situation. "Our gold reserve has again reached such a state of diminuation as to require its speedy reinforcement The : aggravations that rmist inevitably follow present conditions and methods will certainly lead to misfortune and loss, not only to our national credit and prosperity, and to financial enterprise, but to those of our people who seek employment as a means of livelihood and lo those whose only capital is their daily labor. It will hardly do to say that ' ple increase of revenue will cure oui troubles. The apprehension now ! isting and conscantly increasing as te J our financial ability does not rest upon a calculation or our revemir. The time has passed when the eyes of investors abroad and our people' at home were fixed upon the revenues of the governmnt. Changed conditions haye attracted to the gold of the government. There need be no fear that ue can not pay our curren t expenses with such money as we have. "Besides the treasury notes which certainly should be paid in gold, amounting to nearly 8500,000,000, there will be due in 1894 8100,000,000 oí bonds issued during the last year, for which we have received gold, and in 1907 nearly 8600,000,000 of 4 per cent bonds issued in 1977. Shall the payment of these obligations in gold be repudiated? If they are to be paid in such a manner as the preservation of our national honor and national solvency demands we should not destroy or even imperil our ability to supply ourselves with gold for that purpose. "In my opinión, the secretary of the treasury should be authorized to issue bonds of the governrnent for the purpose of procuring and maintaining a suffiient gold reserve and the redemption and cancallation of the United States legal tender notes and the treasury notes issued for the purchase of silver under the law of July 14, 1890. "I suggest that the bonds be issued in denominations of 20 and 5550 and 850 and their múltiples, and that they bear interest at a rate not exceeding 3 per cent per annum. I do not see why they should not be payable fifty years f rom their dates. We, of the present generation have large amounts to pay if we meet our obligations and loDg bonds are most salable. The seeretary of the treasury might well be permitted at his discretion to receive on the sale of bonds the legal tender and treasury notes to be retired and, of course, when they are thus retired or redeemed in gold they should be canceled. "These bonds, under existing laws, could be deposited by national banks as security for circulation, and such banks should be allo wed to issue circulation up to the face value of these or any other bonds so deposited, except bonds outstanding bearing only 2 per cent interest and vvhich sell in the market at less than par. National banks should not be allowed to take out circulating notes of a less denomination than $10, and when sueh as are now outstanding reach the treasury, except for tion and retirement, they should be canceled and notes of the denomination of f 10 and upward issued in their stead. Silver certiticates of the denomination of 810 and upward should be replaced by certificates of denominations under $19. Objection has been made to the issuance of interest obligations for the purpose of retiring the noninterest bearing legal tender notes. In point of fact, however, these notes have burdened us with a large load of interest and it is still accumulating. The aggregate interest on the original issue of bonds, the proceeds of which in gold constituted the reserve for the payment of these notes.amount to $70,320,250 on Jan. 1, 1895, and the annual charge for interest on these bonds and on those issued for the same purpose durrar the last year will be 89,145,000, from Jan. 1, 1895. "In conclusión I desire to frankly confess my reluctance to issuing more bonds in present cireumstances and with no better results than have lately followed that course. Ican not, however, refrain from adding to an assurance of my anxiety to co-operate with the present congress in any reasonable measure of relief an exprecsion of my determination to leave nothing undone which furnishes a hope for improving the situation or checking a suspicion of our disinclination or disability to meet with the strictest honor every national obligation. Gboveb Cleveland. The Executive Mansion, Jan. i'8, 1885. Springer tb the Koscue. Washington, Jan. 29.- Congressmai) Springer this afternoon introduced a bjll in eongress incorporating the views of the President as expressed in his special message. It also restricts national bank notes to 10 and provides that duties shall be paid in gold. I5y its provisions greenbacks will be retired upon presentation for redemption. The bill was referred.