' - v.--
. . j - -
Ul wJlpi IP Imp W1II4I'
I I
BE SURE YOU ARE EIGHT ; THEN QO AHEAD.-D. Crockett.
VOL. 54.
TARBORO,N. C, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1876.
NO. 36.
GENERAL DIRECTORY.
TABBOliO'.
Mayor Fred. Philips.
Commissioners Je3se A. Williamson. Ja
cob Feldenueimer, Daniel W. Hunt, Alex.
McCabe, Joseph Cobb.
Secretary & Treasurer Robt. White
burst. Chief of Police John W. Cotton.
Assistant Police J. T. Moo e Jas. E.
Slmonson, Altiniore Macnair.
COl'NTV.
Superior Court Clerk and Probate Judge
H. L. Stalon, Jr.
Register of Deeds Alex. MeCabc.
Sheri ff Joseph Cobb.
Coroner
Treasurer Kobt. II. Austin.
Surveyor John E. Baker.
Standard Keeper J. B. Hyatt.
School Examiners. II. II. Shaw, Wm. A.
Duncan and R. S. Williams.
Keeper Poor House Wm. A. Durtran.
Commissioners Jno. Lancaster. Chairman,
Wiley Well, J. B. W. Norville, Frank Dew,
M. Exeni. A. McCabe, Clerk.
JWAII.S.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF MAILS
NOKTU AND SOUTH VIA W. 4 W. R. K.
Leave Tarboro' (daily) at - - 10 A. M.
Arrive at Tarboro' (daily) at - - 3 30 P.M.
WASHINGTON MAIL VIA GREENVILLE,
FALKLAND AND SPARTA.
I.cive Tarboro' (dailv at - - 6 A. M.
Arrivo at Tarboro' (daily) at
e P. M.
LODGES.
die MlefaUi and tbe Place of Meeting-.
Concord R. A. Chapter No. 5, N. M. Law
rence, High Priest, Masonic Hall, monthly
convocations first Thursday in evsry month at
10 o'clock A. M.
Concord Lodge No. 58, Thomas Gatlin,
Master, Masonic Hall, meets first Friday night
it 7 o'clock P. M. and third Saturday at 10
o'clock A. M. in every month.
Repiton Encampment No. 13, I. O. O. F.,
I. B. Palamountaiu, Chief Patriarch, Odd Fel
lows' Hall, meets every first and third Thurs
day of each month.
Edsreeorube Lodre No. 50, I. O. O. F.,
T. W. Toier, N. G., Odd Fellows' Hall,
meets every Tuesday night.
Edgecombe Council No. 122, Friends of
Temperance, meet every Friday night at the
Odd Fellow' Hall.
Advance Lodge No. 28, I. O. G. T., meets
every Wednesday night at there Hall.
Zanoah Lodge, No. 235, I. O. B. B., meet
on first and third Monday night of every
month at Odd Fellows' Hall, A. Whitlock,
President.
CUIIKCHES.
Episcopal Church Services every Sunday
at 10 1-2 o'clock A. M. and 5 P. M. Dr. J. B.
Cheshire, Rector.
Methodist Church &qtc - rvry Fowxh
Sunday of every month, monmi;; .itul nijri't.
1st iiunday at night and fitli Sunday at night.
Rev. Mr. Swindell, Pastor.
Presbvterian Church Servic - every 1.-:,
3rd and'oth Sabbitlrs. Lev. T. .1. Allison,
Pastor Weekly Prayer lnertln, Thurs
day night
Missionary Baptist C',urrh Service? the
4th Sunday in every inoi th, morning and
night. Rev. T. R. Owen, Pastor.
Primitive Baptist Church Services first
Saturday and Sunday of each month at 11
o'clock.
HOTKI.N.
Adams' Hotel, corn'- Main and Pitt Sts.
) F. Adams, 1'roprie.or.
KXPUICNS.
Houthern Express Office, on Main Street,
lose every morning- at S) o'clock.
N". M. Lawrence, Agent,
mm
PKOFKSSIOHAr. CARDS,
pRANK POWELL,
Attorney and Counselor at Law,
TARBORO', iV. C.
M3" Collections n Specialty. "5
Office next door to the Southerner ofllce.
July 2, 1875. tf
JOS. BLOfJNT CHESHIRE, JR.,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
AND
NOTARY PUBLIC.
t" Office at the Old Bank Building on
Trade Street. jc25-tf.
OWARD fc PERRY'
Attorneys and Counselors at Law.
TARBORO, X. C.
Praciic in all the Courts, State and
Federal. nov.5-ly.
w
II. JOHNSTON,
Attorney and Counselor at Law,
TARBORO', N. C.
X!W Attends to the transaction of busi
ness in all the Courts, State and Federal.
Nov. 5, 1875. ly
F
REDERICK PHILIPS,
Attorney and Counselor at Law,
TARBORO', N. C.
XW Practices in Courts of adjoining conn
lien, in the Fsderal and Supreme Courts.
Nov. 5, 1875. ly
ALTER P. WILLIAMSON,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
TARBORO', N. C.
Will practice in the Courts of the 2nd
Judicial District. Collections made id any
part of the fctaie.
X3T Office in Iron Front Building, Pit
Street, rear of A. Whitlock & Co's.
Jan. 7, 1376. tf
JACOB BATTLE,
Counsellor and Attorney at Law,
ROOKY MOUNT, N. C.
WOT Practices in all tLc Stato Courts.
March 24, 1876.
J,
H. & W. L. THORP,
Attorneys and Counselors at Law,
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C.
PRACTICES in the t-cintles of Edge
combe, Halifax, Nash and Wll.-on, nnd
iu the Supreme Court North Carolina, also
in the United States District Court at Raleigh.
Dr. G. L. Shackelford,
DENTIST,
TARBOTvO', N. C.
Office rppnsite Adams' Hotel, over S. S. Kash $
Ce's Store.
9wing to the stringency of the t'mes, I
lave reduced my charges for all operation to
tandard that will not fail to suit every one.
Care of children's teeth and Plate work a
p'vialty.
Satisfaction guarantocd iu all case?.
March 17, 1876. ly.
For Sale.
P
INE FULL BLOODED MARE AND
( ! O t. ITrkw ttfivmc Are annlv t rk
JanelC,-2t. K. DEMUTH.
MISCELLANEOUS.1 U'l
C 1 0 a da'
tip 1 Outfit
nt home. Agent
and Urius free. TRUE. &
0O-, Augusta, Maine.
i.Ks i
A WEEK guaranteed to AfccntK,
jK I I Mule and Female in their own loeal
w 1 ny. Terms OUTFIT FREE. Ad
dress P. O. VICKERY & CO., AgusiH, Me.
Samples worth
8TINrON& CO., Port-
land, Maine.
3I1
IT J. FASCINATION, Soul Charmintr, Mes-
merigm, and Marriage Guide, showing how
either sex may fascinate and gain the lovo
and aifection of any person they choose, iu
stantlv. 4(H) pages. By mail 5C cts. Hunt &
Co., 131) S. 7th St., Philadelphia, -
Price, Twenty-Five Cento
NEWSPAPER
ADVERTISING
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH EDITION.
Containing a complete list of all towns ia
the Untted States, the Territories and the
Dominion of Canada, having a population
greater than 5,000 according to ihe last cen
sus, together with the mimes of the news
papers having the largest local circulation in
each of the places named. Also, a catalo
gue of newspapers which are recommend
ed to advertisers an as giviug greatest value
iu proportion to prices charged. Also, all
newspapaper in the Uuited States and Can
ada printing over 5,000 copies each issue.
Also, all the Religious, Agricultural, Scien
tific and Mechanical, Medical, Masonic,
Juvenile, Educational, Commercial, In
surance, Real Estatoe, Law, Sporting, Mus
ical, Fashiou, and other special class journals
very complete lists. Together with a com
plete list of over iiOO German papers printed
in the United States. Also, nu essay upon
advertising; many tables of rates, showing
the cost of advertising in various newspapeis
and everything which a beginner in adver
Using would iike to know. Address
GEO P. ROWaLL& CO., 41 Park Row,
New York.
NEWSPAPERS
OF THE
UNITED STATES.
A complete list, numbering S,12'., with a
Gazetteer correct to date, of all town and
cities in which Newspapers arc publfshed;
historical and statistical sketches of the Great
Newspaper Establishments; illustrated with
numerous engravings of the principal news
paper buildings. Book of 300 Pages, just
issued. Mailed, post paid, to address lor
S5c. Apply (inclosing price) to Superinten
dent of the Newspaper Pavilion, Centennial
Grounds, Philadelphia, or American News
Company, N. Y. Every advertiser needs it.
PRSVTAE
Boarding House.
MRS. V. E. LIPSCOMB respectfully an
noiuices that she has opened a Private
Boarding House in Tarboro, on the corner
ol Bank and Pitt Streets.
Good Fare, 11 eiixunt iloonis, l'vinfor
table lied. Uoard Moderate.
Feb. 10, 1375.
Pest Poison isnot only
a Safe, Sure and Cheap DESTROYER
of the Colorado Beetle or Potato
Ben, but of ALX. Ixsbcti which nrer
on Vegetation CtrrandABHT Worm
GnEEN Flt, &c . Unlike P aria Green
and other Poisons, it can be entirely dissolved In
water and applied by Bprittkiing. Nor Isjckiotji
to Plajch. Mot Dasob0C8 to Use, Sever Fails
to Kill. Costs about 25 Cists an Acei. Put op
In half lb. boxes, enough for two acres. Price Ml
Cents Send for Circular. Made only by tho'
KEARNEY CHEMICAL WORKS, 66 Cortlandt St
P. 0. BOX 3139. SEW Y0SI,
CHOWAN
Baptist Female Institute,
MURFREESBOKO', N. C.
"VJ"E.T Session begins 1st Wednesday in
1 October.
Number of boarders limited to one hun
dred. For the instruction of these, ten first
class teachers arc employed. Facilities unu
sually ample and charges very moderate.
For catalogues, address
A. McDOWELL, President.
July 38, is;t5. 'Jui.
C. J. AUSTIN'S
WHOLESALE & RETAIL
Prices Low Down for Cash !
It- Arront fnr PETER'S AMMOXIATED
DISSOLVED BONE, prepared expressly for
Cotton. mar.24-ly.
Manhood : How Lost,1 now
Restored !
Just publishrd, a new edition
of Dk. Cclvekwell's Cele-nr-iTvn
"Rksay on the radieal
cure (without medicine) of Spermatorrhoea
or Seminal Weakness, Involuntary Seminal
r.nia ImnotMicv. Mental and Phvsical In
capacity, Impediments to Marriage, etc.; al
so, Uonsumption, epilepsy ana rus, iuuuc-
ed by sell-inauigence or sexuai extrava
gance, &c.
jgjf Trice, iu a sealed envelope, only six
cents.
The celebrated author, in this admirable
T!sr rlrlv remonstrates, from a thirtv
j j j . ,
years' successful practice, that trie alarming
consequences of self-abuse may be radically
enred without tne dangerous use oi lnternai
modipinn nr the atirilicatlon of the knife :
pointing out a mode of cure at one simple,
" . . . 1 - 1-
certain, ana eltectuai, Dy means oi wmcu
vnrv Rnfferer. no matter what his condition
may be, may cure himself cheaply, privately
ana raaicauy.
5T This Lecture should be in the hands
of every youth and every man in the land.
Sent under seal, in a plain envelope, to
any address, post-paid, on receipt of six cents
or two postage stamps.
Address the Publishers,
CHAS. J. C. CLINE & CO.,
127 Bowery, New York ; P. O. Box, '!
Sixriciior
5i.BALTIM0RE.MDl
414
LEXINGTON
FOR SALE OR REP.
fTUE neat and comfortable dwelling
I east side of Church street, recently
occupied by Mr. John N. Vick, is for
.Ant ri it nil I hp aolrl Tiriviiti-lv on
reasonable terms. The house has fonr rooms
nicely finished, and adjoining it is a kitchen.
There is also a splendid Garden spot and
Stables. The lot is neatly enclosed and is
one of tho most comfortable and desirable
places In Rocky Mount, N. C.
Oct.29-tf. Yf . L. THORP.
WS ORGANS.
Friday
Aug- 18, 1S76
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Democratic Lsttars of Acceptance.
Tilden and Hendricks Pull Together
PLAIN ISSUES SQUARELY IvIADE
THE GOVERNMENT SPENDS MORE
THAN TI1E PEOPLE CAN SAVE.
REDUCE EXPENSES, LOWER TAXES
AND REVIVED INDUSTRY THE
WAY TO nONEST RE
SUMPTION. No More Sham Promises' to Fay.
ALL CITIZENS OF ALL COLOR MUST
BE PROTECTED IN ALL T11EIK
RIGHTS.
ONE PRESIDENTIAL TERM
THE CONDITION OF REAL
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM
EQUAL PROTECTION ABROAD To NATIVE-BORN
AND FOREIGN
CITIZENS.
NO SECTARIAN INTERFER
ENCE WITH THE SCHOOLS.
THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER.
Albany, July 31, 1S7G.
Gentlemen
When I had the honor to receive
a personal delivery of your letUr
on behalf of the democratic nations
al convention, hold oa the 28th of
June at St. Louis, advising me of
my nomination as the candidate of
the constituency represented by
that body for the office of presi
dent of the United Stt'.-s, I an
swered that at ray earliest conveni
ence, and in conformity with usage,
I would rrcpa'c and racrmit to
you a foitnal acoeptaace. 1 ncvy
avail myself of the first interval in
unavoidable occupation to fulfil that
engagement.
The convention before making
its nominations adopted a declara
tion of principles which as a whole
seems to me a wise exposition of
the necessities ot ur couutry and
of the reforms needed to bring back
the government to its true funcs
tions, to restore purity of adminis
tration, anijtc renevr the prosperity
of the people." Bat seme of these
reforms are so urgent that they
claimed more than a passing ap
proval. REFORM IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE.
The necessity of a reform in the
acalo of public expense federal,
state and municipal and in the
modes of federal taxation, justifies
all the prominence given to it in
the declaration of the St. Louis
convention. The present depres
sion in all the business and indus
tries of the people, which h depriv
ing labor of its employment and
carrying want into so many homes,
has its principal cause in excessive
governmental consumption under
tho illasic iS of a specious prosperity
engendered by the false policy of
the federal government. A waste
of capital has been going on ever
since tho peace of 1865, vrhich
could only end in universal disas
ter. The federal taxes of the last
eleven years, reach the gigantic sum
of forty-five hundred millions, and
local taxation has amounted to two
thirds as much more. The vast
aggregate ia not less than seveuty
fivc hundred millions. This enor
mous taxation followed a civil con
flict that had greatly impaired our
aggregate wealth, and had made a
prompt reduction of expenses indis
pensable. It was aggravated by
most unscientific and ill-adjusted
methods of taxation that increased
the sacrifices of the people far be
yond the receipts of tho treasury.
Itjwas aggravated more-over by a
financial policy which tended to
dimish the energy, skill and econ
omy of production and tho frugality
of private consumption, and induced
miscalculation in business and an
unremunerativo use of capital aad
labor.
Even in prospex-ous times the
daily wants of industrious com
munities press closely upon their
daily earnings, The margin of
possible ationa? oavinge is a best
small per centagc of national earn
ings yet now for these eleven years
governmental consumption has been
a larger portion f tho national
earnings than the whole people can
possibly save even in prosperous
times. For all new investments
the consequences of these errors
are now a pressnt public calamity,
but they were never doubtful, never
invisible. They were necessary and
inevitable, and were foreseen and
depicted when the waves of that
fictitious prosperity ran. highest.
In a speech mado by me on the
24th of September, 1868, is was
said of these taxes : 'They bear
heavily upon every man's incorae,
upon every industry and every
business in the country, and year
by year they are destined to press
still more heavily unless we arrest
the system that givt-a rise to them.'
It was comparatively easy when
values were doubling uuder repeat
ed issues of legaltender paper money
to pay out of the froth of our grow
ing and apparent wealth these
taxes, but when values recede and
sink towards their natural scale the
tax gathcrer.takes from us not enly
our income, not only our profits,
but also a portion o'our capital.
I do not wish to exaggerate or
DO
alarm. I simply say that we can
not afford the costly and ruinous
policy of the radical majority of
congress. Wo caunt afford that
policy towards the south. We can
not afford the magnificent and op
pressive centralism into which our
government is being converted. We
cannot afford the present magnifi
cent scale ef taxation.
To the secretary of the treasury
I said early in 18G5 there is no
royal road for a government more
than for an individual or a corpora
tion. What you want to do now is
to
CUT DOWN YOUR EXPENSES
and live within your income. 1
would give all tho legerdemain of
finance and fmanceenug I would
give the whole of it for the old
homely maxim, 'Live within your
income.'
This reform will be resisted at
every step, bat it must be pressed
persistently. We see to-day the
immediate representatives of the
people in one branch of congress,
while struggling to reduce expendi
tures, compelled to confront the
menace of the senate and the exe
cutivc that unless the objectionable
appropriations be consented to tho
operations of the government there
under shall suffer detriment or
cea3e. In my judgment an amend
ment of the constitution ought to
be devised separating into distinct
bills the appropriation for the
various departments of the public
service, asd excluding from uach
biil all appropriation - for other ob
jects aud all independent. In that,
way aloue can the revisory power
of each of tho two houses and of
the executive be preserved and ex
empted from the moral duress which
often compels assent to objectiona
ble appropriations rather than stop
the wheels of the government.
THE SOUTII.
.in accessory cause enhancing
the distress in busiuesa is to Le
found iu ilia systematic ana ua
supportable misgoverninent impospd
cn the states of the south. Besides
the ordinary effects of ignorant and
dishonest administrations, it has in
flicted upon them enormous issues
of fraudulent bonds, the scanty
avails of which were wasted or
stolen, and the existence of which
is a public discredit, tending to
bankruptcy or repudiation. Taxes,
generally oppressive ia some in
stances, have confiscated the entire
income of property, aad totally dis
troyed its marketable volue. It is
impassible 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 ob
stacle be removed to a complete
and durable reconciliation between
kindred populations, ence unnatur
ally estranged, en the basis rocog
nized by the St. Louis platform.
The constitution of the United
States, with its amendments, uni
versally accep ted as a final settle
ment of the controversies which
engendered civil war, but aid a re
sult so beneficent. The moral in
fluence of every good citizen, as
well us every governmental author
ity, ought to be exortcd, not alone
to maintain their just equality be
fore the law, but likewise to estab
lish a cordial fraternity and good
will among citizens, whatever their
race or color, who are now united
ia the one destiny of a commen self
government. If the duty shall be
assigned to me I should not fail to
exercise the powers with which the
law3 and the constitution of our
country clothes its chief magistrate
to protect all its citizens, whatever
their former condition, in every po
litical and personal right.
CURRENCY REFORM.
Reform is nscessary declares
tho St. Louis convention to es
tablish a sound currency, restore
tho public credit and maintain the
national honor, and it goes cn to
domand a judicious system of pr&
paration by public economies, by
oiEcial retrenchmant cud by wise
finance, which shall enable tho na
tion soon to assure the wholo world
of its perfect ability and its perfect
readiness to meet any of its prom
ises at the call of the creditor en
titled to payment. The object de
manded by the convention is a re
sumption ef specie payment oa the
legal-tendor notes ef the United
States that would not only restore
the public credit and maintain the
national honor, but it would estab
lish a sound currency for the peo
ple. The methods by which this
object is to be pursued, and the
means by which it is to be attained,
are disclosed by what the conven
tion cemanded for the future and
by what it denounced ia the past.
BANK NOTE RESUMPTION.
Resumption of specie payments
by the government of the Uaited
States on its legal tender notes
would establish specie payments by
all the banks on all their notes.
The official statements made on the
12th of May show that the antount
of thejbank cotes was 0300,000,000
less $20,000,000 held by themselves;
against these $280,000,000;of notes
tho banks hold $141,000,000 of
lagal tender notes, or a little more
than 50 per cent, ef their amount,
but they also held on deposit iu tho
federal treasury as security for
these notes bonds of the United
States worth iu gold about $36,
000,000, available and current in
all the foreign money markets. In
resuming the banks, even if it .were
possible for all their notes to be
presentad for payment, would have
$500,000,000 of specie funds to
pay 280,000,000 of notes without
contracting their loans to their cus
tomers or calling on any private
debtor for payment.
Suspended banks undertaking to
resume have usually beea obliged
to collect from needy borrowers the
means to redeem excessive issues,
and to provide reserves. A vague
idea of distress is therefore often
associated with the process of re
sumption, but the conditions which
caused distress in these former in
stances do not now exist. The
government has ouly to make good
its own promises and tho banks can
take care of themselves . without
distressing anybody. The govern
ment is therefore the sole delin
quent. LEGAL TENDER RESUMPTION.
The amount of the legal tender
notes of the United States now
outstanding is less than 8370,000,
000, beside 834,000,000 of fraction
al currency. How shall the govern
ment mali these notes at all times
as good a specie ? It has to pro
vide in refereiioa to the mass which
wou' 1 be dept in use by the wants
of basinet a central reserve of coin i
adef; late to thy adjustment of the
t'imvrarv fluctuations of mteriia :
tiona: balances, and as a guranty
Tgain.it transient drains artificially 1
created by paaic or by speculation.
It has also to provide for the pay
ment in coin of such fractional cur
rency ae may be presented for re
demption, and such inconsiderable
porti?!)3 of the legal tenders as in
dividuals may from time detire to
convert Io special use, or in order
to lay by ia coin their little stores
of money.
RESUMPTION NT DIFFICULT.
To make the coiu now in the
treasury available for the object cf
this reserve, to gradually strengthen
and enlarge that reserve, and to
provide for such other exceptional
demands for coin as may arise, does
not seem to me a wark of difficulty.
If wisely planned and discreetly
pursued it ought not to cost any
sacrifice to the business of the coun
try. It should tend, on the con
trary, to a revival cf hope and con
fidence. The coin in the treasury
on the 30th of June, including what
i3 held against coin certificates,
amounted to nearly seveaty-four
millions. The current of precious
metals which has flowed out of our
country for the eleven years from
July 1, I860, to June 80, 1876,
averaging nearly seventy-six mil
lions a year, was eight hundred and
thirty-two millions in the whole
period, of which six hundred and
seventeen millions were the product
ef our own mines.
To amass the requisite quantity
by intercepting from the current
flowing out of tha 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 bv practical knowledge
and judgment with respect to what
ever surplus of legaKtenders the
wants of business may fail to keep
in use, aad which in order to save
interest will be returned for redemp
tion. Tkey can either be paid or
they can be funded; whether they
contiaued as currency or be altsorb
od into the vast mass of securities
held aa investments, is merely a
question of the rate of interest they
draw. Even if they were to remain
in their present form, and the gov
ernment were to agree to pay on
them a vnte of interest making
them desirable as investments, they
would cease to circulato and take
thair place with government, state,
municipal tnd other corporate and
private bonds, of which thousands
of a'.'iuas cast among U3.
In t io perfect case with which
they cr.a be change from currency
into investments lies the only dan
cer to be guarded asrainst in the
adoption of general measures in
tended to remove a claarly ascar
taia'ed surplus, that is the with
drawal of any which are not a per
manent excess beyond the wants
of business. Even more miscaiev
ious would bo any measure which
affects the public imagination with
the fear of aa apprehended scarcity.
In a community where credit is so
much used fluctuations of value and
vicissitude in business aro largely
caused by the temporary deference
to the beliefs of men even before
these beliefs can conform to ascer
tained realities.
AMOUNT OF NECESSARY CURRENCY.
The amount of the necessary cur
rency at a given' time cannot be de
termined arbitrarily, and should
not bo assumed in 'conjecture. That
amount is subject to both permanent
and temporary- changes. An eni
largement of it which seemed to be
durable happened at the beginning
of the civil war by a substituted use
of currency in place of individual
credits. It varies with certain
states of business. It fluctuates
with considerable regularity at dif
ferent seasons of tho year. 7n the
autum, for instance, when buyers
of grain and o.her agricultural pro
ducts begin their operations they
usually need to borrow capital or
circulating credit by which to make
their purchases, and want these
funds in currency capable of being
distributed in small sums among
numerous sellers.
The additional need of currency
at such times is five or more per
cent, of the whole volume, and if a
surplus beyond what is acquired for
ordinary use does not happen to
havo been on hand at the money
centres, a scarcity of currency en
sues and also a stringency in the
loan market, it was in reference
to such experiences that, in a dis,
cussion of the subject in my annual
message to the New York legisla
ture ef January 5. 1875, tho sug
gestion was made that the federal
government is bound to redeem
every portion of its issues which
the public do not wish to use. Hav
ing assumed to monopolize the sup
ply of currency and enacted exclu
sions against every body else, it is
bound to furnish all which the wants
of busines require. The system
should passively allow the volume
cf circulating credits to ebb and
flow according to the ever changing
wants of business. It should indi
cate as closely as possible the nat
ural laws of trade which it has su
perseded by artificial contrivances ;
aad in a similar discussion iu my
message of January 4, 1S7G, it was
said that resumption should be ef
fected by such measures as would
keep the aggregate amount of the
currency self-adjusting during all
the process without creating at any
time an aitificial scarcity, and
without exciting the public imagi
nation with alarms which impair
confidence, contract tho whole ma
chinery of credit, and disturb the
natural operations of business means
of resumption. Public economines
official retrenchments and wi3e fir
nance are the means which the St1
Louis convention indicates as pro
vision for reserves and redemption.
Tho best resource is a reduction
of the expenses of tho government
belew its income for that imposes no
new charge on the people. If, how
ever, the improvidence and waste
which have conducted us to a period
of falling revenues, oblige ui to sup
plement the results ot economies
and retrenchments by some resort
to loans, we should not hesitate.
Ths government ought not to speck
ulate ea its own dishonor in order
to save interest cn its broken prom
ises, which it still compels private
dealers to accept at a ficticious par.
The highest national honor is not
only right but would prove profita
ble. Of the public debt 985,000,
000 bear interests at 6 per cent, in
gold, and $712,000,000 at 5 per
cent, in cold. The average inter
est is 5.58 per cent.
A financial policy which should
secure the nignest credit wisely
availed of, ought gradually to obtain
a reduction of one per cent, in the
interest on most of the loans. A
saving of one per cent, on the aver
age would be seventeen millions a
year ia gold. That saviag regular
ly invested at four and a halt per
cent, would in less than thirty-eight
years extinguish the principal. The
whole 31,700,000,000 of funded
debt might be paid by this saving
alone, without cast to the people.
PROPER T1MB FOB KESCJIPTIOX
The proper time for resumption
is the time when wise preparation
shall have ripened into a perfect
ability to accomplish the object
with a certainty and ease that will
inspire confideacc and encourage
tho reviving of business. The ear.
liest time in which such a result
can be brought about is the best
Even when the preparations shall
hare been matured the exact date
would have to be chosen with refer
ence to the then existing state of
trade, credit operations in oar own
country, the course of foreign com
merce, and the condition of the ex
changes with other nations. The
specie measures and the actual date
arc matters of detail having refer
ence to everchanging conditions
They belong to the demaia of prac
tical administrative statesmanship
The captain of a steamer about
starting to Liverpool does not as
semble a council over his ocean
chart and fix an angle by which to
lasa the rudder fot the wholo voy
age. A human intelligence must
bo at the helm to discern the shift
ing forces of the 'waters- and the-
winds. A human hand mu3t be oa
t the helm to feel tho elements day
by day, and guide to a mastery
over them. Preparations for re
sumption ; such preparations are
everythiag. Without them a leg
islative commaad fixiag a day, an
official promise fixing a day arc
shams. They are worse. They
are a snare and a delusion to all
who trust them. They destroy all
confideace among thoughtful men,
whose judgmeat wiU at last Bway
public opiaion. An attempt to act
on such a command or such a prom
ise without preparation would be a
fresh calamity, prolific of confusion,
distrust and distress.
The act of congress of the 14 th
of Jaauary, 1875, eaacted that on
and after the first of January, 1879,
the secretary of tho treasury shall
redeem in coin tho legal-tender
notes of the Unite States on the
preseatation at the office of the as
sistant treasurer in the city of New
York, It authorized the secretary
to prepare and provide for such re
sumption of specie payment by tho
use of auy surplus reveaues not
otherwise appropriated, and by is
suing in his discretion certaia class
es of bonds. More than oae and a
half of tho four years have pacsed.
Congress and the president have
continued ever since to unite in acts
which have legislated out of exist
ence every possible surplus applica
ble to this purpose.
Tho coin in the treasury claimed
to belong to the government had on
the 30th of June fallen to less than
45,000,000, as against $59,000,
000 on the 1st of January, 1875,
and the availability of a part of that
sum is said to be questionable. The
revenues are falling faster than ap
propriations and expenditures are
reduced, leaving the treasury with
diminishing resources. The secre
tary has done nothing under his
power to issue bonds.
The legislative command, the of
ficial promise, fixing a day for re
sumption, have thus far been bar
ren. No practical preoarations to
a a
wards resumption have been made.
There has been no progress. There
havo been steps backward. There
is no neromancy in the operations
of government. The homely max
ims of cvery-day life are the best
standards of its conduct. A debt
or who should promise to oav a
oan out of surplus income, yet be
seen every d&y spending all be could
ay uis hands on in riotous living.
would loose all character for hon
esty and veracity. His offer of a
new promise or his profession as to
the value or the old promise would
alike provoke derision.
RESUMPTION FLAX OF THE ST. LOUIS PLAT
FORM.
The St. Louis platform denoun
3 the failure for eleven years to
make good the promise of the legal
tender notes. It denounces the
omission to accumulate any reserve
or their redemption. It denoun
ces the conduct which, during elev
en years of peace, has made no ad
vance towards resumption, no prep
aration for resumption, but instead
has obstructed resumption by wast
ing our resources and exhausting
all our surplus income, and while
professing to intend a Bpecdy re
turn to specie payments, has annu
ally enacted fresh hindrances there
to : and having first denounced the
barrenness of the promise of a day
ot resumption, it next denounces
that barren promise as a hindrance
to resumption. It then demands
its repeal, and also demands the es
tablishment of judicious system of
preparation for resumption.
It cannot be doubted that the
substitution of a system of prepara
tion without the promise of a day,
for the worthless promise of a day
without system of preparation
would be tho gain of the substance
of resumption in exchange for its
shadow. Nor is the denunciation
unmerited of that improvidence
which in the eleven years since the
peace has consumed 4,500,000,-
000, and yet could not afford to
give the people a sound and stable
curreacy. Two aau a halt per ceat.
on the expenditures of these elevea
years, or even less, would have pro
viued all the additional com needful
to srsumption.
RELIEF TO BUSINESS DISTRESS.
The distress now felt by the peo
pie ia all their business and indus
tries, though it has its principal
cause in the enormous waste of cap
ital occasioned by the false policies
of our government, has been great
ly aggravated by the mismanage
ment of the currency. Uncertainty
is the proline parent of mischief in
all business. Never wero iis evils
more felt than now. Men do noth
ing because tticy aro unable to
make any calculation on which they
can safely rely. They undertake
nothing, because they fear a loss in
everything they would attempt
they stop and wait. Tho merchant
dares not buy for the future con
sumption of his customers. The
manufacturer dares not make fab
rics which may not refund his out
lay. He shuts his factory and dis
charges workmen. Capitalists can
not lend on security they consider
safe, and their funds lie almost
without interest. Men of enter
prise would have credit or securities
to pledge will not borrow. Con
sumption has fallen beta Vae natu
ral limits cf a reasonable economy.
Prices o many 'things are under
their range in frugal, speciepaying
times before the . civil war. Vast
masses cf currency He in the banks
unused. A year aid fa-half ago
tho legal tenders were at their lar
gest volume, and the twelve millions
since retired have been replaced by
fresh issues of fifteen millions of
bank notes.
In the meantime the banks havo
been surrendering about four mil
lions a month because they cannot
find a profitable use for , so many
of their notes. The public mind
will no longer accept shams. It
has suffered enough from illusions.
An insecure policy increases dis
trust ; an unstable policy increasci
uncertainty. The people need to
know that the government is mov
ing in the direction of ultimate
safety and prosperity, and that it
is doing so through prudent, safe
and conservative methods which
will be sure to inflict no new sacri
fice on the business of the country.
Then tho inspiration of new hope
and well-founded confidence will
hasten the restoring process of na
ture, and prosperity will begin to
return. The St. Louis convention
concludes its expressions in regard
to the currency by a declaration of
its convictions as to the practical
result of the system of preparation
it demands. It says : "We believe
such a system well dev'sctl, and
above all illustrated to competent
hands for execution, creating at no
time an artificial scarcity of curren
cy, and at no time alarming the
public mind into a witdrawal of that
vaster machinery of credit by which
ninety-five per cent, of all business
transactions pre performed.
A system open, public, and in
spiring general cor6(7 ice, would
from the day of its adoption uring
healing on it wings to all our Iiar
rassed industries, set in motion the
wheels ef cor -erce, manufactures
and the mechanic arts, restore em
ployment to labor, and renew in all
it3 natural sources the prosperity of
the people. Tho government of
the United States, in my opinion,
can a ivance 10 a resumption ot
pecio payments on its legal tender
notes by gradual and safe process
tending to relievo the present busi
ness distress.
If charged by the people with the
administration of tho executive of-
ce I should deem it a duty so to
exercise the powers with which it
has been or may bo invested by
congress as best and soonest to con
duct the country to that beneficient
result.
CIVIL SERVICE REF03M.
The convention justly affirms that
reform is necessary in the civil ser
vice accessary to 113 purification,
necessary m order that the ordina
ry employment of the public busi
ness may not be a prize fought for
at the ballotsbox, a brief reward of
party zeal instead of post of honor
assigned for proved competency
and held for fidelity in the public
employ.
ihe convention wisely added that
reform is necessary, even more in
the higher grades of tho public ser
vice. President, vice-presidents.
udges, senators, representatives,
cabinet officers ; these and all oth
ers in authority are the people's
servants. Their offices aro not a
private perquisite, thoy are a pub
ic trust. Two evils infest the of
ficial service of the federal govern
ment. One is the prevalent and
demoralizing nation that tho pub
lic service exists not for the busi
ness and benefit of the wholo peo
ple, but for the interest of the of
fice-holders, who are in truth but
the servants of the people.
Under the influence of this per
nicious error public employments
have been multiplied. The num
ber of those gathered into the ranks
or office-holders have beea steadily
increased beyond any possible re
quirement of the public business,
while inefficiency, peculation, fraud
and malversation of the public funds
from the high places of power to
the lowest have overspread the
whole service like a lepresy. The
other evil is the organization of the
official class into a body of political
mercenaries, governing tho caucus
es and dictating the nor nations of
their own party, and attempting to
carry the elections of tho peopU by
undue influence and by immenso
corruption by f'inds systematically
collected from the salaries or fees
of office diolder3.
The official class in other coun
tries, sometimes by its own weight
and sometimes in alilanco with the
army, has been able to rule the un
organized masses. Even under
universal suff rage here it has already
grown into a gigantio power capa
ble of stilling tho inspirations of a
sound public opinion and of resisting
an easy change of administration,
nntil misgovorament becomes iatol
erable and public; spirit has been
btung to the pitch of a civil revolu
tion. The first step in reform is the
elevation of th standard by which
ths appointing power selects agents
to execute official tnfsts.
Next in importance is a conscien
tious fidelity ia the exercise of the
authority to hold to account aad dis
place untrustworthy or inoablo sub-
i eoaiqgsp os gotraigfAagl