retaining these notes in the Treasury when received, and
thus preventing their presentation for gold. Such retention to be useful
ought to be at least measurably permanent; and this is precisely what is
prohibited, so far as United States notes are concerned, by the law of
1878, forbidding their further retirement. That statute in so many words
provides that these notes when received into the Treasury and belonging
to the United States shall be "paid out again and kept in circulation."

It will, moreover, be readily seen that the Government could not
refuse to pay out United States notes and Treasury notes in current
transactions when demanded, and insist on paying out silver alone,
and still maintain the parity between that metal and the currency
representing gold. Besides, the accumulation in the Treasury of currency
of any kind exacted from the people through taxation is justly regarded
as an evil, and it can not proceed far without vigorous protest against
an unjustifiable retention of money from the business of the country and
a denunciation of a scheme of taxation which proves itself to be unjust
when it takes from the earnings and income of the citizen money so much
in excess of the needs of Government support that large sums can be
gathered and kept in the Treasury. Such a condition has heretofore in
times of surplus revenue led the Government to restore currency to the
people by the purchase of its unmatured bonds at a large premium and
by a large increase of its deposits in national banks, and we easily
remember that the abuse of Treasury accumulation has furnished a most
persuasive argument in favor of legislation radically reducing our
tariff taxation.

Perhaps it is supposed that sufficient revenue receipts would in a
sentimental way improve the situation by inspiring confidence in our
solvency and allaying the fear of pecuniary exhaustion. And yet through
all our struggles to maintain our gold reserve there never has been any
apprehension as to our ready ability to pay our way with such money as
we had, and the question whether or not our current receipts met our
current expenses has not entered into the estimate of our solvency. Of
course the general state of our funds, exclusive of gold, was entirely
immaterial to the foreign creditor and investor. His debt could only be
paid in gold, and his only concern was our ability to keep on hand that
kind of money.

On July 1, 1892, more than a year and a half