e appointing power, which represents the collective majesty and
speaks the will of the people. The forced retention in office of a
single dishonest person may work great injury to the public interests.
The danger to the public service comes not from the power to remove,
but from the power to appoint. Therefore it was that the framers of the
Constitution left the power of removal unrestricted, while they gave
the Senate a right to reject all appointments which in its opinion were
not fit to be made. A little reflection on this subject will probably
satisfy all who have the good of the country at heart that our best
course is to take the Constitution for our guide, walk in the path
marked out by the founders of the Republic, and obey the rules made
sacred by the observance of our great predecessors.

The present condition of our finances and circulating medium is one to
which your early consideration is invited.

The proportion which the currency of any country should bear to
the whole value of the annual produce circulated by its means is a
question upon which political economists have not agreed. Nor can it
be controlled by legislation, but must be left to the irrevocable laws
which everywhere regulate commerce and trade. The circulating medium
will ever irresistibly flow to those points where it is in greatest
demand. The law of demand and supply is as unerring as that which
regulates the tides of the ocean; and, indeed, currency, like the
tides, has its ebbs and flows throughout the commercial world.

At the beginning of the rebellion the bank-note circulation of the
country amounted to not much more than $200,000,000; now the circulation
of national-bank notes and those known as "legal-tenders" is nearly
seven hundred millions. While it is urged by some that this amount
should be increased, others contend that a decided reduction is
absolutely essential to the best interests of the country. In view of
these diverse opinions, it may be well to ascertain the real value of
our paper issues when compared with a metallic or convertible currency.
For this purpose let us inquire how much gold and silver could be
purchased by the seven hundred millions of paper money now in
circulation. Probably not more than half the amount of the latter,
showing that when our paper currency is compared with gold and silver
its commercial value is compressed into three hundred and fifty
millions. This striking fact makes it the obvious du