It should be borne in mind also, that the colored people are to be taxed as other citizens, and that they are deprived of representation permanently by the existing laws of Tennessee. It is urged as an argument for admitting the rebel States immediately, that otherwise they are subject to taxation without representation, contrary to the theory of republican government. In the case of the rebel States, the deprivation of representative power for a brief time is the result of their own criminal folly; but what justification can be offered for recognizing a system of government in Tennessee which excludes permanently more than one-fourth of its inhabitants, while they are taxed equally with those who exercise political power? The undersigned do not, on the present occasion, express any opinion as to the legal relation sustained by Tennessee to the Union, inasmuch as they consider it more important to secure her re-appearance as a State, clothed with full power, and in harmony with the general government, upon principles which guarantee at once loyalty to the Union and domestic peace within her own borders. They therefore recommend the following amendment to the conditions reported by the committee: "Said State shall make no distinction in the exercise of the elective franchise on account of race or color.” 448 LOAN BILL AND CURRENCY. REMARKS MADE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MR. R. SPEAKER, There are two facts connected with our financial experience which have not, as far as I have observed, been noticed, and which seem to me to contain all that is necessary for the solution of our difficulty. I am free to say, that, if I were to follow in this matter the dictates of my own judgment, I should not incline to any legislation, further than to remove from the mind of the Secretary of the Treasury the doubt which he entertains with reference to the authority conferred upon him by the last clause of the act of March 3, 1865, by which he is authorized to convert outstanding interest-bearing obligations into new interest-bonds. I would by law so construe that language as to allow him to sell new bonds, and with the proceeds reduce the outstanding interest-bearing obligations, such as compound-interestbearing notes. Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. With the permission of the gentleman from Massachusetts, I desire to make a single inquiry. I understand that the Secretary of the Treasury has been engaged for some time in converting the outstanding interest-bearing indebtedness of the United States of various kinds into long bonds, bearing gold interest. Does the gentleman desire to be understood as saying that the Secretary of the Treasury doubts his power to do that which he has been doing for months, and is still doing? Mr. BOUTWELL.-I am not able to speak from authority, and what I have heard may not be authentic; but I have heard that the Secretary of the Treasury had converted fifty millions, and, after that conversion, doubts arose in his mind. For myself, I think that the course which he pursued is entirely justified by the law, and that he would be justified in proceeding further in the same course. But if any doubts exist in his mind, or in the mind of any other intelligent person, I think it proper that such doubt should be removed by legislation. But inasmuch as the Committee of Ways and Means have thought proper to report a bill which goes further, I am, for myself, content to try the experiment-thinking it to be an experiment of converting the interest-bearing obligations of the country into long bonds; but I am not disposed to go further. The first fact is, that, while there has been no reduction in the amount of the currency the circulating medium of the country-since the close of active hostilities, there has been a considerable diminution in the market price of gold. The second fact which I think worthy of observation is this: that the merchandise of the country - by that I mean the portable property of the country— is to-day in gold worth more than the same articles of merchandise were in 1859 and 1860. The suspension of specie payment seems to me to result from one of two, or from the combination of two, causes, a panic, or a panic followed by a decrease in the convertible property of the country; that is, a process of industrial exhaustion which proba bly results in a disproportion in the material; portable wealth in the one country as compared with the portable, convertible wealth of other countries. It is worthy of consideration, after the Napoleonic war, although Great Britain persistently, by legislation, attempted to effect a restoration of specie payments, it was not until after many years that she was able to accomplish that desirable result. I apprehend that our country is, at the present time, in an analogous condition. I attribute our inability to resume specie payments at the present time to this: that, as the result of war and the diversion of a large amount of individual force from the peaceful labors of life, we have to-day less of convertible property than we had when the war commenced. Let me illustrate our condition by a simple statement: If I owe my friend one hundred dollars, and have not the money or property with which to pay the debt, it is entirely useless for Congress to declare by law that I shall pay it, unless I am furnished with the means to do so; but if time be given, and I employ my capacities in some productive way, and earn a hundred dollars, if then disposed I can pay that one hundred dollars without the interposition of Congress. That is the condition of this country at the present time. We have less of iron, less of cotton, less of all other results of productive industry, than other nations have with which we are in commercial relations. We must wait until, by the applica tion of productive power, the results of our industry agree more nearly with the results of the industry of other countries, and then our paper will come to be as valuable as gold; and if, by legislation, you then command the resumption of specie payments, it will be done without financial disturbance. I think it is wise policy for the country to allow things to go on without active interference. In the natural development of events, we shall resume specie payments as early as is consistent with the business interests of the country. I believe, myself, while we should not increase our circulation, that we should wait until another harvest has been gathered in, and until the results of that harvest have been made a part of the convertible property of the country, before we attempt any legislation in the way of enforcing specie payments. I do not know that I wish to extend my remarks. I have stated, very generally, to be sure, the views I entertain. First convert those bonds which will mature within the next two years into other bonds for a longer time, and also the interest-bearing treasury notes now in the banks, leaving the four hundred and fifty millions of currency in circulation. That amount I believe to be necessary for the wants of the country. Perhaps we have not considered that the operations of the internal-revenue department alone require from fifty to one hundred million to enable it to go on collecting, as it does, three or four hundred million of dollars a year. Then we have to consider that we have added four million of people I mean the colored people-to the trading and consuming population of the country. |