.. will
consent to take while the direct or indirect substitution of
European silver for United States gold seems a possibility."
While strong as to what not to do, his reply, like most of the
state papers of this period, was weak as to what to do and how to
do it. The outlook of the Secretary of the Treasury was so narrow
that he was led to remark that "a delusion has spread that the
Government has authority to fix the amount of the people's
currency, and the power, and the duty." The Government certainly
has the power and the duty of providing adequate currency supply
through a sound banking system. The instinct of the people on
that point was sounder than the view of their rulers.
Secretary Manning's plea had so little effect that the House
promptly voted to suspend the rules in order to make a free
coinage bill the special order of business until it was disposed
of. But the influence of the Administration was strong enough to
defeat the bill when it came to a vote. Though for a time, the
legislative advance of the silver movement was successfully
resisted, the Treasury Department was left in a difficult
situation, and the expedients to which it resorted to guard the
gold supply added to the troubles of the people in the matter of
obtaining currency. The quick way of getting gold from the
Treasury was to present legal tender notes for redemption. To
keep this process in check, legal tender notes were impounded as
they came in, and silver certificates were substituted in
disbursements.
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