The syndicate was, moreover, to "exert all financial
influence and make all legitimate efforts to protect the Treasury
of the United States against the withdrawals of gold pending the
complete performance of the contract."
The replenishing of the Treasury by this contract was, however,
only a temporary relief. By January 6, 1896, the gold reserve was
down to $61,251,710. The Treasury now offered $100,000,000 of the
four per cent bonds for sale and put forth special efforts to
make subscription popular. Blanks for bids were displayed in all
post-offices, a circular letter was sent to all national banks,
the movement was featured in the newspapers, and the result was
that 4635 bids were received coming from forty-seven States and
Territories, and amounting to $526,970,000. This great
oversubscription powerfully upheld the public credit and,
thereafter, the position of the Treasury remained secure; but
altogether, $262,000,000 in bonds had been sold to maintain its
solvency.
Consideration of the management of American foreign relations
during this period does not enter into the scope of this book,
but the fact should be noted that the anxieties of public finance
were aggravated by the menace of war.* In the boundary dispute
between British Guiana and Venezuela, President Cleveland
proposed arbitration, but this was refused by the British
Government. President Cleveland, whose foreign policy was always
vigorous and decisive, then sent a message to Congress on
December 17, 1895, describing the British position as an
infringement of the Monroe Doctrine and recommending that a
commission should be appointed by the United States to conduct an
independent inquiry to determine the boundary line in dispute.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171