Mr. ROOPER, of Massachusetts. I proposeto i. speak upon the bill reported from the committee, which was made a special order for the 18th December last, but which has not yet been reached in consequence of the Pressure of other business before the House. I feel some hesitation in commencing the discussion of this bill to amend the national banking law, as it is evident that great diversity of opinion prevails in the House, and through out the country, not only in regard to the provisions of the bill, but in reference to the whole subject of the national banks. The discussion, therefore, when the bill comes up for consider.ation, is not unlikely to take a wide range, and cover the whole subject of the currency in the future of the country. The principal object of the bill is to provide the power which experience has shown to be. '. to enforce the requirements of the original law by enlarging the authority of the Comptroller in cases of neglect or refusal on the part of the banks to conform to those uirements. trenders some provisions of the law more clear and definite; and it Prescribes the mode of proceeding by receivers who may be appointed to close up the business of a bank. It requires all the banks in the cities named as places for the redemption of circulating notes to redeem at NewYork, not only their own cir culation, but also the circulation of any bank for which they act as redeeming agents. It prohibits the banks from including and reporting compound interest Treasury notes, or any balance due them which bears interest, of their reserve of lawful money. t changes the law in reference to usurious interest to the forfeiture of the whole debt, instead of the forfeiture of the amount of interest, as Prescribed in the Present law. It provides circulating notes for new banks organized under the law by scaling down the proportions to the existing banks, and requires any excess over the new allotment of circu lating notes to be returned to the Comptroller. It reduces the national taxation on the cir culation of the banks to half of 1%. per annum, instead of 1%, as provided in the Present law; the tax of half of 1%. on deposits is continued; and the tax of half of 1%. on the capital of the banks is repealed. These are the principal amendments proposed by this bill, but there are various changes of less importance to carry out more effectually the object and intention of the bank act. One of the objects originally assigned in favor of the law authorizing the creation of the national banks was the benefit the Government would derive in negotiating loans, by making them the basis of the bank circulation, thereby producing a direct demand for a large amount of Government bonds, and securing for them, at least in the minds of our own people, the Prestige of being recognized as. the form of moneyed security in the country. The returns published, of October 1, 1866, show $426,000,000 as the amount of U.S. securities, belonging to the national banks; of which over $331,000,000 were depos ited in the Treasury as security for their cir culating notes. It could hardly be deemed wise and expedient, at this time when it is so desirable to bring about a settled condition of the currency and finances, to disturb this large investment by requiring the national banks to be wound up, and their notes to be withdrawn from circulation to substitute U.S. legal tender notes in place of them, as was proposed in some resolutions offered and voted down before the recess of Congress, and since then proposed in a bill by the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, [Mr. RANDALL]” So great a change could not be effected at a time like this without producing much embarrassment to the industry of the country. I cannot doubt that it is the settled opinion of this Congress that the amount of circu lating notes of the national banks should not be increased beyond the $300,000,000 now prescribed in the law. If more paper money is needed, which I do not believe, it would, in my opinion, be far better to increase the legal tender notes issued by the Government, so that the profit to be derived from any increase of the paper circulation would be reserved for the Government. This would remove the inducement of private interest to favor any such increase. was opposed in the last session to the recommendation of the Comptrol ler of the Currency to withdraw $100,000,000 of legal tender notes and issue in place of them an equal amount of bonds bearing interest at 6%. in coin, on which the banks should beauthorized to issue $90,000,000 more of circulating notes. I should be in favor of withdrawing all the circulating notes of the national banks, and substituting legal tender Government notes for them, in preference to an increase of the amount of bank notes, believing, as I do, that the amount of $300,000,000 now authorized is as much if not more than the banks can sustain, if we are ever to resume specie payments as was contemplated at no very distant future when the law was passed for the creation of the national banks. If we are to have irredeemable paper money as the permanent currency of this country, I would prefer to have it all issued by the Government, that the whole profit of it may be for the benefitof the Government, and its issue controlled by the Treasury Dept under regulations Prescribed by law. The issue of the legal tender notes when 1st proposed, and which I earnestly advocated, was rePresented to be a temporary measure to meet the exigencies of the Government. The national banks were not then organized; in fact the law had not been passed to authorize those banks. The Government legal tender notes were not proposed to take the place of coin, though the law declared they should “be received the same as coin, at their parvalue, in payment for any loans that may be hereafter sold or negotiated by the SecyTreasury.” It may be said there was no coin then in circulation. The currency of the country at that time consisted of the notes of State banks, which had all suspended specie payments, with most of the coined money of the country locked up in their vaults, by the sale of which the banks afterward realized a large profit in legal tender notes. The question then Presented was, whether the Government should borrow State bank notes at a high rate of interest, for the payment of the Army and for carrying on the war, or whether they should issue for that purpose notes of their own, without any cost for interest. This latter alternative was adopted; and the legal tender notes furnished to the Treasury over 700 millions of money, nearly 500 millions of which was without any cost for interest, at a time when the Government was in most Pressing need. It did more; it stimulated industry, and provided the people of this country with the ability to loan the government $2,000,000,000 to continue the war until armed rebellion was conquered, and the power and authority of the Government was asserted and recognized throughout the whole country. It cannot be denied, however, that this was attended by many serious evils, which were subsequently developed. It operated unequally and unjustly on different interests. The great increase of paper money, while it stimulated every kind of industry, also stimulated speculation in every direction. The nominal value of property was enhanced to a fearful extent, to the great injury of all those who derived their.from wages, salaries, and fixed incomes; debtors were enabled to discharge their obligations in a currency depreciated at times to more than half its value, at the time the debt was incurred. The mere fluctuations in the value of the currency impoverished some, while it enriched others, and set at defiance all calculations of prudence in business. The profits of speculation were for a time so large, that the slow patient gains of labor and industry became distasteful. The cities were crowded with gam bling speculators in gold and stocks and merchandise, and fraud and corruption were presented in every direction. These were the natural results of continuing an inflated and irredeemable paper money. But the life of the nation was at stake then, and no one who claimed to be loyal stopped to consider, or hesitated to make any sacrifice which the exigency of the o country demanded. The use of State banknotes by the Government would have been attended by similar evils without any of the benefits obtained by the use of legal tender notes. And the evils of State bank notes would have been aggravated by their uncertain and unequal value in different parts of the country, unless the Government guarantied their security, as it should guaranty the security of any money it sanctions, by using it for payments to public creditors. Now the question is Presented the exigencies of the war being passed what shall be done to arrest those evils and bring the country back to its normal condition, in which industry will be satisfied with securing the legitimate rewards of labor, when every one will know what value is rePresented by money, and when the value of money will not fluctuate and change from day to day, but become intrinsic and permanent, so far as the daily and common transactions of business are concerned. When armed rebellion was supPressed the military power of the country was promptly put upon a permanent peace footing by disothe forces no longer required to maintain the authority of the Government, and arresting at once the immense expenditures of the war. Why could not the same course be pursued in regard to the currency and the financial policy that the war rendered necessary, but which is not adapted to the condition of permanent peace? The object of the Government should be now to give employment to the industry of the country by relieving it from taxation, and by encouraging in every way the development of its resources. It should be understood that the unusual powers which the Treasury Dept had exercised to sustain the war will not be continued beyond the exigency that rendered them necessary. In a condition of peace the revenue of the Government ought not to exceed $300,000,000, or at most $350,000,000; which should be ample provision for interest on the public debt, as well as all current expenses of the Government. There is no longer occasion to borrow money or to authorize new loans to increase the public debt. But the speedy reduction of the debt is a matter of small importance, compared with that of relieving the productive industry of the country from the heavy taxation with which it is now opPressed. I have not been able to join in congratulating the SecyTreasury on the progress that has been made in the reduction of the debt during the past year, as it seems to me our industry could now ill afford it. I can understand why those foreign Presses that exhibited toward us unfriendly sentiments during the war should be lavish in compliments of a policy which cannot fail to cripple our own manufacturers and producers. When the debt of . the country has funded, the currency restored to a sound condition, and our industry so far relieved from taxation that it can compete with the labor of other countries, we can then better commence a more rapid reduction of the public debt. The only way in which the currency of the country can be made equal in value to the money of other countries with which we are connected by commerce, is by gradually reducing the amount of paper money, until what remains in circulation shall become the equiva lent of coin, and, at the option of the holder, command an equal amount of coin. When ever the paper money is at parwith coin they will together constitute the money of the country. The constant and increasing supplies of the precious metals now produced in this country would rapidly furnish a sufficient amount for all business and other requirements, if used for currency, instead of being exported as it is now, to pay for importations of the products of foreign manufacture, to compete with and discourage the industry of our own people. I concur with most of the arguments in the learned speech recently delivered by the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, [Mr. KELLEY:] but he made one statement which I cannot understand, and which did not seem to me consistent with the general tenor of his remarks on the subject of currency. He asserted, if I understood him correctly, that the standard of the value of the currency should be the resources of the country and the integrity of the Government, and not gold and silver. There is no other standard now of the value of a dollar in this country than what the gold speculators in NewYork determine for it each day, and from hour to hour; but gold is the standard by which the value of the dollar is computed by them. Until the bill authorizing the issue of the legal tender notes was passed the standard legal value of the dollar was a Prescribed quantity of gold or silver. I wish to ask what constitutes a dollar, and how will its value be estimated and ascertained, when the standard has no reference to gold and silver, but only to the resources of the country and the integrity of the Government?