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.
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