THE SUB-TREASURY SYSTEM.

Dr. Laughlin delivered a very able and interesting lecture last night before a large audience, on "The Sub-Treasury System." The lecturer traced the growth of the present system from that formerly in vogue, and afterwards set forth in clear light the defects that now embarrass it. The undesirable relation of the Secretary of the Treasury with the money market, brought about by the act of 1864, in which it is enacted that the banks shall not be depositories for receipts for customs, and which, therefore, forces the treasury to hold in its vaults large amounts of specie, was discussed, as well as the slow and irregular way in which specie can get out after it has once got into the hands of the government.

It was shown how the money market thus rested almost entirely in the control of one man, the minister of finance, a fact which must necessarily condemn the system, aside from the evils which arise in the money market on account of this. As a remedy, Dr. Laughlin would have the deposit of specie, obtained by the government from its customs duties, deposited with the New York banks on the security of the government bonds. That the banks would even be willing to pay a small interest for the privilege was clearly demonstrated. As to the security after the payment of the national debt, the proposed system offered no more difficulty than the question of the national banks, and any objection on this score is therefore no argument against the soundness of the system.