The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-11-12
DEFINITION or A GRFENBACK

DEFINITION OF A GREESBACK.
Now I have been called the father of
greenbacks. You are the fathers of
/ greenbacls. What is a greenbackP ?
Did you ever think what it WASP Why.
1t is simply the credit of this great
/ American people put in the form of
money, to circulate among the very
people whose credit makes it worth
any thing. When | was Secre-
tary of the Treasury, the question
arose, how should these vast arnaies and
navies be supplied How should the
boys be fed in the field, the sailors IN
ships, and provision made for their sup
port, their clothing, their food and
transportation ? l found the banks of
the country had suspended specie pay
ment What was [ to do2 The banks
wanted me to borrow their credit, or
I pay them interest in gold upon their
credit. They did not pay any gold, or
propose to pay any interest themselves,
/ but they wanted me to borrow their
notes / said, No, gentlemen, this
great American people is worth all of
you put together, and / will take the
credit of these people and cut it up in
the form of little bits of paper, and we
will receive that paper for bonds, upon
which we will punctually pay the in
terest in gold; and then, ih order that
the national currency might be perrna.
nent, and that nobody could have lust
cause 70 complain, l called thenational
banking system into existence, and
pledged every bank to redeem its cur
rency in greenbacks, and the govern
ment pledged that every dollar should
be redeemedin the end-the securities
to be pledged and provided-that in
the end everything should be made
equivalent 10 gold. @
think this Is the true idea Of q green
back. 1t is the credit and property of
the American people; made to serve the
purpose of money in the midst of great
strife, when we must have every thing
we can get And fellow citizens, in my
humble Judgment, if out ofthis war this
national currency comes as is provided |
for in our platform, 80 that no Western |
farmer or merchant will be obliged to !
pay tribute to the East in his exchange, !
(applause) SO that we shall not lose up |
on exchange so large profit upon our |
industry; so chat the laborer receives |
his dollar, or two dollars or dozen dol !
lars at the night of the weeks end |
shall be perfectly sure that it will not
turn to dust and ashes before the morn |
ing sun rises. | say if we can get such |
sound currency as this, then this
country will not at least, have been /
without one Of the collateral benefits of /
this war, if you can take your money |
on the Atlantic and go the Pacific and |
pay your bills all the way without haV-
Ing to change the currency at every |
tavern you stop at. say if the |
Government is administered as it should |
be, with proper yigor and economy, ev-
cry dollar in greenbacks will be as good |
as dollar in gold WY, eight months !
ago, # / could hare had the assurance that |
I lg0s.id not hare been troubled acith anyOther |
iss'ss-if could hare been assured that
there sA0Udb no trouble from q,ly l0,authOr-
izs8 e1Trencg aaauth0rized tV ary Jllt
the nation itseJ-I tooad haze sndsr-
taksn to resume specie payment in lgsek,
if anybody soantsd IT, and / say now,
If the war is prosecuted as it ought %
be, and the Government is administer
ed with the economy and prudence that
l trust it will be, then there Is no more
danger of that currency than there is
that the American people will fail