Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1867-11-14
General Buffers Reputation
Scheme.

Az 49,,
paper, is the most forcible and per-
tinent exposure of General Buffers
repudiation scheme that we have
seen:
+ "Gcncrol Buffers
scheme is simply this; TO pay GER
tain United States bonds called
5-20s (that is, made payable at any
time after five years and within
twenty years, at the option of the
government J ingreenbaeks, This,
he says, the government has right
to do because it did not specify in
the bond thbt it was to be paid in
coin, and because thad made green
backs q legal tender between indi-
yidNal citizens. b a." eai
"Now let lis anaIyze this legal
tender act. 1t provides that il A
owes B 800 he shall be discharged
from that obligation by paying B
500 in greenbasks or legal-tender
notes. Very we'll; what is n green
back? tits simply a promise of
the government to pay the bearer
so many dollars. The leggl-tender
act, therefore, does not consider =
paid, for it provides that he shall
receive from the government a
promise to pay him and let A 60
free. A is discharged from his OBJ
legation to b, but the government
is not. 1t has simply taken the
place of A and assumed his respon-
sibility to b. If i were paid by the
transaction the government would
owe him nothing, and the green
backs would be cancelled, else b
would get his pay twice. But the
legal tender act does not once hint
that the greenbacks are cancelled in
the operation. or that the govern.
ment is not still bound to pay til,
promised dollars. On the contra
ry, it is on the assumption that the
government will pay them that B
is compelled to take the notes in
lieu of his claim upon A. 1t is un-
derstood all around that the govern
ment cannot pay the dollars and
take up the greenbacks at present.
But it is equally well understood
that the government is bound to do
SO, and that the faith of the nation
is irrevocably pledged that it will
do it as soon as it can otherwise
treasury notes would not be worth
the paper they are printed on, and
the legal tender act would be mere.
ly an arbitrary enactment that all
existing creditors should go with
out their pay. The greenbacks
might be worth something until all
preexisting debts were rubbed out
by them thenceforwurd all credit
upon their faith would cease, and
they would be on a par with Con
federato notes, payable six months
after never. m
"B may procure discharge from
a like obligation to G by rendering
him the same notes, but G is not
paid, for the same reason that B
was not when he received them from
A. The government has assumed
BIS debt to G, just as it did AS debt
to b. B is now paid, because G
has advanced the tangible value for
the government and taken its obli-
cation to pay. Thus the greenbacks
may go on through the whole al
phnbet, no ono being paid when he
receives them, but only when he
parts with them for value which the
next man advances for the govern
ment. The legal tender act, then,
only enforces q constantshifting OF
obligations against individuals fol
obligations against the United
States. ta b Wt
"Now let us reGTrn and inquire
what il the nature Of Il five twenty
bond? Itis simply apromise on
the part of the United States to pay
the holder SO many dollars. What
| is the meaning of the word dollar
as used in the bonds? General
IButler says that means 'greenbacks
IA legal-tender.' But what Is a
greenback---a legal tender? We
will take one from our wallet and
read, Here it is +: The United States
will pay the bearer one dollar at the.
Treasury in New York" That is
tho dollar which Gen. Butler says
is promised in the bond.--not the
dollOri in the Treasury in NewlYorll,i
but the bit Of paperwhich promises
the dollar A dollar, says General
Butler, is the promise of dollar !
And he calls on this great nation
to stand mp before the nations of
the earth and say to its creditors:
."That dollar ! promised you was
only the promise of a dollar--cer-
tainly-a dollar is nothing but the
promise Of dollar; take it and be
gonelp An individual should
attempt such a trick would be called
by every one contemplate sneak
and scomdrel.
ut might be expected that the
creditor would ask who is to pay
this last promiseP According to
| General Buffers scheme this is new,
er to be paid; It does not need to
be paid it is its own payment.-
The government has the right to
fulfil one promise with another of
the same kind which is not to be