Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-11-19

hundred and fifty, millions OF dollars
should be issued in paper, under the
stamp of the United States, and that
these paper dollars should be received
as lawful money! quote the
language of the act-as lawful money,
and as legal tender in the discharge of
all debts, public and private, except only
duties upon imports and interest upon
the public debt" Mark the language of
the act, "lawful money" That is the
first legal tender act 1t provided for
the emission of hundred and fifty
millions Of dollars in paper money.
Every contract that was made after
that time for the payment of money
whether il was made by ordinary con-
tract, or note, or bond, by whomsoever
made, was made upon the faith OF the
law and was payable in these legal ten
der notes, and not in coin, unless the
maker chose so to discharge it,
| The government of the United States
has paid in coin every bond that was
issued before the passage of that law,
and which has matured since its passage; (;
and the government of the United States
| since that time, by an act of Congress,
has provided for the issuing Of other
bonds, which, Notwithstanding the legal
tender act, are to bear upon their face
an express promise that the principal
shall be paid in gold, are payable in gold.
These are the ten.forties. They are pay
able in gold, principal and interest; and
| maintain, my fellow. citizens, that every
other bond, except the l0-40 bonds and
all those issued before the legal tender
act, are dischargeablo in the greenbacks
of the country.
Not only does the legal tender act Of
which have spoken control this, but the
law itself under which these bonds were
issued, provides that the principal shall
be paid in lawful money, and the inter
est shall be paid in coin. And not only
that, but the face of the bond shows that
the principal may be paid in lawful
money, while tho coupons declare that
the interest shall be paid in gold.
Some gentlemen will say to me, per-
haps, that the legal tender shall not be
permitted to override the uniform policy
of the country up to that time. | say to
him, let him not object to the legal ten
der act, for it is only by virtue of it that
the interest on the first five hundred
millions of 500 bonds is payable in gold.
The very act which authorizes the issue
of these legal tender notes provided for
the issue Of the 20 bonds. That alone
of all the acts authorizing the issue of
500 bonds did not provide that either
the principal or interest should be paid
in gold only say to those who have
bonds of that issue, that the payment of
their interest in gold depends ON the
construction of, the legal tender act,
which says that this paper money shall
not be received in payment Of interest
upon the public debt
Some gentleman will say to me, as has
been said before, that the law which pro.
vided for the issue of these same legal
tender notes, provided that the coin to
be derived from the payment Of duties
upon imports, should be set aside aud
appropriated to the payment Of the int.
rest of the public debt, and to the pur-
chase or redemption, year by year, in
every year, after the first day of July,
1862, of one per cent. upon the public
debt 1t is claimed that this provision
of the law implies contract to pay the
public debt in coin.
Now, gentlemen, the same language
which applies to the redemption Of the
public debt, applies also to its purchase.
If those words constitute a promise to
pay the public debt in coin at par, they
also constitute a direction TO purchase
the public debt prior to the time it be-
l,,o al ~, Mt hat
would be simply absurd, as you know
that at that very time the government
of the United States was selling the $40
bonds at par in greenbacks.
1t is said-I saw it in newspaper
published in Wisconsin, to-day-that the
Secretary of the Treasury, while these
bonds were being issued, thought, and
gave it as his opinion, that these bonds
would be paid in gold. What he may
have thought is of no consequence.
What he said was promptly met by Mr..
Stevens, Chairman of the Committee of
Ways and Means, who said on the floor
of the House, that these bonds were not
pable in gold, and the opinion Of the
Secretary of the Treasury was wrong,
and would bind nobody.
1t is said that tho newspapers declared
that these bonds would be paid in gold.
When the ten.forties were issued, only
few months later, the newspapers de-
clared, under authority of Jay Cooke,
that they were the only bonds whose
principal was payable in gold. The one
declaration may Offset the other
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE BoYDHoLDERs
1t is said that those who purchased
these bonds believed they were to be paid
in gold. | cannot aver, my friends, that
they did not believe il, but do aver that
they had no reason to believe it. The
law was open to their inspection, and
was plain. They knew well that the gov
ernment of the United States paid every
other debt that it owed, except only the
interest upon the bonds, in legal tender
notes. They knew that they themselves
discharged every debt that they owed in
legal tender notes. They knew that they
themselves, when they bought these
bonds, paid for them in legal tender
notes, and they had no reason TO believe !
that an exception would be made in their |
case alone.
Now, gentlemen, / have thought it
worth while to dwell thus in detail upon |
the legal aud moral obligations of the |
government to pay these bonds in gold, |
because it has been thought, in some
quarters, a sufficient answer to every
to cry out "repudiation re-
pudiation !" There is not particle Of
in the proposition. Neither
the law, nor the contract, nor the face Of
the bond, nor good morals, require that
they should be paid in gold Repudia-
ton That is charge which comes
with an excellent grace from men who,
in Ohio, and Indiana, aud New York,
aud Pennsylvania, and perhaps here in