New-York tribune., 1867-03-06
PROPOSED REPUDIATIOM

| IJJbUuP:
"funded debt, save the 1O-fO FIVE per cent
"loan, is specially made payable III gold NO
"provision is contained, either III the law OF III
| the contract, as to the currency IN whlch lle
other bonds are to be paid LAWS Oh loo|'
chapter 33p. 23l. The principal, therefore,
"is payable in whichever class Oi ieSai
"tender the payer prefers. The Whoie
{" funded debt, except the Skies of 1881, ana
90 the 10-4Os, becomes payable Mt the OPP
tion of the Government, in or before the year
"1813. As IL natures IL ought TO DC pd'd +"
" oreenJac1s The currency to make these pay
"ments could be obtained, If necessary Oy
" free use of the printing press. Government
would then be in condition to make It's
Gown terms. Two courses would be open
Either TO fund the notes, at their current
| value i'm gold into bOnd-beanng, say i've
" per cent interest or TO fund them, at Their
| face value, into a three per cent bond, pay
" able principal, as we'll "a interest, in CON-
| Here is stark naked reputation openly adYo-
Gated by a frce-trade inflatiOnist journal.
| This is precisely the dcbauchery and donor
alization into which the country is being
plunged in consequence of its departure from
the Od-fashioncd ideas of considering debt
and a promise something 20 be honestly dis
charged We have sworn by the iTedccmablc
promises of the Treasury so long, we have 50
pcrsistcnty declared that Uncle Sans promise
was as good as anybody clscs performance
that we are beginning 10 reap the fruits OF the
declaration. People are taken at their word
We have heard on all sides that irrcdccmablc
| grcenblcks are good that We want nothing
| better; that the country is content if they
| of
! Illinois House of Representatives votes, 20 10
| 7. in favor of having them substituted for the
notes Of the National banks. Being good they
want more of them, and IT is now proposed to
convert our interest-beaiing securities into
! them, after the fashion above dclineatod A.
fast as the 1.GOs become due pay them off in
legal tenders "A free use of the printing
press" exclaims this writer is all that is re-
| auired. Having substituted greenbacks for the
| 1903, there il only one step more to take, and
the ground is entirely cleared. Pay off the
| 5-905 in the same way, and there Is an end OF
your National debt. The Nation will owe moth
| ing. For be it understood, the greenbachs are
good whether they are redcemable or not.
| Such is the theory of the iGilatiOnists. The
notes are based on the entire property of the
| country; they are the nations promise. And
is not the nation good for its promises, good
for all the'legal tenders in circulation; and
would it not be equally good for them if all
the 7.30s and all tho J-20s that it now owes
were converted into thcm2 Why, then, hesi-
tate at tho c0nversOn7 Such is the reasoning
OF our irredeemablc paper money men.
, This brings us to the precise point where we
test the value of the greenback. IL il here to
be seen that the greenbacll has no actual value
that does not rest upon the prospect OF its re
! dcmpiiOn. And If there were no such prospect,
the fact of its being National promise, of It's
! being IN obligation resting upon the property
of the country, would not give to it the value of
a copper cent 1t would be utterly and totally
vauelcss. Issue small quantity the prospect
! of their redemption may bo good Issue larger
! quantity, this prospect is diminished Issue still
more and yet more and more, and you can de-
stroy the prospect entirely.
II is thus we may see there is no certain
value to the greenback. 1t is "a most perniciOus
and dangerous instrument because its value
can be 50 easily deprecated, and even de-
stroyed, by reckless or ignorant legislation. 1t
! is proposed to make it the convenient sponge
| for all private indebtedness, and the ready in
strument of reputation. This is the very use
| rhe inflatOnists propose to make Of it. In the
| extracts above quoted they boldly come to the
front and declare their purpose. They will
pay off the National debt i'll them, and by issuing
them to this extent they will 80 far destroy
the cypectahon of their ever being redeemed, in
which rests all the value they have that the
National creditors are expected to readily agree
to take any proportion of their claims that
may DO offered in the shape of actual pay
And now what is theupshOto the matter9 It's
just this: That we have ocOnsider the legal tend
ers OF the Government, until some provision is
made for their redemption, just as much of
swindle as any other form of iYedeemable pa
per whatever. That we have to dismiss the
idea of the sanctity and value Of the Govern
ment legal tendernOte. That we have got TO hold
it to be, in the hands Of inflatiOnists, nothing
but an instrument Of robbery. We have to
rectify the popular sentiment. We have to de-
nounce the idea of paying debts in irredeem-
able promises to pay, as a fraud, and the law
which permits it as fraudulent law. If we
wish to avoid the propositions of swnders and
the evils Of swindling we have to go back to
first principles and define what .swinIling is.
And we must see, and recognize, and enforce the
doctrine everywhere and in all its universal ap
plications, that an unfulfilled promise is base
ness, and that where it is deliberately and in
tentOnally broken it is fraud.
We have no other solid ground on which to
meet the inflationsts. They flaunt a green
back, and declare it to be good and honest
instrument of traffic, and a representative of
real value. good enough tQ pay individual