Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-09-09
OheI Currenn,cx,E 1f;orr. AM.

The New York FreensdIl's Journal, in an
article to show that the finances need re-
construction, makes the following remarks
in reference to the plaa of getting rid Of
the interest-bearfng debt by paying off the
bonds with greenbacks. Says Mr.. Nc
MASTER :ii s'i1'- 3t!I 'oH DOB '7"3"iH12vo'
awe must get rid Of the debt, but how /?
In medicine, we have been astonished at
the effects of the treatment based on the
principle sirstlia sirnili6us curGntsT, a dis
ease is cured by superinducing, artificially,
a like set of symptoms If an ear is frozen
by'icOntact with intensely cold air, cold
snow is applied to draw out the frost! If
a hand be scalded in very hot water ex-
posing the part to the dry heat of an open
fire, is an admirable alleviative. h''iHnoiHl
1t'Accept; or not, the medical law we
want tosseerit applied in finanee. We are
suffering from too many and too heavy
United States bonds-most of them paya-
BILE, interest and principal, in gold We
want to cure these bonds with greenbacksi
That will be, sinsiiid Stmilibusf Like BY
Ilike" ThataDiil, in. avery short time. pay
off the bondhelders in their own cein,' or
in their own rags Those Of us who have
never recognized these bonds as legiti-
mate debt due by the people Of the United
Estates will not have much trouble in help
ing, thus, to cure like with, like J., For 9TH
ers, Who's in their Innocence, ask if this Is
not new way to pay old debts we have
to show thatit is simply an old way of pay
ing newdebts. len -I4jt baR Hmu;a cd
Here are the proofs: :s.r-s .TT fte.r.i,
The widow of an honorable citizen of
New York State, her deceased husbands
estate having been settled up IN 1859, fornd
herself il.possession of about,tWenty thou
sand dollars, She wished to invest it safe
ly, as a fund from which to educate her
| fatherless children. Friends assured her
she had better invest in the New York
State bonds l. She did SO, and, her nearest
| friends living in Canada, she went thither
with her children So long as these bonds
| paid interest in gold, she did very 'well.-
But when the glorious United Srates sGov-
ernment'-Lincoln, Seward, Chase, and
their Congress made greepbacks a legal
| tender, this poor woman was overwhelmed.
When 1t got so bad that it took two and q
halt greenback dollars to,make one Cana
da,, or gold dollar, she quit Canada and
came to New York to try and live on green
| backs.
Nov, we object to this Impoverished
widow being forced to pay taxes9on the
remnants of her greenbacks, to make UnI-
ted States bondholders millionalres The
| United States Government made green
backs legal tender for her contract in Gold
with the State of New York. That govern
ment did. thereby, impair the validity OF
eontractsi 1t did make something besides
gold and silver legal tender for debts con-
tracted IN gold 80 '-e- = - - ~ =
Now, whatever sympathy we may have
for the creditors of governments that con-
| tracteds debts with no recognition of any
other money than gold-we have very
little for any who lent money on faith OF
| been paid in gold,s to a government that
had just sanctioned the paying off gold
debts with! greenbacks. ,,-.-, ..,..7...., -;
| From the day, in 1861, when the United
States Government came to violate con-
! tracts in gold. and to declare greenback pa
per a legal tender for debts in gold, we
leave the creditors of that government to
some other resert than plea of equity, to
get any thing but greenbacks for the loans
made to such an administration of govern
ment. u -ii' t H''i'H 70
T"Alexander Smith died in 1860. 1t was
in the early spring of 1861, that his exeeu-
tors closed up his estate. The times were
very gloomy. 1t was doubtful what rea
i property. year or two later, might fall
to, in New York. A sale was made, or
what was considered very advantageous
teru 8, of real estate near this city. The
property was sold for a certain amount
down, and for fifty thousand dollars Sc.
cured on bond and mortgage, to be pait
within five years, any time the purchaser
choose. to pay it, The purchaser elected
to-pay off the mortgage in 1864, at tim,
! when greenbacks were worth less thar
forty cents on the dollarl The nomina
| worth of the property sold had, meantime
more than doubled. Its price, in gold. il
which the transaction was made, woul(
have been little less than in 1861. Blu
the Government came in, and compelled
family of helpless orphans to take green
backs as legal tender for gold 1t com
PEELED them to take twenty thousand dol
lars, gold value, tor what had been sold 70
fifty thousand 81 - ts'A --s@
The guardians of these poor orphans c
Mr.. Smith invested these twenty thOusan
dollars of gold value-nominally fifty thou
sand, greenbacks-on bond and mortgage
But the bondholders. with their eyes ope
| to the fact that the Government had repu
dated payment of the debts in gol1, con
4 tracted with that Government for bonds I
be paid in gold?- 1t is but the first ste
that is hard.' That is an old proverb.-
Bondholders made contract, on a gold bs
sis, with government that had just er
forced the principle of paying gold deb
with greenbacks. If bondholders did nc
have their eyes open to the character
the party they were dealing with it is the
own fault.
but, this is, not ALL The fifty thousau
greenbaeks of Mr.. Smiths poor orphans
paid to them when only worth twent
Thousand in gold-iS now taxed to pay
gold these bonds that were contracted b
government that had already avowed I'll
power of making greenbacksa legal tend
for gold.
ITO reconstruct the finances of I'll
country Is a necessary step toward a 'gel
eral'recenstruction. So, however old M
Moneybags may roll up his eyes at the pr
lpositioh, we put it to the people, square
what the poor orphans had to take for Il
gold value of their deceased fathers pro
erty-what the widow had to take for h
gold investment in State stocks. M
Money bags and Mr.. Shoddy,- and all tn
set, will have to take for their loans to
Government that, at the very nome
these bonds were given, was enforcing Il
acceptance of a greenback only worth for
dollars as legal tender for the debt of o.
hundred dollars.
"This established custom of the Unit
States Governments why we call it right
'an old way of paying new debtsr
1--WE submit this item of a new 'reco
4 struCtfun TO the meditation OF those VINO
gold has already turned to greenbacl
Give US one currency for ALL" r
"Thankful for Very Litfle.s'
"The Ne,os of last week was exulte
over one single county in Kentucky,
which Radicalism was triumphant. O
countyi What a victory, when compar
with the whole State.'-Hillsboro Gazet