The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1867-08-22
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the printers punctuation of the last
clause in my letter last week, before I
say word on reputation. Tbs words
" take that" should be included in the
quotation marks as the language of the
debtor to his creditor when offering the
"legal tender" currency: paper dollar
is as good us II geld one, take that"
Now the question which the people
sro called to answer, and which every
man is prcna;ay}V interested to have an
swcrcd rights this: Is a paper dol
lar eqnal in value to a gold one and, if
not, is it hoacst to give only paper where
cold is due? Whatever Th.d. Stevens
may sOy, and whatever Congress may
logislate upon tho subject, every man
knows that the paper is not equal in val
ue to the gold. The paper is only a
promise to pay, and is very convenient
in commerce when the promise is relia-
bic. But when the promise is not rcli'
able when the promises, whether an
Individual, bank, state, or a nation,
is able to pay only part of what is
promised ; then, evidently, the value of
the paper is not what is promised on the
face Of it, but only such part as can ac-
tually be obtained. Suppose your neigh
Dor owes you $500. He has not the
money, and offers instead notes of two
we'll known individuals, Thomas Tag for
$500, and Robert Tail for 5000. You
reply " these gentlemen are we'll kncwn
indeed, and the notes together are worth
precisely $315, and / am willing to take
them for SO much" But your neigh
Dor is indignant that you should dispar-
age the paper of such men--men who
hazarded their fortunes if not their lives
to sustain the goverument-calls you
disloyal ETC., ETC., because you are
not willing to take S315 as equal to $500,
All can see how ridiculous such conduct
would be; and is it any less so when q
nation does the same thing? Yet the
Radical press urges that the opinion of
Judge Sharswood against "legal ten.
de-" " currency is enough to damn any
man who is candidate for the votes of a
loyal people," Why? Because gov
ernment was in extremity, and could
only be saved by the legal tender act |!
Well if the inability of gov ernment to
pay its soldiers and other creditors JUS
tilted that act, then the greater the ina
bility the stronger the reason. And if
which is supposable if not probable
the credit of the United States should
fall as low as that of the Confederate
States toward the close of the war, then
the legal tender act would enable Uncle
Sam and all other debtors to discharge
their obligations by paying one cent on
the dollar. The soldiers thirteen dol
lars a month would then be Thirteen
cents q montE-.-rathor cheap fighting.
Would it be disloyal" to suggest
that it was rather small in Uncle Sam to
claim that he had fully paid his debts ?
But the principle is the same when he
claims to have paid his debts by paying
for or sixty cents on the dollar; and the
consequence of establishing this princi,
pie can be easily imagined. Are the
Radicals-or Republicans, if they pre-
fer-Willing to commit themselves to
this kind of Reputation ? Let the is
sue be fairly placed before the people :
let it be understood that the now domi-
uant party in favor Of rcpuc7tating the
national deJt-at least quarter, half, Oh
any portion that may be rendered ne
cossary by the high premium on gold'
and see whether the October elections
will result in favor Of that party. II
they do, we must acknowledge that
honesty is not prevailing trait Of the
American character. CIVIS.
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