The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-03-11
speech of llr. Blaine.

The questions involved in bayina Off III.
tiye-twenty bonds, Mr.. Chairman arc e,,,,
rounded to a considerable extent with oratn.
itous Misrepresentation OF heated partizans
and {, no small degree, fear, with honesI
mlsapprehensiOns on the part Of those who
desife the main .eDance OF the public credit
, untarnished and involaie. Having address
eu me House at some length on this subject
at the opening of the session, / desire new
10 aad lew words by way of appendix and
possibly OF explanation of some errors
Whlch are industriously disseminated through
the country.
hTSt. MANY persons seem to imagine and
many Democratic papers have deperatelv
stated that proposition has been made IN
Congress to pay of the five-twenty bonds in
coin at this time, while gold commands a
heavy premium over greenbacks. And on
this grOundlesS premise many honest-njnded
men wax exceeding wrotb, and cry out with
prorer indignation against the bondholder's
having gold when the pensioner, the soldier.
aud the day laborer baye to take greenbacks
Tor what IS due to them. NoY to all persons
afflicted with this error, let me say that no
man in Congress has been fool enough OF
knave enough TO propose that the FIVE
tWentles be paid in gold a single day before
We yreen60cks shdu he paid in gold Like,c;se.
The man who holds greenbach holds the
| government obligation to pay in gold lust as
much as man who holds five twenty bond.
and 1t would be just cause OF complaint il the
government should anticipate the payment
| or the five-twenties in gold before it IS ready
to pay the greenback in gold also. The first
| series OF the i've twen,ies will not TALL due
| until May, 1882, more than fourteen Wears
from this time. Long before that date is
reached we shall he ON specie-pa,ing basis,
| and every holder of a gieenback will be able
20 secure gold for it at his option, and then
there will no longer be any objection to paw.
| ing the b0ndholder in cold also. Nor in
| deed, on the other hand, will the bordholder
then object to being paid in greenbacks. as
| the two kinds OF currency will then be con.
| vertibe and coequal.
Second. Those who clamor for pavino of
| the tWehty-hyes in sreenbacks at this time. On
| the ground That money which is good enough
tor the pensioner, the soldier, and the dav
laborer, is good enough for the bondhoder
| likewise, seem to forget that the process by
| which they would So easily get rid of the.
| bondholder involves most destructive conse-
quenees to the pensioner, the soldier, the day-
laborer, and every other person who owns.
| handles or uses greenbacks 1t is palpabIe
and ad mitted that the ive-twenties cannot
be paid of In greenbacks without yery
large imitation of the currency and to initiate
| the currency is 10 render each particular
dollar worth so much less, TO rob each partic-
| uiar dollar OF 1t purchasing power to the pre-
else extent that the initiation is carried And
| IT this imitation be carried to the $1,000 NO
| ofnew and additional issue advocated by the
| gentleman i1om Massachusetts, IMr. Butler
| IN his elaborate speech lew weeks since
the result must be ruiDous and distressing in
the extreme to pensioners, soldiers, day labor
els, and all other classes whose means are
| limited. Indeed, with the amount of infla-
| ton named, l confidently believe that the
classes OF citizens to whom / have reterre,l
and all others similarly situated would be de-
| prlved IN effect OF nearly one half of What
| they now receive. To my mind no more in
genIolrs and certain way OF robbng the class
| who have small fixed incomes or who work
| lor daily wages could possibly be devis ed than
to pay eli the five. e.twenty bonds in greeDbacks
| procured by an additional and inflated issue
On the other hand, it no mischieyious delu-
sion OF this kind be Iesorted to, we shall
| without any further contraction OF the cur
| rency, and without any financial conyul.ion
| gravitate steadily and safely toward specie
payment. We shall thus, without diminish
| ing the present volume Of greeubacks. be con-
| tlnualiy enhancing their purchasing power,
making the money OF pensioners, soldiers
anu gay iahorers tar more valuable to them,
month by month and year by year, and in
end render paper dollar the full equivalent
oi gold dollar. Then, when the govern
ment shall be paying its greenbaek creditor
I'd gold, there Will certainly be no objection to
paying the bondholder in gold also; and no
one proposes to do IL a dag earlier!
imitation Of the currency would speedily Ie
suit In IT'S depreciation? Ii so, he shuts his
eyes TO the prominent facts OF history, to our
own experience as nation, and to the plain
est deductions OF common sense. An excess
OF irIedeemable money at once raises the
price OF all commodities necessary for daiv
consumption. Clothing becomes higher and
food becomes higher without a corresponding
increase on the part of those of limited means
to purchase these articles. The rich can
stand it. but what would become OF the poor?
The man who lives by his daily toll would
lind the necessarIes of life run up in price tar
beyond any Increase he could hope to secure
Tor his labor; and il would soon become a
struggle for existence With him and his lam
lily. do not think any Imagination can PIC
ture or toretell the misery that would be in
ficted ON this country ii the currency should
be inflated to the extent necessary to pay the
nve-twentleS in Sreenbacxs, as advocated by
the gentleman from asslchusetts, IMr. But-
ler and tue gentleman from Ohio, not now a
member OF this House, Mr.. Pendeton.l And
in this connection desire further TO say that
it is an immense delusion to attribute anv of
tue dullness now prevalent in business circles
to scarcity OF money. NE have over seven
hundred millious Of paper money now in clr-
culation, pearly three times as much as the
entire bank ejaculation OF the United States
prior to 1861, while it is quite notorious that
the money markets Ia our chief busine. 8 CEN
ters were rarely known to be easier. or more
a6undantly supplied than during the whole
OF this winter. Moreover, business of all
kinds in France and England at this time is
far duller than with us; and vet, in both
| those countries the plethora of money is in
excess oil what was ever known before. The
| Bank or France alone holds a surplus of
| S2OO,OUO,OOO, and corresponding amount is
held in the bank of England, and by the large
banking houses at Frankfort ON the Main.
In view OF that no delusion is so absurd as to
| suppose that any relief could come f1om an
lnhatlon OF the currency. Misery, wide
| spread and hopeless, would be its only and
inevitable result.
Fourth. Nor do see how any gentleman
can consistently propose an imitation of the
| currency i'll the face OF an express and solemn
pledge to the contrary by Congress. When
the Government was very hard pressed for
money, and when the great fear was that our
whole financial fabric ike the continental svs
| TEN OF our revolutionary ancestors, might he
utterly and hoEelessly ruined by a deiuge OF
| paper money, Congress by deliberate enact
ment of June 30, 1864, pledged TO ali the pub
lie creditors that "the total amount of Treas
ury notes issued or to be issued should never
exceed S400,000000." We are now within
| S4O,OO0OO0 OF that amount, and If we were
ever SO eager to pay off our five .twenties in
greenbacks we are absolutely estopped by the
S4O0,OOO,OOO pledge. If we disregard that
pledge we might just as well trample on 9TH
ers and take short cut at once to repudia-
ton and national bankruptcy. A government
that will disregard one solemn pledge cannot
expect to be trusted on other pledges.
FVth. Being thus estopped from procuring
| Sreenbacks by an additional ISSUE where else
can we secure them tor the purpose of paving
off our five'twenty bonds at this time? We
have no surplus in the Treasury available ,or
this purpose, and there rem aims but one re-
source. and that is to secure them by taxation.
But do the people desire at this time to be
| taxed Tor the purpose oi anticipating the paw
ment OF debt which does not ia | due fJr
more than fourteen years to come? The oen-
eral, may say universal demand from the
people is tor reduction of taxes to the low
est point CONSISTENT with rigidly economical
administration OF the general government; /;
ana, Tor one, am in favor OF the repeal and
iemovai OF every tax that can possibly be dis
| pehsed wlth-especialIy those taxes that hin
der ana embarrass the manufacturing and
productive industry Of the couutry. With the
taxes thus reduced we can certainly hone for
no surplus to apply to the redemption of the
| nVe-twentles, and 1t would seem to me an in
toIerable burden and an inexcusable folly 10
lay taxes on the people at this time tor the
purpose OF anticipating the payment of a
large portion of the entire national debt. 1t
| is enough, in all conscience tn nav the inter-