Middletown transcript., 1868-07-25
erss..baslss VS.. Rspua,a.,on.

payment OF the bendholders in greenbacks
which is the "'lawful money of the United
States" is reputation. Do they expect
to make the people believe their absurd
and foolish representations on this subject? /?
Do they imagine that the public intelli
gence has sunk so low as not to detect
their fallacies and misrepresentation ? If
they do they deceive themselves, and will
discover their error, by-and-by. The ex-
pensas of the war, for which these bonds
were issued, were betrayed in greenbacks.
Congressmen, heads of departments, the
mechanics in the navy yards, the sailors,
ths soldiers, and all other government en-
ployees, are paid in groenbacks, the law
ful money of the country. The platform
adopted by the National Democratic Con-
vention at New York, says =" Where
the Government has pledged itself to pay
In coin, payment should be made in coin;"
IN all other cases payment should be
made in lawful money of the U. States"
that is, that bondholders should stand on
common footing with all other govern
ment creditors. To all impartial minds
nothing could be fairer than this. What
right have these favored bondholders to
privileges not enjoyed by their fellow-men?
The Radicals may continue to cry out
"repudiation till they are hoarse, but
they will not be able to make the people
see it in that light. Payment of the gov
eroment debt in the lawful money of the
United States, is not reputation.
That pure and immaculate statesman,
philosopher and moralist, Horace Greely,
calls it swindling." Others, equally
nice in their fne-drawn sense of moral OBJ
legation, pronounce it robbery" Let
US see if there be not something akin to
robbery, after all, connected with these
bonds. Government submitted to a shave
OF sixty cents in the dollar; some of the
bonds, it is known, were sold as low as
irty-three; but lot us suppose that forty
cents in the dollar were realized. the bond
holder making profit of sixty cents. He
pays no tax, but receives principal and
interest in gold, at premium of 40 Der
cent. thus receiving over two dollars for
one. Is this not robbery? But who are
the robbers ?-the men who would nav
the bonds In greenbacks, dollar for dollar
or those who have feeced the government,
and are now receiving two dollars for one?
When it is remembered, too, that it has
been computed that one-half or two-thirds
OF our public debt was for fraudulent oon-
tracts and for picking and stealing gene
rally, throughout the war, robbery is not
an inappropriate term to be used in such
connection; and it is a wonder that an
outraged and indignant people have not
spunged out the debt as the French did
their ossignats. That they have not done
SO, is owing to the fact that our country
men are more moral peoAle, the provo
cation, we take it, being about as great in
the one case as in the other.
That the bondholders can claim anv
very great consideration on the score Of
patriotism in furnishing the government
with money, will not be admitted. Their
patriotism was of the cent per cent. order
and IS in strong contrast to the course of
the iilustrious patriot of the Revolution
Robert Morris, who loaned his money to
the government, not at discount of sixty
per cent. but at par, and refused legal in
terest- The money-loaning patriots of the
present day cannot palm off their spurious
patriotism upon intelligent men, for the
genuine article.
The policy of paying the public debt in
greenhacks, Will have a tendency to an
preciate the currency and bring it up near
er the gold standard, and is the very on
positc of reputation, and will be SO un-
derstood by all intelligent and unpreju
diced people.