Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-09-23
Coy. Mn,-t0n,s Financial Views.

We have heard it repeatedly asserted
that Senator Morton, of Indiana, was
in favor of the Pendletonian green
back scheme of bond liquidation. The
Hon. gentleman denies being in favor
of greenback redemption, his plan is
to return some day certain, say July
l, 1871, to specie payment, and make
the greenback equivalent to gold or
silver. In aspeech delivered by him,
September I6, at COnnersville, India
ma, he said:
am informed by the public papers that
Mr.. Pendieton, the celebrated orator, said in
his speech ut Bangor, Maine, that L endorsed
his doctrine ofpaying the debt in g~reenbaeks.
God forbid. CLaughter.l Because had said in
the senate Of the United States that the Gov
rnmen had n right to use these old notes
now existing in the payment of the i've
twenty bonds, he wanted TO make me say TO
the people that the Government after the
war is over, n long after these bonds a
been sold out, had the right to Issue these
notes by the hundreds of millions 70 pay
them in the redemption of the bonds. V
always condemned that proposition. l say
that il is in violation of the public taith, and
it is Reputation in itself. Why, my friends,
in 1868 when we offered bonds 10 the
people,, and were in sore want OF money, the
moneyed men of New York said to us, there
must be some limit to the issue Of legal-ten-
der notes, or you cannot borrow any more
money. fthe country is to be flooded with
this paper currency, which pays no interest,
and for which there is no time of payment
liked, then you can borrow no more money
Then the Congress came forward with n law,
and said that the issue of legal tender notes
should never exceed S4JO,OOo,OO0. We could
not now exceed the amount without n viola
ton of the express pledge given by Congress
during the progress of the war; We could not
issue those notes and pay them Dol the
N without a fraud upon the bOndholderS.
and il would be reputation.
/ will state 10 you now my friends, what Is
my financial policy. i am not much OF n
.nancier; l have only been studying this
to study it during the war, as many OF you
know; ! had my and full of other matters.
1 think the first great thing to be done in this
country is to return to specie payment IN
other words, to make currency as good as
gold. Instead Of Having a greenback dollar,
that is only worth sixty-eight cents to you
to-day-that is all you get for II, inc that Is
all you give for it-let us have il worth 100
cents, let us bring that currency up to n par
value. How shall il be done? we cannot do
it all at once We cannot return to specie
payments tomorrow, by act of Congress, but
we must do IL gradually, and we must use
means to bring it about. Some Of our friends
are of the opinion that if we just hold still
and let the country 90 on we will come back
to specie paymen without taking any steps
for that purpose. ! do not think so. / think
that we have got to use means; that we have
to resort to some legislation for the pur-
pose of bringing that thing about. / am not
in favor of bringing it about by a co~nvulsion
or by a panic, but L am in avorO of doing itso
gradually and so easily, that the whole coun-
try will come to il almost without knowing
il. I am not in favor of doing il by contract
ing either. ! think contraction went on as
far as il ought to have gone. l Will tell you
how 1 am in favor of doing it. 1 am in V
of Congress fixing a day by law, some time
in the future, when the Treasury will redeem
the legal-tender note, or the greenbaek,, in
gold. ] am not prepared to say what that
day shall be 1they might say July l, 1871! l
think that would be soon enough, nearly
three years to come; they might say July l,
1872, but perhaps 1871 is far enough of.
Let the whole country understand when
We come to specie payments let every body
ready for il, so that you and all of us can
our dealings and our business transac-
tiOns accordingly. When we do that, when
we have fixed hat. day, then the premium
on gold will begin o godown, and the green
back will begin togo up in point OF value, II
viii gradually appreciate and as you come To
the time, the premium on gold will fade away
altogether. As you approach the time, the
.greenback dollar will go up to par, and will
there without ajar or CONFUSION, and
almost without the people knowing it. And
when We have One that, we must make ap-
preparations to meet them, at the same time;
must reserve the gold in Treasury for the
purpose of redeeming them at the time fixed.
We nave eighty millions of surplus gold in
the Treasury to-day. There has not been a
day for the last two years that we have not
had a surplus OF eighty millions OF gold IN
the Treasury over and above what was re-
quired to pay the interest on the public debt,
and We can in two years increase that TO one
hundred and fifty millions without any
My opinion is that it is some TWEEN
ty-five millions more than will be necessary
for the purpose of returning to specie pay
ment. 1t would not take nearly so much
gold to return to specie payment as many
people imagine; that is a matter of bank his
tory.