Nebraska advertiser., 1868-12-10

VIC te.A0S "a tA10 paper WOulu rec llle
the National Banks to keep their re-
serves in legal tender and also to keep
these reserves out Of the speculati0ns
of Wall street"
THE GREENBACK QUESTION.
"The absolute limitation of green
backs would kill the PendletOn the.
ory.n
1'Yes, that is the point in the So
called gTeenback QuestsOn which the
Democrats threw into politics. The
nation is positively pledged not to 90
beyond q certain limit in the. issue of
these notes, and that pledge is as sac
red as any other relating to the debt.
On the Present volume Of currency Of
course the DemOersfietheorye could not
be carried out, and we. cannot increase
the volume without violating one Of
the conditions on which our bonds
We're sold. BY the legal tender act of
1862, under which the first green backs
and five-twenty bonds were made, the
amount Of currency was limited 50
S150,000,000. With that limitation the
bonds did not sell at all, for men did
not yet see all the conditions. The
currency was increased to $500. 600 900.
and still the bonds would not sell. The
amount was then raised to $1,000. 900. =
600, with a reserve of S50, ,00O, 900 and a
stipulant not to exceed that amount.
Then the bonds sold. Thus the known
and pledged amount Of the greenback
currency was very prominently an ell
ement of the sale. When the bonds
were sold, Mr.. Cook and Gov. Chase
held out the idea that they would be
paid in gold, butthis was because they
assumed that greenbacks would be as
good as gold when the time for pay
ment came. They did not pretend TO
tell the people that made the law the
bonds could not be paid in greenbacks.
AS to the moral aspect of the case, by
the law the five-twenty bonds were
sold with an express stipulation that
they might be paid when due in law
ful money and I have no doubt that
by the terms of the contract the United
States might if it chose, apply the
notes to the payment of matured debt
as we'll as to payment Of salaries and
and debts for supplies. The law made
no distinction between public and pri-
vate debts-the case of the public
creditor was no better and no worse
than that Of every other creditor.
What he could complain Of is, that the
United States did not make It's lawful
money range in value with the actual
money Of the world. Thus the thing
might be done and be just enough so
far as we could 90 with it, but that
would be only a little ways from the
enforced Limitation of these notes."
"Would you favor the application
Of surplus greenbacks to the payment
Of any of these bonds ?"
'This question has often been asked
me. 1 do not think 1 wOuld-for this
reasOn-public sentiment at home and
abroad would regard this as a violation
of public faith. We cannot afford
even to lie under suspicion in that :;
above all, not for what we would gain
by this measure"
"What would we gain %
''The whole amount we could apply
on the payment of the public debt
would not exceed $50, ,000, 900 per an
mum, and all that would be saved to
the Government in q year would be
the difference between the market
value of $50, 600, 600 in greenbacks and
$50, ,000, 900 in bonds. He does not
rightly appreciate public credit who
would shock it for such an amount"
You regard Pendleton's theories,
then, as altogether wrong ?"
'"They are reputation in its worst
form. PendletOn would violate the
law or pledge that limits the national
note and flood the country with ire
deemable paper. And to what end {?
If he issued greenbacks to pay the
debt and made no provision for the
payment of the greenbacks, he would
merely defraud the creditor; while if
he made provisions for the payment Of
the greenbacks, what would he gain
by his plan ?''d
THE NATIONAL. BANKS.
AS to tho National Banks, Mr..
Sherman ?' @
II am a friend of the system. Banks
are a necessity, and ] am utterly Op-
posed to States controlling the eurren-
cy of the nation or a return to the old
system of notes, worthless beyond a
certain territorial line. The National
Bank circulation is safe if anything is
safe. Specie payment is here, too, the
great point, and, this supplied, the
system viii be nearly perfect. RepU-
GiatiOn is the only restraint on bank.
If it is compelled to redeem in gold on
demand let it issue ali the notes it
wishes. Undue profits also will dis
appear under the necessities of re-
demption. Get to this and it will be
easy enough to supply the South and
West with currency and in the mean
time gross inequalities might be cor
rected within the present laws"
The inequalities i'm the distribution
of his money was q great cry with the
Democrats ia the canvass.
Yes; and /, said the Senator,
twas much amused, especially by Gov.
SeymOuF's lament for the West, for
the want Of its share Of bank circula-
ton. Whose fault is it if the West
has less than it needs In the original
act it was directed that the circulation
should be distributed according to pop
ulatiOn and business resources. This
was found to bear heavily on some
Eastern banks that wanted to come
into the system with their circulation.
and a great pressure for the relaxation
Of the rule came. from Gov, SEYMOUR s
State. There was q petition of the
New York bankers, and I think, q
memorial from the New York Assem-
bly,, and or the motions Of Senator
Harris, of New York, the rule was
temporarily set aside in favor of exis-
ting banks, mainly in New York and
New England. Thus the inequality
that Governor Seymour mourns over
IS simply al inequality continued
down from the old State system over
which he never mourned. The act
with the distribution as it ought 70 be
was made In January, 1893. The re-
Taxation in favor Of old banks made in
June, 1884, and the first law was re-
stored to its fun effect in March, 1885.
Complaint at the result Of a relaxation
made in favor of New York, comes
very strangely from the mouth OF one
OF her prominent men speaking as q
volunteer champion Of the West.
THE TAXES.
Would you make any change in
regard to taxation 2" -
t'Our7 present system is founded on
the experience of EnglaHdand France.
1t is good, as it taxes mainly luxuries
and imported articles. and as it Is
-eheaply collected, for il costs less pro-
portfonately to gather it than any
State or city tax, or than the customs
duties. An efficient tax depends on
the honesty Of the agents, and this, I
F70rol vvfI1 ,cA orof, for IN or n rant ffer1