Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-12-11
The New York World On the Green
back Question.

9164 2AAAAAsAAa
The following in reply to the Cincin-
natl Enquirer is from the New York
World of Nov. oath:
Even the Cincinnati Enquirer cannot
dsny that, should specie payments be
restored within the ensuing four years,
the payment of the debt in Greenbacks,
dollar for dollar, would not diHer from
sumption Of specie payments viii in no
manner avoid the Issue, since, i3s that
egenG, the bo7ldhoGder sgiIg NOT get GREEN
BACKS, but viii be obliged to take the
sum equal 70 that which he paid for
them In gold The
rency or its eqlei0dteast, or they are not
We are confident that NJ. Pendleton
himself viii not adopt fhis new form Of
the theory. It is isinconsistent With every
argument he ever used In defense of the
pounded Il. It abOlishes the distinc-
lion, which he was always careful to
make, between the ten-forty and the
fiVe-tWeuty bonds. Mr.. Psndleton al
ways maintained, in advocating his
views, that the government is obliged
to fulfil its engagements according to
their strict letter, paying coin, dollar
stipulated to pay coin, and eerssubaclxa,
dollar for dollar, in all cases where that
was the engagement. The principal of
the ten-fortie5, he admitted, was paya-
ole In coin, because that was the Ian
guage Of the statute. The principal OF
the hVe-tWenties, he contended, was
not payable in coin, because there was
no mention of coin in the statate an
thOrizing the loan, button the contrary,
the same statute made the green backs 3
legal tender for the discharge OF all
debts end dues, public and private, eX-
cepG where payment in coin was esDe-
C; ally provided for By law. His argU-
ment never hinged on the retpra of an
equivalent, but always on the literal
fulhument Of Contract. If the ground
were to be shifted, as the Cincinnati
Enquirer proposes none of the argu-
Eneuts employed by Mr.. Pendleton
would be applicable. The new theory
IS that the public creditors are TO receive
back merely the gold values which they
actually paid. Now, the ten~fOrty
bonds, which are expressly payable il
coin, were sold for greenbacks, when
greenbacks were at an enormous dis
count. Ie Ghe new theory is tenable.
they are not to be paid according to the
contract, but the final holder Of every
ten-fOrty bond is TO receive only the
gold value which its first purchaser
paid for IL; making as many different
rates of payment as there were Yaria-
lions in the premium on gold at the
different times of the original sales. We
will not dwell on the practical Difficult
ties ofsuch an adjustment, and the con-
fusion and uncertainty ib would intro
duce introduce into the market value of
the bonds; our only point is that such Il
rule Of payment is entirely inconsist-
ent with every argument used by Mr..
PendIeten in his numerous speeches in
support Ofhis theory. he has uniform
ly advocated a strict and faithful ad-
herence TO the letter of the engagement,
were payable In greenbaeks, because
they were included in the Legal Tender
Act.
It is obvious that the Legal Tender
act must apply In the same man
ner to private and to public debts, So
far as public debts are included within
its provisions. But nobody would
think Of applying-at least no court of
Justice would think OF applying
same principal to privats debts which
the Cincinnati Enquirer suggests In re-
lation to public dedts. II debtors are
bound to pay only the gold values
which thew received, and no rule Is tt,
be rpRarded but the return OF an exact
equivalent, then the legal tender act il
q sh eer nullity, and all business, public
and private, is transacted on q gold
basis. The objection to this theory is,
that it does not square with facts. We
know that the legal tender statute is
not thus understood or thus administer
ed. Debts are discharged by paying a.
Greenbaolx dollar, at the time they ma
rure, for every dollar expressed in the
face of the obligation, without any re-
gard to the price of greenbacks
or of gold at the date when the debts
were Contracted. This mode of pay
ment is strictly according to law. If the
Legal Tender Act is law at all. The
theory of paying debts by gold equivR-
lents makes the Legal Tender act an
absolute nullity, a queer port to take
refuge in, in stress of argument, by
those who have labori0usly advocated .
theory of paying the public debt, based
on the assumption that the Legal Ten
der act, strictly interpreted, furnishes
the only proper rulei The Enquirer 10
like the Woodman who. in trimming
tree slashed his AK into the limb on
which he was standing. Down came
branch, tool aud operator, sprawling on
the grOund.