The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-09-03
Mr.. Fessenden-Gold Bonds.


Mr.. FEssENpEN, of Maine, has taken the
stump for GRANT and CoLRAx. Mr.. FEs-
sESDES's vote in favor Of acquitting the
President on the charges preferred against
him by the Houseiof Representatives pro-.
duced much dissatisfaction among his for.
mer friends and supporters in his own
State. Their call upon him to take the
stump is, however, at once an overture OF
future support and confession that MS
services are needed to secure the vote OF
Maine for GRANT.
Mr.. FEssENpEN's first campaign speech
was made at Portland on Monday night last
In that speech he declared that when seere-
sary of the Treasury he /" WAS in the tight
"est place he was ever in, except when
ssobliged to vote to acquit the President.
Gle appealed to the people, and issued
seven-thirties, redeemable in paper, with
"the privilege of taking the bonds and
Through his agents he promised the people
"that the principal should be paid in gold"
We give Mr.. FEssESDEN credit for his manly
declaration. 1t is nothing but the truth !;
yet it is in striking contrast with the am
biguous language of the platform OF his
party, which merely declares that the public
debt must be paid according to "the letter
and spirit of the contract "a declaration
which no Democratic orator hesitates to
endorse. There can be no reasonable
doubt that when the Government issued
these bonds it was the universal under
standing amongst the purchasers OF them
MS well as with the public generally, that
they were gold bonds. Perhaps no one
raised the question but if not, it was only
because no one had doubt upon the sub
iect- The northern people kno,o that they
are under obligations to pay these bonds in
gold. Yet there are many of them who are
willing to evade this obligation because at
this late day question has been raised
upon this point. 1t is for this reason that
we call them regulators. And repudiators
they are.
Mr.. FEssESDES declares that as Secretary
of the Treasury he, through his agents,
promised the people that the principal OF
the bonds issued by him "ShouM be pd'@
in GOLD" Now, we call upon all the Radi-
cal orators to stand by Mr.. FEssENDEN, and
cndeavor to persuade the northern people
TO pay this debt in gold. If they do not, 1t
will be because they consider those people
dishonest, and unwilling to pay their just
debts. We want to see fight on this ques-
ton. The Democrats are the genuine,
original, :'old Dr.. JACOB TOWNSEND "
creenback men. Let them have the benefit
of their position and let the Radicals test
the honesty of our Yankee brethren. If
they do not find them to be regulators we
shall acknowledge that we have all along
been in error in predicting that the public
debt was to be repudiated ont and out be-
fore lonr. The greenback policy is partial
Reputation, as Mr.. FEssESDES will testify
and the step from partial to total repudia-
tion is not so long one that any northern
man will hesitate long to take it.
After all, it cannot be worse crime to
repudiate debt than to repudiate moral
obligations. The men who have wronged
us of the South in go many differing ways,
and have destroyed the Constitution of
their country, and set up new kind of
government in the stead of the one estab-
lshed by our fathers, need not stumble
over reputation of q public debt.