The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-12-23

cry OF gold IL a future time. Should
coin contracts be legalized, however,
as proposed, 1t should be connec-
ton with some general plan to return
TO specie payments at fixed period.
But aside from the evils and hard
ships to result from such contracts,
how could they appreciate the value
of the currency any more than COM
mon contract for the future delivery
of gold? They would not constitute
any preparation on the part of the
Government for the redemption of
the currency, and. therefore, could
not, to any preceptible extent, appre-
ciate Its value.
The second means for re turning to
specie payments is contained In the
following passage from the Secretary's
report:
And he, therefore, recommends, in adj
dlL1on TO the enactment by which con-
tracts Tor the payment of coin can be en-
forced, that II be declared that after the
notes shall cease to be t9.s' legal tender IN
payment OF all private debts subsequently
contracted, and that after the first day OF
fa ts1 tney snail Ge or 40 De nose
whatever, except Government dues, for
which they are now receivable. the law
SuOulu also 8uL0OrlZ6 bD6 COuN0TSIJu va
these notes at the pleasure of the no derS
into bonds bearing such rate of interest as
may be authorized by Congress on the dept
into which the present outstanding DOnds
may be funded"
It is not enough, it seems, that the
currency is already deprecated thirty
per cent; that the Government has
violated its contract with the holders,
and dishonored it's pledge; but it Is
y,~nvancoA 70 dfr be of af least
one third of its market value, by
stripping it of its legal tender char
acter. Its legal tender character, by
which it is made lawful money, and
may be used in the payment of debts,
has added at least one-third to its
current value. Aud this heavy loss
the Secretary proposes to infict upon
the holders of the currency at the
times mentioned. The Government
could be guilty of no clearer act of
reputation. To strike off one-third
of their value In the hands of the
people does not differ in principle
from making them wholly worthless
While they are deprecated and un-
provided for, the Government has no
right to withdraw from them any ele-
ment which goes to constitute their
value.
To show that such measure would
be reputation In fact, let US consider
the character of the contract between
the holder of a greenback note and
the Government. 1t is to pay so many
dollars to the bearer or holder on de
mand. This is the original contrac
between the Government and the
h1t1nv WfIo g he
notes into the Five-twenty bonds,
conferred by the act of February %,
1892, and which the Secretary pro-
poses to re-establish, only reducing
the interest on the bonds, is a mere
collateral privilege, and IN no wise
affects the right of the holder of the
note to demand the performance of
the original contract printed on its
face. When the Government, there
fore. refuses to perform the original
contract, and throws the holder en-.
tirely upon his collateral privilege of
funding the notes into bonds, the act
| forms the clearest possible definition
of reputation, and does not differ
in principle from the proposition OF
the President to apply the payment
/ of the interest to the extinguishment
Of the bonded debt. When the green
backs have been brought to par, and
the Government stands ready to re-
deem them, then, and not till then,
can their legal tender character be
taken away without Reputation.
Suppose that Congress should pass
bill providing that when the five
| twenty bonds are due the holders may
| fund them into a three per cent. bond,
and that if they refuse to exchange
the Government will make no pro-
vision for their payment. The Secre-
tary would call that reputation, and
yet the case is different in no respect
from what he proposes. The green
back note promises to pay so many
dollars on demand. The bond prom
Uses to pay so many dollar at a par
tieular time. The greenback note de-
clares that it is :" a legal tender for
all debts. public and private, except
duties on imports and interest on the
public debt, which gives it one-third
its current value. The bond promises
to pay six per cent. in gold, which is
| its chief element of value. The
| greenback note promises to pay to
the bearer, and so does the bond. The
title to each of them passes by mere
delivery, and there is no more per-
sonality about one than there is
about the other. The moral and
legal obligations Of the one promise
are precisely equal to those of the
| other, and Congress has as much right
to strike out the interest on the bond
as TO strike out the legal tender clause
on the note. The value of the green
back note may be so deprecated as to
make it the interest of the holder to
fund it into bond bearing the very
| lowest rate of interest, or no interest
at all, aud Congress might by legisla-
ton 80 impair the value of the Five
| twenty bonds as to make it the in
i terest of the holder to exchange it
for a bond drawing interest only at
| the rate of two per cent. The Secre-
tary proposes to take from the green
back currency third of its cur
rent value by striking from It'll legal
tender character, and then authoriz-
ing the holder to fund it into a bond
drawing a low rate of interest, at the
same time telling him, In substance,
that this is a final measure, and that,
if he does not fund. he will get
nothing.
But 1t is true that by stripping the
currency of its legal tender character
the country will at once be brought
to specie payments-that is to say,
there will then be no lawful money
but gold and silver which would be a
legal tender in payment of debts, and
every man would be required to pay
coin on his contracts. But the Secre-
tary could not afford to strike down
the value of the currency in this way
without suggesting some provision
for it, and so, Notwithstanding the
fact that he had just said that the
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