The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-09-09
Gheqntelli4etrren.
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Fessenden on Finance.
How are the Bonds Payable P
A Semi Official Opinion.
Very Important Statements.
Reading for Th1nking Men.
A sem1-omciaI Opinion.

States Senator from Maine, who sue
ceeded Mr.. Chase, as Secretary of the
Treasury, addressed an immense meet.
ing in the city of Portland, Monday
evening, Slst ult. Cir. Fessenden's po-
sition first as chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, and as Secretary
of the Treasury, during the period
within which, the greater part of the
public debt was contracted, gives great
Significance and importance to his
opinions respecting the issues now be-
fore the country touching National
Finances. and touching. especially, the
mode in which tho funded debt is 10 be
met. Mr.. Fessenden's statement is by
far the most luminous yet made on this
subject. Space permits us to quote
only that part of his speech relating to
this subject.
Four years of war, on a great scale
such as I'VE experienced could not be
carried on without drawing heavily on
the resources of the country. We were
Obliged TO spend money and how was
it TO be procured? There was but one
way and that was to borrow. 1t could
not be raised by taxation. The govern
l "
nation OF the earth has followed, which
has been engaged in great contests.
AS chairman OF the committee OF f.
nance on tho part of the Senate, during
the whole of the war, with the excep-
ton of one short session, when I was
in the Treasury Department, had &C.
casion to know what we had to do in
this respect. We contracted a great
debt, amounting to over three billions
of dollars, before we closed the war.
We were obliged to contract it. You
had gentleman hero the other day
from Ohio speaking 10 our Democratic
friends, who made it a matter of accu-
sation against the Republican party
that they owed so much money. Did
it ever occur to him that the people who
brought about the necessity of that
debt were those with whom he acted
from the beginning to tho close of the
war; Tho Republican party were not
responsible for it. He and those with
whom lie associated compelled us TO
contract il in defence of the national
life. ] would not accuse them,-it
would be wrong If 1 did,-of withhold
ing their aid in carrying on the war,
and we were compelled TO meet them
and take the consequences. In doing
so we contracted debt which they are
responsible for and not we. Zap
plnuse.l
In what way did we contract the
debt? AS / said before we borrowed
money. We were obliged TO borrow
it, and now VIC are told by both parties
that we must pay it. Well, that is my
doctrine; we must pay it. The great
question is, how is 1t to be done? 1
refer you to the Republican platform
for the answer TO that. II is to be paid
not only according to the letter, but &C.
cordinE to the spirit OF the contract.
The Republican party tells you that
there in to be no shufIltng, no pettifog-
ging, no creeping into a small place to
get rid of it. You are TO meet II like
men, not only according to the letter,
but according to the spirit OF the pro.
mise you made. Now then what Is
that? At first we borrowed small
hundreds of millions are of very little
consequence. L used to bring in bills
appropriating five or six hundred mill
lions of dollars, and it did not seem
much because it was necessary, and the
American people always meet what is
necessary. 1t did not look large to them
and they felt that they. were able to
meet it. AT first we borrowed one or
two hundred millions, u lnrge portion
of which was in gold. But very soon
the supply of gold stopped; and we
found we could not carry on a great
war on gold basis. No nation ever
did-no nation ever can. The conse-
quence was, the government was. oblig
cd to suspend specie payment and
every body else suspended ut the same
time. Our supply of specie gave out
and what were veto do? Some mode
must be provided to carry on the war.
The question at that time was not
whether there was money enough to
carry on the war, but whether our peo-
pie could raise enough more than they
wanted to use themselves to supply an
army. That was the question, and
what they raised must be bought. The
people could not afford to give their
den must be equal. The materials of
war were to be provided also and paid
for. There was no gold to pay for them.
When specie payment was suspended
all specie suddenly disappeared, went
into stockings, or went abroad. The
people could not get it, and there was
not enough of 1t even If they could
Consequently we must live on credit.
Congress decided to issue promises, and
1 suppose the looks of those paper
promises are familiar to you all. II
you will remember one of them reads
In this way: "The government OF the
United States promiseto pay ten dol
lars" What is ndollar2 We hardly
know what dollar is in these days, we
see the face OF gold or silver one so
seldom. The law says the dollar con-
sists of so many grains of gold, or so
many grains OI bllV6rs "A dollar Is
unit, it represents value; everything in
our country Is calculated from the dol
lar. Our coinage gees from one dollar
up 10 twenty and down TO half a cent.
The government promises 10 pay ten
dollurs-what does 1t mean2 Does il
mean simply that IL has put out piece
of paper containing a promise which it
never means to pay2 Why, voted for
that bill, and II L had supposed that was
all IL meant, piece OF paper to be sue
ceeded dd illtiRitunl by another paper,
hardly think that Iwould have voted for
the bill at all, although 1 reported ii.
Now we,passed bill in February,
1872, by which we authorized the gov
eminent TO issue one hundred and fifty
millions of dollars in promises
''greenbacks," so.called, and we de-
creed a. that time that those paper
promises should be legal tender; take.
the place of money and be lawful
money. Now wish to make q clean
breast of it. / doubted very much the
expediency of making that money law
full tender. made speech on the &C.
caslon and gave my reasons for it In
my judgment, at that time, 1t wasa
matterof doubtful propriety, because
was not convinced of the absolute ne
cessity of the act. believed that the
money thus issued would serve the pur-
pose of the government without being
made legal lender; at any rate, was
disposed to try the experiment for the
reason that IL the money was made le-
gal tender public and private debts
must be paid in 1t, and this would ne
cessarily work very great injury in the
community If a man had a thou
sand dollars coming due to him, for
which he was entitled as the law stood
50, IA = Il H.,