The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-10-14
senElas rfeste.. % sapeenhaeks.


Morton is cured, The glorious integrity Of
the American people is such that they will
not be led even by their most eminent states.
men, to make the smallest departure from the
path of rectitude. The infnitessimal element
of reputation that in the earlier part of the
year threatened 10 pollute the wilderness and
the purity of Republicanism, especially in the
West, has disappeared. We referred yester-
day to MortonIs speech at Lafayette, Indiana.
The text of that speech has since come to
baud, and we transcrbe the part OF it that
bears upon this point: LIB
Should the Democratic party come INTO
power, reputation would be inevltapie; Dut
they do not say so now. That Woulu NC Wv
| unpopular. They propose dlnet .7 way w
do it. They say they want 70 pay sne na.H
| al debt in greenbacks. In what greehpacKsf
| In old greenhacks? In the greenbacks we is
snad years ago2 The greenbacks that are cur
rent new? oh, no! In new ones! There are
abont three hundred millions of legal tender
| notes in circulation, and they are worth seven
| ty cents on the dollar. Nomnally they are
| worth even a dollar, they are worth their face
for they are legal teuder; but actually they
are worth only seventy cents on the dollar in
the currency of the world, and are overdue
now. And what is the reason why greenbacks
are only worth seventy cents on the dollar?
Why, because OF the faith that greenbacks
VIII be paid in gold This expectation keeps
them up. But if the amount OF the green
backs now in circulation is increased to the
extent the Democrats propose, all nope OF
their eventual redemption in gold will cease,
and they will fall like leaves IN aHtumn-actu-
| ally not worth the paper they are printed on.
| Yes, L declare here most emphatically: The
imminent of oar debt in greenbdcks is O. SPINDLE
| i deprecate the farther issue of greenbacks;
| we have had enough of fluctuation in our mar
kets. What is the effect of an imitation of the
currency but to stimulate speculation? Spec
ulators would flourish. but laborers would sui
fer. Grain can be stored in warehouses, but
LABOR cannot. Therefore, when an imitation
takes place, labor is The first to f ell the i'm 'ulse,
| And when the revulsion takes place, labor is
| again the first to suffer. Do you wish to as
| cend again, ldborlng men, to descend again
and again? What we want is stability and re-
| pose. We want rest from the sufferings we
have endured in the last years. Instead of is
| suing more currency, we should make that
| which we have better. L am in favor of a
| speedy return TO specie payments; but how
| are we to do so, L am asked. They say it is
| impossible. In my opinion it is a most simple
| process. [ have formed in this respect plan
| of my own, which, in my OPT MON, is the east
| est in the world to carry into effect would
have Congress fix by an act the time when
specie payments are 10 be resumed, say July
| /, 1871. l would thus give all business men Of
the United States fair notice to prepare them
| selves for payment OF their debts in gold,
and the Government itself should prepare it.
| self, reseryIng surplus of gold in the Treasu-
| ry for that day. Thus, as the day comes near
| er and nearer, greenbacks will increase in val
ne, slowly, SO gradually that il will hardly be
felt. TheN will increase by quarter per cents.
| as the day comes nearer, and the merchant
| and the mechanic, you and |, will be able to
| calculate the value of our money Then eve
| rything will be on an equal foo ing again, and
| when the time comes, the premium will be in
significant
The Senator added that it would take
| by far less gold to carry this plan into eff
feet tEan people generally supposed. He de-
| clared himself against further contraction of
the currency, saying tina, it had brought about
| sufferings enough. People said that specie
| payments could not be resumed until the out
| flow of gold to Europe was stopped; but, in
| mis- opinion, the only way to stop the outflow
was TO return to specie payments. Gold was
not now in the currency, it was AN article of
merchandise. 1t was only required to pay du-
| ty on imports, and to pay foreign debts. But,
! if greenbacks were worth the same as gold, the
| gold and silver that flooded Canada and was
boarded away as precious article by onr own
citizens, would flow back into the currency
and an Initiation would take place-but Just
and healthy initiation; and the greenbacks
flowing into the Golfers of the Government
would be cancelled, aud so no increase and no
dimnulion of the currency would ensue,
while gold would again become the standard
of our monetary system.