Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1868-07-23


! Horatio Seymour before the New
York State Convention, March IL
+ 1865: u--- ....,.. ...-...
I d It has been PROPOSED to pay mos
Of the Government bonds in the pa
n per money called greenbacks, anC
f it is claimed that this will save the
people $400, 100000, without doing
, injustice to the holders, as it is al.
q legged it was the contract they sho' d
thus be paid, This is denied. by
Others, and it is clear that the pro-
posal has excited alarm, not only
as to the mode Of payment, but as
to a growing feeling favor Of re.
. pudiating the whole debt. II y
The sectional division of our
country into debtor and creditor
States has caused much anxiety in
J the minds of thoughtful men, lest
it should distract the counsels Of
ourparty. While, on the one hand,
the oppressive legislation which
burdens the West with high tariffs,
together with the fact that the reve-
nues drawn from all sections are
H mainly paid out to one, eXcites deep
feelings on the other hand, the
bonds, so unwisely, wastefully is
sued, have gone into the hands of
innocent holders who, to vast
amount, are compulsory owners
1t is9a mistake to suppose that they
are mostly held by capitalists. =
Large sums belonging to children
and Widows under the order of
Courts or the action of trustees,
have been invested in Government
bonds. The vast amounts held by
! fire and life INSURANCE companies
and savings banks are, in fact, held
in trust for and are the reliance of
the great body of active business or
laboring men or women or of wild
ows and orphans. The savings
bankssof this State, which are the
depositaries Of the POOR, or Of per
sons of limited means, hold about
$50, 200, 900 Of Government bonds.
The whole amount held in the State
Of New York, in the various forms
Of trust, will not fall below $780,
100000. II we look into other
States we shall see that only small \
share of these bonds are held by |
men known as capitalists, but they !
belong in7facty if not.in form, to the
business men, the active and the
hboring members bfsocietv. The
destruction of these securities wo'd |
make a widespread ruin and dis
tress, which would reach into every !
workshop andevery district, howev-
er humble. !
There is a perfect accord in the
Democratic ranks as to the policy
and the need of honesty and econ
omy, but there is some difference
of opini1n as to demonstration of
the contractor with the creditor
Some hold that tit is right, and that
it is due to the taxpayers that we
should save what we can by paying
the principal Of the debt in curren-
cy, but they underrate the force of
their own argument 1t is mis-
take to suppose that the interests of
the bondholder and the taxpayers
are, antagonistic, The fact is over
looked that, in order to make any
saving BY giving the bondholder a
debased or worthless paper, we must
bring upon ourselves disaster and
dishonor which will cost an hun
dred fold what we can save. 1t
means that we are to give to the la
borer for his toll d base currency.
It7means that the honor of our
country shall be stained. 1t means
that our business shall be kept in
uncertainty and confusion. Itmeans
that the laborIrg man shall suffer
by the increased cost of the com
forts Of life. 1t means that thetax-
payer shall be burdened by a gov
proved to be corrupt and
imbecile 7hy the very depreciation
of its money. We cannot afford to
speculate upon tie nations honor
at so fearful a cost. We know that
when a dishonest merchant or a
corrupt governmentwishes TO make
large profit in Specializing in their
own paper, they must dishonor
themselves as much as they can
There is a great gain in this plan
as upheld by Messrs. Butler and
Stevens. They not only propose
to- pay in DEPRECATED paper, hut
they, are doing what they can to
dishonor the character and credit l
Of our country If they carry out
their corruptrevolutionary schemes !
they win pay off the. debt with pa /
per which is not worth ten cents |
on the dollar. There is no Demo {
crat living who thinks that this can !
be done with safety, or that it is for I
the interest of the taxpayer at the {
East or West. Every Democrat {
demands a policy Of peace, order {
and economy, and, just SO far as he
gains chat, he lifts 9up the national s
credit, he helps the taxpayer, and J
does Justice to the bondholder. He /
makes our currency as good as
sterling coin, for that will rise with /
yhe public,credit.- .-t, g
Pie error is IN supposihg that d
under Democratic administration '
The currency would still Stand fixed !
al a discount of twenty-five per T
cent. To say that is to say that I
we are to fail as our opponents L
have failed. phe national credit :