The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-01-01
senator Sherman and the Bsndseraey

| From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Senator Sherman of Ohio, the Chair
man of the Finance committee in the
United Statcs Senate, has smade an anti
greenback and bond report. This rs
expected from a gentleman who is I'M
derstood to be a partner in the -distin-
guished financial house efJay Ceoke 81
Co. and who, by his enterprise and
thrift, and connection with financial
"gold rings has made million or, so
of dollars in the last four or five years.
His relations with the bond aristocracy
are such that heis counted by them as
champion only inferior in value to
Secretary McCulloch, of whose policy
he has been in the main a great admir-
er. Sherman is greatly afraid Of any in
crease Of the greenback currency, which
bears no interest, but has no such fears
of bonded debt, which does bear a
heavy q terest, to impoyerish and OPP
press the people. Before our debt is
paid, he Is anxious that she greenbacks
should be bought at par with gold, 30
that the bondholders, who bought
their bonds, when they, were worth
forty cents on the dollar, may make o
very handsome thing by the operation.
The debt that was created by expansion
is to be paid by contraction. Hear
Your committee are, therefore, of the
opinion that no legal tcnder notes be-
yOnd the amount now limited b. Jaw,
should be issued under any pressure OF
financial or political necessities, until
they are convertible into gold and sill
yer.
mo pressure of financial or political
necessities" would induce this reputed
partner of Jay Cooke TO favor an in
crease of the legal-tender notes, even
if It was to save all the merchants OF
the country from bankruptcy The
Chairman further says: --.,.-.,.,-
Now that the war is over, we should
look squarely and hopefully to the time
when we will pay gold, not only to the
holder of oar bonds, but to all persons
in public or private business. Not only
is this obvious political policy, but it is
the express agreement with the public
creditor.
Now, the above is simply false. We
never made any agreement to pay the
public creditor who holds the fiye-twen-
ty bonds in gold. They are payable il
currency, and in nothing else. .'as .s'
In another part Of the report, the ju-
nior partner of Jay Cooke says, in
speakingo this gold construction of the
bond law:
Congress uniformly. refused to de-
clare this construction as to the five
twenty bonds, but did so as to the ten
forty bonds.
at is further and very significant
fact that every State in the Union, with
perhaps, the exception of Massachusetts,,
put different construction on this act.
Every State had q public debt. 1t stood
in precisely the same position as the
National debt. Its bonds had uniform
ly been paid, principal and interest, in
coin, and yet under the law they held
that their public faith was complied
with when they paid either principal
OF interest in legal-tender notes, and
this construction was acquiesced in by
their creditors. So with corporations
and private citizens who had contract
ed debts, which, by law and custom,
had been previously paid in coin-they
considered themselves and were released
by payment in legal-tenders."
Now, we simply ask what all the
states, corporations and private citi-
zens did, in principal, with their debts,
shall be applied to the holders of the
five-twenty bonds. When we have
paid them off, it will be time enough to
have gold currency, unless, indeed,
we compound on a gold currency the
fractional parts of dollar to which
the bondholders are entitled. They did
not lend gold dollars-they were not
promised gold dollars in return-and it
would be gross swindle and robbery to
pay gold dollars.
The committee propose law, the sub
stance of which is to make our National
debt permanent institution, the prin-
cipal and interest of which are to be
paid in coin. This we repeat emphati-
cally, can never be. The people are de-
termined that the money which pays
all other debts shall discharge the
bonded debt, aud that they will never
consent that bonds shall be bought in
deprecated currency, not worth half a
dollar, ana then paid for the full
amount. This robbery is excellent for
the bondholders, but it is death to the
nuhlic ..s r