Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-08-05
National Bankruptcy and RePudia
ton the Result Of a New Issue
Of GreeaBackS.
Seymour Denounees Them-His
Pictute of an Attempt to Buy
q Dinner with Greenbaeks
Issued According TO the
Modern Plan.
The Chicago Times Describes the
Imposdbility of Buying Whisky
with Greenbaeks Issued by
the Ream,


note, or anything else than silver snd
gold coin, in payment of debts, bond
or mortgages, public or private. H'
insisted that the issue Of these green
backs. was, in the language OF the
Democratic platform, 'unconstitutlon
al, and therefore void"
Having exhausted his rhetoric IL
pointing out their illegality, he made
an argument against the inexpedien
cy of issuing them, and in so doing
drew the following picture OF the hor
lrible effects of issuing S400, 100000 o
greenbacks. Read it, and remember
that the Democratic platform, as inter
preted by Mr.. Pendieton, is now seek
ling reputation by insisting upon an
additional issue Of Sl.700, ,000, 600 o.
gIeenbacks. Pendleton says:
81 believe that this Government ha'
reached crisis in its history. believe
that it is approaching q period in the
history of Its legislation which may de
termine the question of its continuance
By wisdom it may overcome the evil
of secession, by its great powers and re
sources it may be able to defend itsel
against those in arms against it; but
firmly believe that it cannot maintain
itself against the shock Of the accumu
lated and manifold dangers which fol
low inevitably closely in the wake o
an Illegal, unsound and deprecated
Government paper currency.
"The gentleman from New Yorl
(Spauldingl called them illegal tenders
demand notes. They have been 81
called throughout the country. They
do not bear q single characteristic of {
demand note. There is no time, from
the hodr when they shall pass into the
hands of the holder, when he can BY
their terms demand that they shall b
redeemed. There is no time when the
faith of the Government IS pledged 4
their payment. The holder may pre-
sent them and he is told that the tim
has not arrived at which, by the fac
of the bill, they are to be paid. They
viii inevitably depreciate. The wit o
man has never discovered means By tokiel
paper currency can Be keptat par vaLne, ex
cept BY its speedy, cheap, certain con
vertibiity into gold and silver. / neeC
not cite gentlemen to history or an
thorities, unless on political economy
to prove it. Unless convertible, theI
have always deprecated; they Away
,CiH depreciate; they ought to depreci
ate, because they are only valuable q
the representatives of gold and silver
and If they are convertible into tina
of which they ere the representative
they must necessarily lose their value
You send these notes out into tht
world stamped with irredeemability.-
Yess put on them TIE mark of Cam, AM
IKE Cain, hsy t5il go forth TO be vagabond
aEd' tu5itiUes on the earth. What
then, will be the consequence?
1t requires no prophet to tell Wha
will be their history.
The currency viii be expanded;
Prices will be inflated
Fixed values will depreciate;
Income viii be diminished;
The savings Of the poor will vanish
The hoardings Of the widow vii
melt away;
Bonds, mortgages and notes, every
thing of fixed value, will lose thei
valne;
Everything of changeabie value viii
be appreciated
The necessaries of life will rise il
value;
The Government will pay tRo-fold-
certainly largely more than it aught-
for everything it goes into the mafke
to buy;
Gold and silver will be driven out o
the country.
What then
The day of reckoning must come.
Contraction will follow.
Private ruin and pubic Ia1kyHptey
either with or without REPUTATION
will inevitably follow.
WHAT SEYMOUR THINKS OF THEN.
On the 26th of June, 1868, in hi
speech in New York, only four dsy
before the Convention, Horatio Sey
mour thus described the effect of issu
ing any more greenbacks. He said:
"If, on the other hand, we debas
the currency by unWise issues, we shal
equally perplex business and destro.
sober industry, and make all price
mere matters of gambling, tricks snC
chances. This will end as It did in th,
Southern Confederacy. At the outse
the citizens of Richmond wentto mar
ket with their money in their YES
pockets, and brought back their din
ners in the baskets; in the end they tool
their money in their baskets, and tool
home their dinners in their vest pock
ets."
THE CHICAGO TINES DESCRIBES THEN.
About the same time the Chicag,
Times, in reviewing the various plan
for paying the public debt, drew thi
graphic pi cture of the worthlessness o
greenbscE;s under an increased issue
1t said:
"The first group contains the Cincin
natl plan Ii. e., the Pendleton scheme
The great future of this scheme is wha
is called payment of the national deb
in greenl1scks.' 1t contemplatss a new
issue of greenbacks, equal in smoun
to the bonds which it Is proposed 4
redeem. Over twelve hundred nil
lions of ive-twenty bonds viii become
redeemable before 1872. Five million
are redeemAbls now. The way to psy
them according to this plan, is 10 sci
the printing pressesjn motion. So lonI
as the rags and lsmp-black hold out
we will have DO trouble in paying the
bonds at maturity. When all have
been thus paid, we shall have added t.
our paper money the trihing initiation
of 81 500, 900, 900, making. all told, {
circulating medium Of $4,000, 100000
Then we shall have what are called
good times splendid times Whea'
and greenbacks will be exchanged bush
el for bushel. A barrel of whisky will
be sold for two barrels of legal tenders
Collectors of Government revenue vii
go about with wagons having lofty an6
cspacious receptaeles on them, like
those used in handling charcoal, anC
will gather in the public taxes witt
pitchforks. To levy S. in gold " i'll re
quire . one-horse load of greenbscks
But the Government bonds will be
paid The only question viii now be
how to pay the Government green
backs. This Is something the plar
does not contemplate. Specie payments
under it will be reached--nevsr I"
These are three Democratic pictures
of the effect of the greenbGck redemp
| tion policy.