Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1868-08-07
Greenbacks.

answer our purposes CNdTtOttcSDtttt.
0Kd) Chronicle, l'>1,IB@ q
Greenbacks. i
r.,..g From the Chicago Tribune,
When the bill making greenbacks
legal tender was. pending, MIR. George III
Pendleton made slspeech denying the
Constitutional power OF Congress to issue
anote not bearing interest; also denying
the constitutional power to compel any
person to accept any such note, or any
thing else than silver and gold coin, in
payment of debts, bonds or mortgages,
public or private He Insisted that the
issue of these greenbacks was, in the lam
guage of the. Democratic platform, Gun
constitutional, and therefore void"
Having exhausted his rhetoric in point
ing out, their illegality, he made an argu-
ment against the expediency of issuing
them, and in SO doing drew the following
picture of the horrible effects of issuing
$400,0 900 of greenbacks. Read it; aud
remember that the Democratic platform,
as interpreted by Mr.. Pendleton, is now
seeking reputation by insisting upon an
additional issue of 81 1,7C0, 100000 of green
backs. Pendleton said: tFa
~ believe that this Government has
L
that it is approaching period in the his
tory of its legislation which may determine
the question of its continuance. BY wis
dom it may overcome the evils of seccs
sion; by its great powers and resources it
may be able to defend itself against those
in arms against it; but l firmly believe
that it cannot maintain itself against the
shock OF the accumulated and manifold
dangers which follow inevitably closely
in the wake of an illegal, unsound and
deprecated government paper currency
"The gentleman from New York (Spald-
ing), called them Qegal tenders) 'demand
notes. They do not bear'a single charac
teristic of demand note. There is no
time, from the hour when they shall pass
into the hands of the holder, when he
can by their terms demand, that they shall
be redeemed. There is no time when the
faith of the Government is pledged TO their
payment The holder may present them,
and he Is told that the time has not ar
rived at which, by the face Of the bill,
they are to be paid. They viii Inevitably
'tlepreciate The wit Of man has ReUer DIS
cO0ered means By aohich paper currency
can be kept at par OaLue, except by its
speedy, cheap, certain convertibility into
gold and silver. | need not cite gentle
men to history or authorities, unless on
political economy, to prove 1t. Unless
convertible, they hqge always deprecated
they always sORl depfeciate /; they ought
tosdepreciate, because they are only valu
able as the Representatives OF gold and
silver and if they are not convertible
into that of which they are the rep
resentative, they must necessarily lcse
their value. t
You send these notes out into the world
stamped with irredeemabiity. You PUT
ON THEM THE MARK OF CAIN, AND LIKE
CAIN THEY WILL GO FORTH TO BE vAGA-
BONDS AND FUGITIvEs. ON, THE EARTH.
What then will be the consequence
1t requires no prophet to tell what will
be their history.
The currency will be expanded; ,.-i
Prices will be inflated;
Fixed values will depreciate;
Incomes will be diminished;
The savings of the poor will vanish;
The hoardings of the widow will melt
away;
Bonds, mortgages and notes, everything
of fixed value, will loose their value;
Everything of changeable value will be
appreciated ,.-....
The necessaries of life win raise in
The government will pay two-fold--cer-
tainly largely more than ii ought-for
everything it goes into the market 10 buy
Gold and silver will be driven out of
the country. .s...r ....... .r
What then?
The day of reckoning must come
Contraction will follow
Private ruin and public bankruptcy
either with or without REPUTATION, will
inevitably follow.
WHAT SEYMOUR THINKS OF THEN.
On the 26th of June, 1868, in his speech
in New York, only four days before the
Convention, Horatio Seymour thus de-
scribed the effect of issuing any more
greenbacks. He said
"If, on the other hand, we debase the
currency by unwise issues, we shall equal
ly perplex business and destroy sober in
dustry, and make all prices mere matters
of gambling, tricks and chances. This
will end as 1t did in tine Southern Con
federacy. At the outset the citizens of
Richmond went TO market with their
money in their vest pockets, and brought
back their dinners IN their basketsi IN the
end they took their money in their baskets,
and took home their dinners In their vest
pockets"
Inn NhANAhO INNS bh+CNiAAAlh-o
About the same time the Chicago Times,
in reviewing the various plans for paying
the public debt drew this graphic picture
of the worthlessness of greenbacks under
an increased issue. II said; OF
"The first group contains the Cincin-
nate plan Ii. g., the Pendleton scheme).
The great feature Of this scheme is what
is called payment of the national debt in
greenbacks. 1t contemplates new issue
of greenbacks, equal in amount 70 the
bonds which il is proposed TO redeem.
Over twelve hundred millions of FIVE
twenty bonds will become redeemable be
fore 1872. Five hundred millions are re
deemable now Tho way 10 pay them, ac-
cording to this plan, is to set the printing
presses in motion. So long as the rags
and lampblack hold out, we viii have no
trouble Ia paying the bonds at maturity,
When all have been thus paid, we shall
have added to our paper money thetrihing
initiation of 81 800 100000, making, all
told, circulating medium of S2,300, ,000,-
000 Then we shall have what are called
good times splendid times, Whestand