The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-10-28

the soldier goes down. How happen
1t this day that the great agriculture
: Interests of the States, fourishing a
, 1t IS, decreases, while other interest
have been so pampered that the,
J nave forgotten, or are not disposed Il
divide the advantages they enjoy ii
this Government with other portion
of our land?' If Mr.. Seymour reall,
desires to foster the interests of tht
pepsioner and of the farmer, he vii
endeavor to make the currencJ
in which the pensioner is paid, anC
which the farmer receives fol-
his products, as good as gold, instead
of depreciating IFS value by flooding
the country with new issue of ire
deemable paper money. But. as
said before, upon financial questions
MIR. Seymour has no position or stand
ing before the country, and | will
turn aside from him for time to
consider the financial theories of Mr..
Pendleton which were mpressed upon
the New York Convention, and Incl
dentally express my own views upon
that subject. Mr. Pendleton is repre-
sented to have said in several speeches
during the present canvass, that |
endorsed his plan for the payment of
the national debt inl legal tender notes,
commonly called greenbacks. Mr..
| Pendleton claims hat the Govern
ment has the right to use the existing
legal tender notes In payment of the
| tiVe-tWenty bonds, and TO issue new
notes with which to replace the ma
tional bank currency and to pay off
those bonds. His plan for the pay
mene of the national debt depends
almost entirely upon the further issue
of legal notes, and necessarily
involves a great imitation of the cur
rency and the iadeinit5 postpone
ment of a return to specie payment.
How far my position comedies with
his will appear by the following state
ment in a speech which I made at
Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1867.
denounced the proposition to issue
new legal-tender notes with Which
to pay the national debt as in effect
reputation, aud disastrous to the
business of the country by initiating
the currency. In May last
made my first speech in the
Senate on the subjsct of finance. in
which l attempted to maintain the
following propositions:
First. That tue further imitation of the
currency was not demanded by the people,
aud would be injurious To business in
every department. aud especially to the
lab Dring classes, and would indefinitely
postpone the return to spac!e payment.
Second. That 5ne first duty of the Coy
ernInenJ was TO ret trn to S D Gle pavnaent
by bringing the legal tend-r notes up to
par and maging them as good as
gold, and that this could he accom- plished
bg fixing a future day--say he Is of July,
lS7l-for the redemption Of he notes, and
reserving the surplus gold in the treasury
Afterwards. on the 18th of July. in
reply TO a senator, argued that
in the payment OF the Five TWenties the !
Government had Il right to use the exist
ing legal tender notes which were issued |
before the sale of the drSt Five Twenty |
bonds, or contem poraneOusly Herewith, |
and wittfwhfch The no ads were purchas q |
from the Government This aid, not as |
matter OF taste Or desire, but my ODin- !
tou of the law; and have certainly read |
or heard nothing 10 change II, nor nave /
lately denounced II as n fraud or swim /
ole, as stated oy certain newspapers, |
though L nave used such languages freely 1
towards the proposal to issue new notes I
with which to pay the ponds. This propO- /
sttion will have no practical Import /
.ance, however, unless the deprecia- |
tion OF the currency and the pre-
as "A permanent policy. IN which case the /
people will be led TO consider what are the |
ueut OF the public debt. But / prefaced |
this argument wtth%h declaration that /
the first duty of the government was t. /
return to specie payment, which would put I
this aud many other Troublesome ques- /
tions out of the way, aud here is what 1 |
said: This question Is not important be- |
youd the time that the Government shall |
resume specie payments. Whe ever we |
make the legal tender note as good as gold, |
then H. is sett ed. But 1t is an I'm portant |
question, and may ne an important and /
trou blesOme one until tn time occurs L, |
fsI-, for o.e, oeiieVe tlat Ihe True Polcy Iof the
and foremost, to bring about the \
resumption of specie payments. L |
believe that is the foundation Of orr |
financial troubles, and there is wuere we |
question is entirely distinct from the |
dnestion of the rtgHt of the Ciovernment |
to make a new issue of legal tender notes, |
and pay off the 5-20S III that new issue. / /
shall speak of the right of the Govern ment |
to redeem the 5-20s ia existing legal tender
notes. Mr.. PenuletOa argued to establish /
tue sans pLopOstt I'LL .zuu tLeu jumper 10 /
the conclusion lhab after the war Is over, |
and long after the bonds have been sold, |
that the Government mas the right to issue |
new legal tenders and compel hercredtuors |
t. receive the 4, III pavmeuJ OF her bonds. |
This is a non SeQuttHf, and would be |
a violation of he pledga. given b. son-
gress in 1861, that the Who.e amount of |
legal tender notes shonld never exceed |
four hundred millions, and would be |
WitLOut any reasons OF public necessity |
which juStided their first issue Mr.. PEN |
dleton con founded two things which are |
wholly different 1t won q be I'm possibr re /
to put the new issue OF Such notes u pom /
the same footing in law anu equality in /
relation to public or private DEBTS VITA
those issued before The bonds were sold, |
anu under the pressing necessity of war. I
The legal tender notes, though at par in /
contemplating of Jaws IN the paymeat OF |
debts, are in fact worth but about sevenLv /
cents on the dollar The first step to be I
taken to improve our financial condition /
people, and in which the business OF the /
country is tranacted, equal to G Id. There 1
Is where gold pay ments should begin. II |
requires no argument TO prove that while /
they are deprecated as they nov are, il l
Will be impossible Tor the Governme nj to l
pay the bonds or any considerable DO ton /
of them in gold; and il requires no argu- /
menJ to prove that when the GOvernn ent /
has returned TO specie payment by bring |
question of the mode of paying the bonds !
becomes un1m pOrtant. We have now I
in circulation about three hundred and |
sixty-ive millions oi these notes. Tney I
are over due and draw no interest, and /
the Government has fixed no time at |
which to redeem t1eIu. They are cogSe- !
Quentiy under par, and are worth ON y !
seventy or seventy two GEMS on the dol /
lar That is all we get or give for them !
But what makes tHese uotes worth as
much as they are? II IS the hope and ex-
pectation that t @ G9vernment Will yet
redeem Lhem-Wiii redeem them in gold, |
according to its promise. Should the Gov
ernment make q new issue OF ii We hun a
dred thousand or fifteen hundred millions,
then all hope or expectation that they
will be redeemed will pass away, and they
viii fall to the ground Ike the leaves in
Autumn, utterly worthless, as was the tate
Of similar currency IL France during the |
French reyoluti IN.
The people then would know that the
Government never expects to redeem the !
notes, and they would n be worth less
than the paper on winch they are printed,
II at this time it Is hard foT the Govern
ment to get gold enough to redeem three
hundred ami xty-five millions of these |
notes, how much more difficult would 1t be !
to get gold enough for the redemption of a |
thOusa d, fifteen hu ldre1 or 5wO,Ihousand /
millions of them? fh1s whole proposition /
is a mere swindle, that would be Ielt first /
FaxrT no DIR a pE llzaIff
by tse people, In whose nands this inn l
mensG currency would die. The imitation /
money would stimulate speculation and 1
increase the price OF every Lhing that is !