Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-08-15
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H1N.GE0. CONISTOGk

Il issssa bas SPEECH OF So ( sad 4 Sls1
MMoGE0. B. C0lISF0eK
On 'slse GreenBacI< 'QuessIou and
the Taxafion Of the Ronds, q f.'ss. :.
4s9 Syracqse n. XsA1R.s1 1st.p Lss.
THE NATIONAL DEBT.FrT Esi sis
We are confronted With questions
deeper and more fundamental than ,th,
calculations of ffnapce--questions on ths
solution of which Constitutional Gov
frnm ent and free insti t1fions depend. % q
There are, however financial facts oan6
issues which have aroused and startlsii
the country, and to some of these ] nov
invite your ,aftenfio The sliquid dated
asbt Of the Eedsral Goyernmenf. eprel
sentedp by it's bonds and other written
Obligations, Is So, 500, ,0G6, 900. But in i
a correct estimate Of the debt this is by
no mesns5all3 ITO say nothing ofsthe
vast i9nnfiquidated Claims against the
Government which must be pressed foi
q generation to come, there is in most ol
the States a frightful amount oi State
county and municipal Indebtedness. In
New York alone it is close upon q hun.
dred millions Pig i oa ISo 20 support those accu
mulated burdens, aggravated by a vast
and reckless expenditure to destroy civil
and maintain military government
inaiit5 q, fsrgs portion e fhsH Union
theadt people rare bowed + to the
earth with taxation. On ( iConfning -our
attention to the admitted debt of the
nation, its amount, i repeat, is two thou
sand FIVE hppdredl millions. The Fed
erat Government has agreed to pay that
sum of money, and its written sbliga-
tions to that amount are held by its
creditors inthis country and in Europe.
1t is on only an equivalent expression to
say that the people and taxpayers of the
United States, through their agent, the
Government have positively agreed to
pay, that immense sum of money to those
who hold the obligations. Having so
agreed, we must pay it, But few years
ago to mention such a debt as within the
limits Of possibility would have been
evidence of a disordered intellect. The
very Thought would have struck the peo-
pie with amazementu and dismay. But
the obligation exists as the just retribution
for our national sins, and we must dis:
charge it. . We yielded up the Govern
ment to fanaticism, to dtyra my, and to
folly, and we must pay the penalty
The Ruler of Nations is Just. u If we
suffer the wicked to- govern. the land,
we must accept the punishment of their
crlnles.ns ;s9f5s ns,H ngsH5sd 5ssz-l flfi
THE cGREENBAcK QUESTION. or "a
But the inquiry / now press upon
your attention is. whether we shall pay
upon the national debt nearly or quite a
thousand millions, and possibly higher
sum, more thanlits ascertained and ad-
mitted ,amodnt I? This presents the
question, in what medium is the debt
payable? !? or more correctly, by what
standard is its amount to be calculated
This in plain words is the greenback
question: / repeat, we know the amount
Of the Government obligations in round
numbers is two thousand five hundred
millions. and if they are payable in that
which Republican craftsmanship has
declared and ordained TO be the lawful
money,of the country, that is the whole
Of the fquidated debt. We then know
its precise extent and limit Fso the
other hand, they are payable in gold, or
ratherif each dollar of the debt is a gold
dollar, then the premium on that article,
which to-day is forty five per cent. must
be added. In other words it now re-
quires sone dollar and forty :fye cents
Of g the money Of IF ths5aspeople,
raised by taxation, topay, a dollar of the
natiopal. debt. !. .FortyEEfiy per cent. ada
ed. to the debt carries-it to three. thousand
sixhuldred and fifty instead Of twethou-
sand and FIVE hundred millions, being an
addition Of eleven hundred and Lfftymil-
lions. 1 need not tell you the Republic
can doctrine is that yeryldollar of the
national debt is payableAino golds4 This
is their platform as interpreted by their
leaders, presses and orators throughout
the country; and they even attempt to
brand US with dishonor for questioning
that lofty assumption. The direct re-
suit of this doctrine is that as the public
credit-sinks,s as money depreciates, as
public and private distress accumulates,
higher and higher rises the debt If
since the war we had had Constitutional
Government and wise craftsmanship,
gold would now be atRar. The premi.
um has doubled within the last three
years of peace! Extravagance, corrup-
ton, military government; freedmen's bu-
reaus, and other unconstitutional schemes,
Of personal and party aggrandize-
ment have exhausted the vast sums
raised from the people and impaired the
national credit. A continuance of the
same wicked and disastrous rule will
widen the margin more and more between
gold and the currency of the county,
The national credit is the only basis of
value for the paper, which is the money
Of the people. Three years more of
government outside of the Constitution,
three years more of reckless expenditure
for objects which have no sanction in
human or divine law, will exhaust our
credit and carry the national debt to an
incredible sum for if we accept the
Radical postulate, we are bound first
to pay the debt dollar for dollar,and then
add thereto the difference between
paper and gold. 1t is the same thing
to, say we must use the tainted paper of
the Government to obtain gold at what
ever rate we can procure it, and then pay
the debt in coin. This, / repeat, is the
doctrine of that vast conspiracy against
the public happiness, which calls itself
tbe Republican or Radical party, and is
now struggling for continuance of pow
ea:. In this doctrine there is no comfort
or hope for the people, because behind
the known and admitted debt Of the ma
tion, in, itself of vast proportions, rises