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

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| common standard Of value for the pub.
lic and the private creditors, for the
bondholder, the farmer, the mechanic,
and the Ilaborer. Put them ALI ON the
same level, and all are alike Concerned
TO keep the standard from depreciation;
all have the same interest in raising. mp
and maintaining the, nationaln creditl1by
constitutional, by wise and fecononieal
government In this spirit the Dem
ocratic party, by its national platform.
directly meets the issue and repels the
Radical pretension of gold for the bond.
holder and depreciated paper for the
people. It proclaims one currency for
the people of the United States, and de-
elares in terms, admirable for their pre-
eision, that the public debt is payable in
the lawful money Of the country, unless
by the strict letter of the law and the
contract the creditor is entitled to salts
faction in gold. AS to more than three
fourths of the bonded debt of the Uni
ted States, there is nothing whatever in
the law orotheh contract requiring pay
ment in coin. The difference, therefore,
between the Democratic and the Radi-
eabcalculation Of Ithepublic Gdebty isqtoa
day more than 100000, 900. AS gold
advances the difference increases Ext
month on next year oitd may be u
O00.000,000, or any other conceivable
rincohceivable sum. i7ao Midi 7, nsaHD u
-4THE asoiurIoN OF THE QUESTION: "A
Are we right in our position Dec,
lamation and denunciation do not meet
the question. Let us have fact, and ar.
gument. More than three-fourths of the
bonded debts in the SO called fve-twen-
ty bonds, issued according to the act of
Congress passed in 1862. sThsy are in
form simple money bonds, like your pri-
vate bond or note, which you may: dis
charge in the legalized currency Of the
country. The act of Congress- only; au-, aui-,
thorized their issue in that form M
othereauthority can YbeD pleaded. q No
Secretary Of the Treasury, mo ssubordi-a
nate could bind the people ione inch be-
yond the law,either as to rate Of. INTEREST
the time e,or the medium of ofpayment! Any
attempt to do SO would be an attempt to-
bind the people by a contract which
they never authorized. They expressed
their will in the terms of the law !
and they have never expressed it in
any other manner. .YsAll vpretensionl
beyond that is spurious and false.2-
/ repeat, ID the bonds are each for
SO much money. They are not for
gold, and the law did not authorize them
to be issued as gold bonds. 1t was care
full to say the interest should be paid in.
coin, and just as careful not to say SO in
respect to the principal Why, then,
areathey not payable as your obligation,
or mine in the same language is payable2]
But there are other provisions of the
same act of Congress which do not leave
the slightest room for doubt. The same
law authorized the issue of the green
backs or legal tender notes of the United
States, declared them to be the lawful
money of the country, ana as, such re-
for all private debts whatever,
for all debts to the United States except
the duties on imports, and for all dues
from the United States, erceptinterest on
the public debt. A sin gle ordinance, there
fore, Of supreme: legislation author
ized both these bonds and the legal ten
der notes, and declared that the latter
should be received in payment of the |
former; and you find the same 'declara-
tion impressed, ON the back of the green
back notes issued by the Government.
Where, then, is the doubt2 I know it is
urged insupport of the Radical preten-
sion, that the same act of Congress pro-
vides that a certain amount Of the gold
received for customs should be set aside
as a sinking fund for the pur-
chase or payment of the national debt,
and from this the surprising conclusion
is reached that the debt can only be paid
in gold. This argument would prove
that if. Congress had set apart the pub
lie land as "a sinking fund for the
! sahe purpose, the national debt could
only be paid in lands Such an argu-
ment needs no refutation. All the gold
received at the custom houses, all the
currency collected by internal taxation,
and all other means of the Government,
are resources appiiable to The Payment
Of its debt. =, To set apart a small por-
ton, or even the whole Of these resources
as sinking fund, is only stoocreate,
q mortgage or pledge of the particular re-
source for the security of the creditor
Would a mortgage given by a private
debtor on his gold or silver mine, prove
that his debt must be paid in gold or sill
yer r5insteads of lawful money! Would a
mortgage on his lands make it payable
in land? Would pledge Of his stock
in trade render it payable ingoods and
chattels2 aiOesq& s'z9alssB IS &. .asj
THE SAME LAW FOR THE PUBLIC AND THE
PRIVATE CREDIToR1nJ dfiw
The people, I am confident, will not
fail to grasp and decide this issue. Look
at it, fellow-citizens, squarely in the face.
hold the written promise of your
neighbor for one hundred dollars, but
the instrument does not state in what
medidm2 the payment shall be made.
Y ou also hold the written obligation of
he Government to pay youlffty or one
hundred dollars in five or twenty years,
and this instrument is also silent as to
the kind of money to be received in sat-
isfaction. One of these promises is the
private debt of one of the people. The
other is the public debt of the people of
the United States. You hold them both.
The obligation of each is expressed in
the same language, and the same law Of
Congress declares that either or both /
may be discharged in the lawful or
currency. Now the Radical
doctrine is that the private debt may be
paid in that manner, while the
public debt must be paid in coin. You
must receive from your individual debtor
one hundred dollars in greenbaeks in
full of the principel Of your claim, while
You may exact upon the Government