The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-09-09
9EE1Ne rgrEIIIeENoE WEDNESDAY, MORNING SEPTEMBER

Sds ShI 1-nNlD4h . 100
that the principal was to be paid in
coin, bnt il WAS not considered necessa-
ry by others; the language of the law
was such that everybody infer
red from it that the principal was
to be paid in coin. It. was so
stated in the newspapers, and our
agents were instructed SO to represent
matters to the people.
1 feel perhaps more interest in this
subject then should IL I had not been
SO intimately connected with it. Some
of YOU may recollec5 the time / had the
Treasury. The Treasury then was ap-
parently taking its last gasp, and
make statement here, which I have
not before made in pnblio. Only the
day before went into the Treasury De-
partment, loan of thirty millions OF
dollars proposed by my predecessor
was Withdrawn by the acting Secretary
of the Treasury, because il could be
negotiated only on terms which would
show that the government had lost
its credit. / found 500, 000, 600 over due
reQuisitions, mostly due to our soldiers,
and another hundred millions coming
round in about two months. There
was not abovethirty or forty millions
ofdollars to meet the eXegencies of the
hour. What to do I did not know. i
was forced in there, would not have
gone of my own will. went because
If had not it would have been taken
by the people as an expression OF my
belief that the government would not
go on. twas the highest place ever
was in my life, except when found
myself obliged TO vote to keep the
President in his Office. [Applause.l i
had law which would enable me to
borrow money If / could get anybody
to lend it. My first step was to APP
peal to the people. and tell them pre-
cisely in what condition the Treasury
was, andthen tell them they must come
to the rescue. Ithen issued what is
called the seven-thirties, that is to say.
promises of the government payable in
three years, with interest semi-annu-
ally, payable in currency, with the
privilege of conYertingt heseseven-thir-
ties, at the end of three years, into
bonds payable in twenty years, re-
deemable in five, interest payable in
coin. And 4 said inpublic, j. said In
private, and my agents said ON my au-
Ihority-IhRt the principal of those
bonds was also payable in coin. Do
you suppose intended to deceive you,
to put forth what / did not believe to
be true? Mol fellow citizens, I would
not have done it to fill the Treasury at
the time, bad as the situation of the
United States was. [Applause.l be-
lieved then, and / believe now, that
when the government made promise
10 pay SO many dollars in twenty years,
with the privilege of redeeming them in
of five years L can pay you off in dol
lars and not in promises, will pay
you; If / cannot then, Will pay you
US soon as can. When the twenty
years are passed 1 will pay every dol
lar in coin, or if 1 cannot get 1t, will
r..
longer time" Applause.l That is
what thepeopleof this country thought
they were contracting for; that is what
the people of foreign countries thought
when they boughto our paper.
This honorable gentleman from Ohio
tells you that he first started the idea of
paying in paper, within a year; and
into his PLATFORM. He spoke for his
own friends then and not for US. If IL
was not intended TO pay the principal
in coin, why did not some member of
Congress put that construction on the
law, and tell the people SO? Why was
not the letter of Mr.. Chase, the Secreta-
ry of the Treasury, criticised and de-
clared to be contrary to the spirit and
meaning of the law2 Why were our
agents allowed to make the representa-
lions they did, disputed by nobodyf
No, my friends, we acted upon no such
bubble. We said to the peO-
pie, lend us this money and we will pay
you the interest for three years in pa
per, and at the end of the three years
we will give you our obligation to pay
the principal in coin, and we will re-
deem that obligation as soon as we can.
That is to say, we retained the privilege
of redeeming the bonds under twenty
years if we were able SO to do. With
reference to the proposition advanced
by the Democrats, what COM
plain of is this: Those gentlemen
talk of paying in paper, and they
do not ask you to wait until that
paper gets'to be worth a dollar. They
say IL is discredited. admit it, 1t is
far below par. And they urge because
it is discredited, because il is below
par, that the government should avail
itself of the five years privilege TO pay
its debts in that paper now. The re-
publicans say by their platform, bring
this paper up TO par, make the paper
dollar worth as much as a gold or silver
is acting according to the spirit of the
promises which we made. What 1
complain of in the argument of the
party is, they propose to
take advantage of the power made for
their benefit and use it as a weapon of
against their creditors. III
we wait twenty years the paper dollar
may be worth as much as the gold dol
lar; it is not now. The democrats pro-
pose by issuing an enormous quantity
of paper to make lit worth little or no.
thing, and in that way pay their debts.
The democratic doctrine is to keep on
giving promises year after year, con-
growing less in value, and
there is no justice, no right, and no
honesty in 1t.
There is but one wayto deal with this
question, and that is for you to pay
your debts, and for the government to
pay its debts, redeem its obligations in
good faith, in common honesty in the
face of the world, and in the spirit as
we'll as the letter of the contract. ZAP
plause In precisely what manner it
shall be done is a question of states
which 1 cannot now stop to
discuss. The Democrats say there is
great deal OF suffering, of misery, and
poverty here in the North on account
of the taxes. have failed to see 1t; we
work TO pay our taxes, and thank God
we are able to- pay them. CApplause.l
The only way for us to succeed is by II
straightforward payment of our debts.
We would not look foreign govern
ments in the face If we refused to do it.
II we repndiated our debt and the de-
claration of the Democratic candidate
for Vice President should come true,
and there should be another war, who
would lend us money then to carry 1t
out? Nothing would accomplish the