The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-09-17


: Government about s9,800,0OO $
) that we have about sl8, 100000 /
: the way of taxation, State and ns
tiOnal, from these banks. But bank
furnish to US safe and reliable eur
: reney. 4 National Bank bill i
= New Orleans, Texas, Missouri, Ne
: yada, Maine, Virginia, and Florid
} are equally good in each of thes
States. That is something which W
have never known in this countr
before. The bank bills of Obi
prior to the war were of little use i
j New York, and were at such a dis
count that men could make thei
purchases East only after they ha,
suffered considerable deduction, an,
did you start to travel Out of you
own State, you we're compelled Il
get coin, or suffer shave at 4 heay-
rate wherever out of the State Vol
went. This has all ceased, and it il
saving millions to US in Ohio an
nually. [ do not overstate it. 1t i.
saving to the country annually more
than all this currency costs us-but
it costs US nothing. Yet, the Demo
fcrat says to me, speaking for Mr.
Pendleton, "herein is the burden; lei
the Government issue this $500, ,000,-
900 of currency now coming from
the National Banks, and thus save
the interest, for with the currency
thus issued, we can pay off the $780,
600, 900 of bonds that the banks now
own, and thus stop the interest. u
Well, that looks feasible if you look
at no more than the mere statement;
but you will see that in this the
Government becomes the furnisher
to the people of the currency; we
would then have nothing but the
Treasury notes, or greenbacks, as
they are commonly called. Had you
stopped to- think in what condition
our currency would be? We have
now probably S350,000,00O of all
kinds of Government currency out,
and we know that it is much below
gold and silver in valuation-very
considerably. Why is it? Is it be-
cause the United States are not able
to redeem? Is it because the wealth
OF the nation, private and public, is
not abundant security? All of his
tory and experience proves the fact
that any currency that is not readily
convertible into coin at the pleasure
of the holder is not currency that
will either be fixed in value or equal
to gold and silver; and lam not alone
In this statement. | propose to
bring to the stand a witness to testi-
fly upon this subject-a witness
whose testimony every Democrat in
Ohio is bound to believe, and is es-
topped by. I said to you sometime
ago that by whatever means George
II. PendletOn could clog the wheels
of the Government in its efforts to
crush rebellion, he did it.
In 1862 he. proclaimed agaist pa
per currency to be issued by the Gov
ernment; in 1867 he is foremost in
the advocacy of it. By the law. pass
cd less than s4OO,OOO,OOO of this le-
gal tender currency was issued. Now
George II. Pendleton proposes, in
speech in Grafton, Virginia, July 16,
1868, as follows:
"Three hundred and thirty mil
lions Of bonds are held in the Treas
nry Department as security for the
National Bank circulation. Redeem
them the very instant you have the
1Ftion to do so, with legal tender
notes, and let them supply the place
If the bank paper. Five hundred
-siili~----- o 49, Tvv-It-,vsO nVC-UWCu-t
les are already, or will this year be,
payable at the option of the Govern
nent. Redeem these also in legal
ender. notes. But, gentlemen ifI
hese measures will not supply funds,
speaking for myself, l would expand
he currency; | would correct the
wills that have been produced by
uch extraordinary and unpreceden-
ed contraction. The business of the
country has become adjusted to
arger volume Of currency than we
low have. The demands Of the
south and West require a greater
mount of currency" So that you
zee by this, as we'll as by others of
lis speeches, what his position has
,een for the last ten years. This
heory Of his came under the consid-
ration of the National Democratic
Convention last year, when he was a
prominent candidate for the honors
f the Presidency. Horatio Seymour
1ent at him with speech--two of
hem, in fact--and the result was
hat he entirely tabled Mr.. Pendle-
on as an aspirant to the Presidency,
nd unintentionally, l think, got
himself into a very bad box, that of
'eing a candidate himself, to be de-
eated in the place of Mr.. Pendleton.
Laughter. l was speaking, hOwev-
r, of the proposition of Pendleton,
Democrat, to draw in these Ma
ional Bank notes, and issue in lieu
f them $500, 100000 of Treasury or
reenba ack notes.
If there is Democrat here, and he
fishes to become satisfied that Mr..
'endleton denounced the issue of such
aper by the Government as uncon-
if he wishes to become
atisfed that Mr.. Pendleton has pro-
laimed the idea that such currency,
ot convertible readily into coin, is a
isaster that Mr.. Pendletou shall
ave said that such paper will de-
troy values and unsettle the finances :
f the nation, and bring ruin upon ;
he people, he certainly will not rush
indy into favoring any such scheme.
In January, 1862, Congress had
nder consideration the enactment of ,
be law for the issuing of the legal
;Huer treasury notes. Mr.. Pendle- {
IN, then in Congress, presented his
pposition to it, met it boldly, and |
oOk the position, first, that there was |
o power, under the Constitution, in |
'hich the General Government, could ;
e authorized to issue any such |
otes. If there was, then, no {
lch power, will some one point |
ut to me wherein, and BY what ]
leans Congress has slice has since /
cquired, and where Mr.. Pendleton I
i'll discover it? Laughter. Twill
~ to you that in a speech January
8, 1862, he denied the power Of the
government to make Treasury notes,
neither they were legal tenders or {
OF, and in so doing he cited the de- {