Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-01-08
First That such payment would


and the boBtls. We cannot be called
upon to go beyond them. According
to Messrs. Sherman and Morton the
laws and the bonds contain no prom
Use to pay the five-twenties IN coin.
In recruiting soldiers for the army, in
very many instapces, the recruiting
officer promised bounty and paw be-
yond the amount allowed by law
In no single instance did the govern
ment make good these promises. It
applied to every application, "the
law regulates the bounty and pay
The government cannot be RESPONSE
BILE for promises or statements not au-
thorizcd by law" 4 : --.
Again. The bounty and pay were
fixed by the law OF 1861. There
We're no greenbacks in existence then,
and the promise was to. pay bounty
and wages in coin After tho law 6f
1862, the bounty and pay promised by
the law In coin were discharged in
greehbacks, thought they have fallen
very far from par. Was kood faith
kept with the soltsfers In these mat
ters ?, h yes, w0pld fpt the. same
acts Be consistent with good faith
when applied to the bondh0lders? II
no, why do not our sensitive friends
sometimes mention the faet. and
make an effort to Correct The injus-
tice? + -,
Second. That the payment In
greenbacks, can not be made without
violating the provision of the law of
June 30, 1SGf-that the amount of
outstanding greenbacks shall never
exceed $3.50, 100000. Butthe amount
of greenbacks now outstanding is less
than $3.50, ,000, 900. Seventy millions
more can be issued without violating
that section of the law. The issue az
greenbacks as a substitute for Nation-
al bank paper would be no violation
of the spirit OF the law; md have
repeatedly demonstrated that with
this, substitution the debt can be bald
without the addition of a dollar fo
the volume Of the currency or to the
rate of taxation. 10
We hear great deal about "irre-
deemable paper,r ''flOoding the coun-
toy" "basketftil Of rags.N This h
mere idle talk, unworthy of reason.
ing men. The "irredeemable paper'i
is The grcenback, which was voted for
by every Republican In Congress, and
when, during the tifsscussion OF the
legal-tender clause, pointed out the
fact that no time was fixed when
their redemption could be demanded,
was told that the omission was in.
territorial. The "fiootfing the couns
try" is only to keep outstanding the
these same gentlemen. The "basket-
ful of rags" would delight the heart
OF every one of them, even though his
opportunity for ''laying by for rainy
day" would have satisfied even.
The whole. greenback theory con-
sists oftwoplain, simple propositions:
First: We will pay the public cred
itor what we promised to pay him
no less, no more.
Second; We inflated the currency
when the government was buying
material OF war and incurring the
debt. We will not contract the cur
rency when the government Is about
to pay the debt. If the currency Is
prices fall. The debt re-
mains nominally the same; but, In
order to pay his taxes, the farmer
must sell more corn and wheat and
barley, the manufacturer more cloth
or shoes or furniture or machinery,
the labOrer must work more hours
This Is robbing the people to enrich
the public creditor. The legal-tender
act cOnfiscated the property of the
creditor class. This system of con-
traction confiscates the property of
the debtor class.
Some of our friends favor imitation
Of the currency beyond the point to
which 1t has ever gone. / will not
go into that question here. If we
Would do exact justice between the
people and the public creditor, we
would keep the volume OF currency
what it was when the debt
was being contracted. 1t was then
upward OF one thousand millions. IL
is now scarcely more than six hum
dred and fifty millions. At the close
Of the war, business was active, en-
terprise was stimulated, labor was
and well paid. Taxes were
collected In one year to the amount
Of five hundred and eighty millions.
This condition of affairs should have
been "let alone" until the debt was
all paid. But the thinkers would be
busy. They began to contract in the
interests Of the bondholders, to hoard
md then to sell coin; to keep large
reserves I'm the Treasury; to convert
everything into gold interest bonds.
As matter Of course, they have pro-
iuced designation i'm business; checked
shocked the sensitive
nerves Of capital driven II from in.
vestment in industrial pursuits,
which employ labor and pay taxes,
20 investment In bonds, which yield
arge interests, pay no taxes and em-
Dloy no labor; added to the amount
If interest; increased our public debt;
deprived labor Of Its occupation; les
'ened the public revenues while
hey have increased the hardship and
burden of paying them. And yet, In
The face OF these facts, wehear o con-
slant demand for return to specie
by means Of still greater
and still greater derange-
ment Of all our interests. Specie.
payments are undoubtedly very de-
,irable, not as an end, but as means:
rs q condition Of financial affairs
Dut OF which are to flow stability,
order. We may mako
sacrifices In Fastening unduiy TO at
tain that position greater than we in
,ur by postponing II. certainly
think the injustice and distress caused
10 the Taxpayers and the debtors of
the country, by adding forty or fifty
per cent. to their obligations, or by
at that rate their re-
sources, would be such q sacrifice.
After all, the path of honor and Of
Is the path Of safety. Pay
Dur creditors-public and private--ex-
actly what we owe them, In currency
Df the kind and the value which we
promised-ncither contracting to the
injury Of the people, nor expanding
indrly to the injury OF the creditor