The Winchester journal. [volume] (Winchester, Ind.) 18??-1920, 1870-07-28
NO. 3


into power, il was decided that tn
, Government had no such right. NJ
, opinion was that ii had; but at tn
| same time, the right of the Govern
ment To issue new greenbacks afte
; the bonds were sol /, and apply then
| to the payment of those bonds-tha
/ denounced then as now, a being re
pudiation under another name. Il
, show you that Mr.. Voorhees, misrepre
sented me, l will read from my speecl
in the Senate, found on pages 3, ,992 an,
1898 of the Congressional Globe, sec
. ond session, Fortieth Congress.
II will remark that this question i
: entirely distinct from the question O
, the right of the Government to max,
; new issue of legal tender notes ans
pay off the five-twenties in that issue
, As l shall speak of the question / shall
/ speak of the right of the Government
to redeem the five-twenties in the ex
listing legal tender notes."
In another part of the same speech
/ said:
"Now, Mr.. President, this question
is important, or unimportant; as lonl
as we fail to return to specie payments
it may be important. As / took occa
sion to say some weeks ago in 'hs
Senate, the first duty of Congress, and
the first thing to do in my opinion, is
to take some direct steps toward the
return to specie payments"
al will say further, that il is i'm the
existing legal tender notes that the
government has a right 10 pay those
five-twenty bonds. There was a limit
, of four hundred millions dollars fixed
+ by law To the issue of those notes.
believe that to pass that limit would
be violation of public faith"
That is what / said then. Senator
John Sherman said the same thing in
substance. He has been quoted as be-
ing i'm favor Of this Pendleton theory,
and it was always false in regard to
me.
Mr.. VOORHEES, took what l said i'm
regard to the old greenbacks and at
tempted to make it appear as applied
to the new. Senator Sherman always
denounced, as have always denounc-
ed, this Pendleton doctrine as being
simply rcpudiation-and so it is.
spoke to you about the effect of
our having three hundred and fifty
millions of paper money i'm circulation,
and the difficulty of bringing it to par.
II is well known to any business man
that if you were to issue now three
hundred millions, or two hundred mil
lions, or one hundred millions of new
legal tender notes, you will thereby
initiate the currency, encourage spirit
of speculation, send up prices; and
then the whole thing must come down
again of course; to use a common ex-
preston, it would "go up like rocket
and come down like stick.n We
would have the same gloomy and ter
rible course TO travel again. We are
now approaching a condition of solid
prosperity. Our currency is rapidly
becoming good; but if We issue fifteen
or sixteen hundred millions of green
backs to pay off these bonds. We would
rob our creditors, and then rob the
people by leaving this money i'm their
hands SO deprecated that it would
take n hat full of it to buy hat; it
might be had, as it was in France, for
a dollar bushel.
But the most curious part of Mr..
Voorhees, plan is to come hereafter.
After he had announced his wonder
ful theory of paying off the national
debt without costing any body any
thing, by manufacturing new paper
money to do it, it seemed to enter his
mind that that was rather an enor-
nous proposition, and so, away toward
the close of his speech he intimated
that perhaps after all these bonds
might be paid. When? Why at the
end of fifteen or twenty years, and |
after all the EN- Embarrassment and injury
to the business interests of the country I
that would result in the meantime;
after the money had passed out of the
hands of the creditors of the govern
ment into the hands of the people.
then it might be paid in coin. Yes;
after all the suffering, financial and
that would be the inevit-
able result of such state OF things,
and when this money has passed into
the hands of the brokers and sharpers
who have bought it up for mere song,
then. Mr.. Voorhees, says, the Govern
nent may redeem it. / say the Gov
eminent can not redeem it. 1t is not
in the power of the Government to
redeem currency when il goes down
20 a nominal value. You must first
get your currency up TO par. and when
rou get it there il can be redeemed,
)ut not in any other way.
/ denounce this whole scheme as n
mere scheme ofrepudiatioD. The ar
,ument made 10y Mr. Voorhees, in this
peech is an argument against the
throughout. He des-
'ribes them as the greatest Of all liv-
ng rascals, as the men who cheated !
nd robbed the Government, "a !
supers and plunderers. DO not own c
bond; / wish did; j. would be {
'ery convenient TO have n few of :
hem; but bear in mind that the men {
sho bought the bonds are the men c
fho risked their money on this Gov |