Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-09-16
DO WE WANT ANOTHER PANIC ?

"
Mr.. Henderson's financial idess as
nut forth at lockwood, are so reckless
and crude that they ought to secure
him the opposition of every prudent
business man in this district. In the
first place he fayors issuing paper
money enough to redeem the bonds
now outstanding. Let Us see what ell
feet this would have. The iive-twen-
tv outstanding bonds amount to $751;
7s8, $50, and consol- bearing the same
interest $3.50, 75g $50. Here, then, is an
indebtedness of 1929, 546,7O0, which
Mr.. Henderson proposes TO pay OF. az
once, in order to stop interest, He must
either raise the money to pay this 10y
taxation or by issuing more paper
money. He proposes the latter plan.
In 1923 his party denied the powerot
the Government to issue paper money
at all. but now it seems they want so
much of 1t that it will get TO be SO
worthless as Confederate scrip. What
would be the effect upon the business
interests Of the country to issue over
$500, coo 900 of paper money in addi-
ton to our present volume of about
500, 600, 600? Does not every sensible
man know that il would he absolute
ruin to every creditor and every busi~
ness man in the nation? Every eco
nomical man who has saved thou
sand or more dollars in greenbacks
would find it suddenly deprecated in
value by this new food Of money I'M
til their thousand would be worth but
five hundred -rperhaps less.
Or perhaps Mr.. Henderson iavors
doing away altogether with greenbacks
and restoring the old bank notes that
wouldn't keep over night and that re-
quired shaving at every central point
where the merchant or trader wanted
to use them.
But Mr.. Henderson vents TO break
forth generally with our creditors. He
complains that our bonds are by Re
publican legislation to be paid in gold
and he wants to repeal the joint reso-
lution-not law as he enormously stat
ed it-of Congress, passed March, 1863,
to that purport How would this
effect US in the eyes of the
world ? Most of our bonds are
held abroad by the Germans and En-
glish. It is now over five years since
the law making power OF the country
removed all former uncertainty about
the manner the bonds were to be paid
by declaring that they were to be re.
deemed III the money Of the world
gold. Since that time probably every
outstanding bond has changed hands
with the pledge Of the Government, to
give them q fixed and marketable
value. Every holder of those bonds
bought them with the promise of the
Government in mind. They are
foreigners, it IS true, honest German
aud English capitalists, who believe in
American honor and ability to pay.
Shall we betray that trust? shall we
impair our credit abroad ? If the
Republican party, continues in power
four years more every greenback will
be equal in value to gold. We would
even now save but little to repudiate
our plighted faith. But the people
oppose reputation. They favor hon
esty in public as well as private bust
ness, and therefore will not consent to
restore TO power any party or man
openly and unblushingly favoring q
policy that is not only Reputation, but
that inevitably will lead to another
panic, and to a general disturbance OF
all values.