Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-10-08
THE FINANCIAL ISSUE
A second Letter From Hon. a. "


destruction of worms and insects In
the public parks. when Jones, an inte-
resting young man, entered. Say,
Mr.. Jones" said she, "glve US your
opinion. They say the sparrows
are getting to be terrible nuisance.
Now which do you think is the worse
for us. the worms or the sparrows
To which Jones with a sweet air OF
innocence, replied; 81 dunno, Miss
Mary. I never had the sparrows.'
Financially, the United States has
had livelier experience than Jones,
as will appear from the following |
statement, taken from official records:
The public debt, on the LIST day of
July, 1866, was 81 .682, SOB, 926; on the
first day of September, 1875, it was
So, 1877 1893, 1886; showing that the
amount of the public debt which has
been paid in the last ten years is $685.
1879, 100; but during that tim e, the peo-
pie have also paid in interest alone
81, 229, 636, 1868. and for interest-ar-
my, navy, civil service, pensions and
Indians, tall told) the sum of s., 49,
759.975, which is equal to the entire
National debt of Great Britain. Du-
ring these same ten years the currency
of the country in which the people
dealt has been contracted-as 1 showed
in my last letter-more than thous-
aud millions, being 81 ,963, 677, Al, on
the LIST of August, 1865, and only
S779, 669, 1896, exclusive of reserves) on
the LIST of November, 1874.
Such an exhibit is without parallel
in the history of the world, and tits one
to which the attention of our people
has rarely, if ever, been called. And
yet, as has already appeared, a Radical
Congress, in order, as L believe, 10
embarrass their Democratic successors,
passed an act last winter to resume
specie payments on and after January
LIST, 1879! I say it was done, in my
opinion, for the purpose of embarrass-
ing the Democrats who were about to
come into power, and my reason for
so asserting is that they provided no
adequate means for the end proposed,
and must have known, as everybody
else does, that it could not be accom-
plishsd at the time designated.
The question for consideration is
money, but whether we will have paper
money or no money at all. We have
paid all the enormous amounts above
mentioned in the last ten years with
greenbacks and national bank notes as
the established currency, but it has
row become fashionable to call them
"rags." How is this?
The maxim consistency is a Jewel"
is very absurd in it's ordinary applica-
ton to pOlitics-because it means that
however circumstances may change,
opinions must be infexible-hut | can
not understand how those who estab-
lished our paper money system during
the war, and were ready to hang. or
imprison any one who discredited it
in the least degree. can now denounce
greenbacks as "rag-money," and stig
matize those who are satisfied with it
for currency, as "repudiationists," and
advocates of "dishonest money" ]
can readily see how au old-fashioncd
follower of Mr.. Benton could have OPP
posed the original issue of paper money
by the Government and could have
denied the power of Congress to make
it legal tender, but how men who
claimed that the passage of the legal
tender act "was what saved the Union
and crushed the rebellion" and who
denounced as disloyaIists those who
doubted the integrity of the currency.
can now have the audacity to denounce
this same currency as "rags - the
circulation of which is a Irrational 1
dishonor," and to characterize those
who are willing to continue it as the
tionists and repudiationists " is
mot On aoSu fn md orcfan1 71Y,Iooo
attribute their change of position to
very anwoIthy motives. Does not
the whole secret lie in the fact that
they are the creditor classes of the
community, generally speaking? Is
not this Outcry against initiation
confined almost exclusively to the
money centers of the country ? I am
presenting facts, not discussing theo-
RES. have no prejudices against cap
ltal.i or the contrary. The capitalist
has rights as sacred as any other citi-
zen. and no more. The creditor class
deserve and ought to receive the same
protection as the debtor class, and no
more. If man made himself a cred
tor of the Government, by buying its
securities very far below par in de-
preciated currency he has no very spe-
cial right to demand speedy redemp-
ton of the security at par in gold, if
such redemption will derange business,
depreciate property and Cypress the
taxpayer. That such would be the re-
suit If specie payments at an early |
date are enforced no one can deny. |
LIS it fair or honest to brand as "repu-
diators" those who are opposed to this |
enforced return to specie payments at |
an early day? [ never have seen |
mo N IN fnu 0F 80.
OF the debt of the United States. Some |
miserable demagogues have, in the dis
cussion of this financial question, tried |
to raise some of the old war preiudices
by charging that the people of the
South have taken the limitation" side
of the question in the hope of eventu-
ally repudiating the national debt.
such charge is about as honest and |
truthful as the old. WORKOUT one that
the Southern people are a community
OF assasslns who are only waiting a
chance to butcher the entire col
ored population. Now, SO far as
know public sentiment, there are not
only no 'repudiators," but no "infa-
tlonlsts, In this part of the country.
If opposition to any further cont5'ac-
tso7a of the currency makes them SO,
then the country is full of them.
believe that ninety-nine men out of
every hundred would rejoice to see the
credit of the government restored SO
that its promise to pay dollar would
be equivalent to dollar at home and
abroad; but there is not more than
one in hundred who believes that we
an return to specie payments on the
LIST OF January, 1879-as the present
law rsauires-unless there is further
legislation of totally different charac-
ter from any we have had recently.
What kind of further legislation will
meet the wants of the country, and
particularly of the Southern States,
will be briefly discussed in another is
sue of your paper.
Before concluding it may be worth
while to call attention to one subject,
which illustrates how tenderly the
bond-holders have heretofore guarded
the national honor and strengthened
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