The Portland daily press., 1875-10-08


islation will be found an utter mpossibility. But
now imagine a Congress controlled by statesmen
like Gov Allen, who think that more and more cur
rency must be issued until the money of the country
STAYS out of the banks; or imagine Congress man
ipulated by ring of unscrupulous and adrot fnan-
cial sharpers and such Congress welding the tre-
mendous power OF changing at pleasure the current
value of every dollar, and every dollars worth of
property you have. Does not your head swim at the
prospect? And yet that is the power welded by any
Government, intelligent or idiotic honest or rascay.
which is charged with the office Of "making and
keeping the volume of irredeemable paper money
equal to the wants of trade" You, my Democratic
friends, say that it you who conferred such
power upon the Government by the creation of the
irredeemable paper money. That is true enough.
1t was done, under the pressure of the extreme ne
cessities of the civil war; by Republicans. But does
that change the question? Previous to the civil war
you would have found among the great statesmen of
the Republic hardly single one who would have ad
mitted the constitutionaty of an act of Congress
making anything but gold and silver coin legal
tender. know well that the! Supreme Court, after
the war, did consider such act justified by the
tremity OF the national danger. But now the ma
tonal danger is over. We are at peace The North
and the South have shaken hands in renewed FRIEND
ship, and no foreign enemy threatens our shores.
might afford of exceptional measures has vanished;
and now you Democrats of Ohio propose to continue
hat awful power Of the Government, inseparable
from an rredeemabe paper money system: nay, you
propose to perpetuate itfor what purpose?. Not to
defen1 the life of the Republic against armed aggres
sion, but to produce certain effects upon tue busi
ness OF the country. You not only admit the power
Of the National Government to change at will all
current values in the country; to dispose of the pr
vate fortune every citizen at its arbitrary pleasure
Nay in the face of the efforts of others to strip the
Government OF a discretion despotic you insist
that that power shall be exercised by what you
phoniously call "making and keeping the currency
equal to the wants Of trade by the interference of
the Government and you still call yourselves Demo-
Gratis and claim the confidence Of the people by your
fidelity to the great principle that popular liberty
and free institutions must be secured by strict lin
itation Of the powers of the Government.
APRAcTIcAL VIEW OF INITIATION
Now, word about imitation, as the price of
corruption and profigacy. You, my Democratic
friend, profess to contend for frugal. economical,
honest, pure government. So do l. Is there o
single candid man among you who sincerely be-
heves that frugality economy, honesty, and puri-
ty of government can be promoted by an expan-
tion OF our irredeemable currency, or even in
any way compatible with it? Let us look at
plain, practical side Of the question. 1t has fire.
quently been asked, How are you going to get your
additional greenbacks afoat? The query seems to
have caused some embarrassment, and the answer
has usually been, sob, we shall get 1t out some
how" But there is no need of indefniteuc-s
The matter is capable OF pr Else statement OBJ
viously there are two ways to set additional cur
rency afoat. One is by buying up United States
god-beariDg bonds in the market, by buying gold
IN nav oA fha bond fo1l :. d.
certain that this method will answer only in very
limited measure for this simple reason; as you put
out new greenbacks, with the prospect Of large
emission, the greenbacks will rapidly depreciate
as to gold, and as the bonds payable principal
and interest, in gold, they will maintain their gold
value, and their price in paper money will thereby
become so high that the method OF putting out
greenbacks by purchasing bonds will soon become
very unpopular and be dropped Or if you mean to
repudiate the bonds, of which, as 1 understands
there is at present no declared purpose, then, O
course, you will simply repudiate them and not
buy them up at all. But there is another way
to put adoat new issues of greenbacks. 1t is
by carrying the expenses Of the Government beyond
Its resources and this, have no doubt will be
resorted to as the favorite method. Do you know
what that means? Imagine a Congress making
appropriations of money for the avowed purpose OF
as possible and adopting systematic extravaganza in
expenditures as necessary measure of financial
politely to the end of making and keeping the volume
OF currency equal to the wants of trade. What
DAY OF Jubilee there will be among the thieves and
rascals who think they can gain not only wealth
but respectability by stealing much as possible of
tie public money. Let it be known that bitches
must be dug, that embankments must be thrown up.
and that railroads and steamboat lines must be
subsidized for the very purpose Of spending money
that 'the volume of the currency be made and kept
equal TO the wants OF trade" What harvest of
Jobs, what crop Of rings this blessed country will
Dear; what glorious time for enterprising con-
tractors; what seductive season for Congressman
to help friend, for little share in the profits
what carnival of fraud; what flying about of
stray millions, for mind you, money will be no
obJect on the contrary, it must be spent, and the
more spent the better, for the greenbacks must be
got cut, in obedience to the mandate "to make and
keep the volume OF the currency equal to the wants
of trade" Mol fellow citizens, this no Jest This
Is no exaggeration. You adopt a financial policy
making it the duty of the National Government 10
put out new issues of currency, in any way that
will serve the object quickest, and unlimited ex-
travagance will be the necessary, the inevitable con-
sequence. There never State ever 30 well
administered, there never people ever so
frugal, there never was Government ever
20 careful, which did not, by the emission of
Large quantities of irredeemable paper money, run
into the vortex of proigacy and corruption. 1t has
never been, it will never te, otherwise. 1t Is the
very nature Of things. When you manufacture this
so-caled money by merely printing a few
words on slip of paper, it appar-
emily costs nothing. You are deludnp
yourselves with the idea that you are creating wealth.
without stopping to think of the ultimate day of
reckoning which demands the settlement of accounts
"nen you spend such money Ior the very purpose of
getting 1t out the widest extravaganza is unavoid-
able and the extravaganza OF Government always is
the very hot-bed of peculation and corruption The
Rings will thrive, and the honest men will pay the
cost; but not only the Government officers does it
corrupt; still more grevousy will it demoraize the
people, when by the fuctuation of so vicious none
tary system the possessions of everybody become un
certain from day to day. Every man of business will
by the very force of circumstances be made gam
bier. What is worth something to-day and NAV be
worth nothing tomorrow is likely to be the football
OF chance; and when everybody, to save himself
sees himself forced to overreach everybody else the
principles ofhonesty are easily forgotten The sting
oil necessity stimulates unscrupulous greed End the
general example siences the the voice of conscience
honest labor appears as fruitless drudgery, and to
live on ones wits becomes the order of the day. The
American society can escape such fate Just as little
as any other if we flood this country with that kind
OF money which in its very nature carries the poison
offalse pretense and seduction. My Democratic
friends, we have seen in our days many startling
cases OF embezzlement, pecuIation, and fraud. We
nave seen Credit Mobilier Rings, Whiskey Rings,
Mail Contract Rings. Indian Rings, and what not
nave denounced these things less earnestly than
you but tell you all these things will appear nsig-
nifcant compared with the corruption and proigacy
which must inevitably ensue when you put in opera
tion financial policy, which, in order to make and
Keep our irredeemable currency equal to the wants
OF trade will obige the Government to spend money
In streams for the very purpose getting it OUT tor
then reckless extravaganza, with all the wastefuness
and corruption inseparabe from it, will no longer
appear as mere incident-it will become the sys-
tematic practice Of your Government, The very basis
fyour scheme offnaDce. Democrats, do YOU ask
for the confidence of the people on the ground that
you are enemies of corruption and friends of econom
icai, honest, and pure Government? If SO, then
make haste to mark with the stigma of condemnation
those ofyour leaders who attempt to inveigle YOU
into the appreciation of financial nolicv which INV