Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-07-24
sRAG MONEY!.
Old Bill Allen Rises up to Give His
Views ON the Currency.

10 ma he peecn III the eVeDlDS, "htVh
he did to large and attentive crowd.
The following is that portion of his re-
marks hearing on the currency:
Now, there are some curious facts
that arise in the history of politics, and
we have singular exemplifcation OF
the statement at this time. We hear
it said by all Of the newspapers in that
interest-and the most of them In this
State are conducted by postmasters--
we hear il said that the Democratic
party at Columbus, at its State Con-
veution, hoisted the flag of rag money.
Did they? What is rag money? Who
made it? Where did it come from?
Every cent of it was made by your
press gang at Washington City, run by
the Treasury Department. Every dol
lar of this rag money" from the be-
ginning to the end, was made by you,
gentlemen, who are now clamoring
against rag money" Laughter.
How came it in circulation? Did the
Democrats circulate it? Oh, no. A
Democratic voice was not heard in the
councils of the country when that i'm
mense volume of paper was issued,
and when the same Congress that issued
it wrote upon the back of it, This is
legal-tender for all debts" and you
must take it, except in paying interest
to the bondholders and in the Custom
house. By this they made discrim-
ination in their own currency; they
impaired one faculty to it and denied
it another. They paid their debts
with it, and paid the farmers with it
when they bought anything from them
during the war; they paid the soldiers
with it; they paid pensions with it ;
but they won't pay the bondholders
with it, although II was specially pro-
vided that one class of bonds was to be
paid in it. Why is this?
The bondholders have great adj
vantage in holding this immense amount
of property, and at the same time pay
ing no taxes and getting their interest
paid in coin on it. But whatever the
currency is in quality and volume
it is their work, not ours. If they
call the issues of the Government
rag money" whose rag money
is it? Didn't you make it? Laugh
ter You made the rag money.
Not one dollar of paper money in the
United States was manufactured by
Democrats. And yet these fellows arr
making clamor as though we haG
imposed upon the country all this rag
money" They are repudiating thei
own bantling. They are trying t.
bring their own spawn into contempt
and in doing that they are doing goot
deal more than they think they arr
doing. Now, rag money, as the.
call it, is a promise of the United
States to pay. That is all it is. A
bond Of the United States is promis'
to pay; bond of the State of OhiC
or the city of Cincinnati is a promis'
to pay; all the railroad bonds of tn
Republic are promises to pay. The.
all stand upon the same foundation o
credit, and the man who undertakes t.
discredit the notes of his Government
discredits the entire amount of GU
private and corporation indebtness a
we'll; the individual notes of peopl
who will not pay their public indebt
edness will be worth but little in tn
money markets of the world.
There are in the United States, in
Guiding all the bonded Indebtedness o
the Union of States, cities, towns ant
railroads, about ten thousand million
of dollars, and all this vast sum hang
upon the precise thread that sustain
the greenbacks and all the bank circu
lation of the country. They are base,
upon the idea of credit, and that credi
alone is to be expressed in fidelity t
the institution that issues that note o.
bond which it promises to pay. The
are all promissory notes they are al
intertwined with each other they form
an immense creditsystem in the Unitet
States and in every country in thu
world that is civilixed. You woult
be surprised, | presume, if [ were t.
tell you that the whole trade of tn
British Empire from Canada to Indi
"a larger commerce than any countr.
in the world, old or young, ever hat
before-is transacted upon credit
every dollar of it. Whenever thes
people commence an assault upon tn
credit of the country, called green
backs, they at the same time commence
an assault upon the entire volum
of this property that consists solely il
credit.
But these gentlemen who are making
such hue and cry about rag none.
have no word of depreciation for tn
two thousand National banks, to whicl
we pay twenty millions of dollars pc
year for the blessed favor of furnish
ing US a currency. And what kind o
a currency do they furnish US? Is i
not rag currency? Is it not mad
out of the same material out of which
greenbacks are constructed, and is i
not redeemable in greenbacks? Their
why is this species of rag money bette
than the greenbacks, and why shoult
we pay this enormous sum every yea
for the privilege Of having a currenc.
redeemaLle in greenbacks, when WI
can have the greenbacks themselves
and save our twenty millions of dollars
If we could hear the clink of the coil
on the counter when we pass Nation
al bank bill to its maker, for redemp
ton, there would be distinction witt
a difference between the two kinds o
money? But while the National banl
rag is only redeemable with green
back rag, and the faith and prosperit!
of this great Government is pledged
to redeem the greenback, it seems tt
me that the greenback is the prefer
able, as it certainly is the cheapest
currency. To call the greenbacl
worthless and an irredeemable cur
rency, is to impugn the honor and credi
of the Government Upon the face o.
each note is printed, 1.-The Unitec
States will pay to bearer = dollars.
1t does not say when it will pay it, a.
it does in its interest bearing bonds
but it nevertheless solemnly promise:
to pay the amount.
The matter of the payment of either
of the series of the interest-bearin
bonds rests entirely upon the honor Of
the Government. There is no power
under heaven to compel the payment
of any of our bonds if the Government
declines to do so. Therefore, what
right have the Republicans to say thai
the Government will pay one class Of
its honestly contracted Indebtedness
and refuse to pay another? The obi
cations of this Government will all be
paid. The people will not allow re,
nudiation in anv shane Tbeir mora