The Portland daily press., 1875-09-28
Our New York Letter.
The Greenback Meeting mt Cooper lnsti-
deeming Government Pledges Nothing
less than Robbery-Hard Money Sure
TO Triumph.

uQedSl-
ness IN the minds of those who dread any move
ment which may tend to check the return of
the country to a redeemable currency, Moth
ing could be more unfortunate than a renewal
of the foolish clamor for more legal tender
notes. That there should be less is a proposi-
tion We ry generally assented to by people who
profess acquaintance with and respect for the
laws of political economy. -Four hundred
millions were originally authorized. Under
Secretaries Mccullough and Boutwell, reduc-
ton OF forty-four millions was effected. From
this carefully garnefed reserve twenty-six mill
lions were set adoat during the four months
succeeding the panic of 1873. When Congress
passed bill providing that the whole original
100000 should be emitted the President in
terposed his veto. That was the first defeat of
the advocates of rag money. They met Sec
ond reverse nine months later when the law
was enacted insuring the retirement and can
collation. OF $50 of greenbacks for every S1OO
national bank paper issued. At first blush
this did not seem contractive measure. An
hundred is mere than eighty. But then there
were all the while more or less bankers with
drawing from business and every note taken
out of circulation in this way helped to dimin-
ish the grand aggregate.
But the best feature of the act is its provision
for the reduction of legal tenders. This has
worked admirably, lessening that form of the
public debt at the rate of millien dollars per
month Everything was going along smoothly;
money was so abundant that lenders could not
get any where near the legal rate of interest
Tor it; prices of staple commodities were steadi-
ly settling down to point which brought them
within the means of general consumers; good
crops and consequent feeling of hopefulness
were beginning to put people into a cheerful
frame OF mind; the demand for labor was get
ting more active; we were moving forward all
along the line slowly to be sure, but with the
caution and steadiness which denoted strength
for the journey-when suddenly these fanatics
in Ohio, brought about halt. Aud there we
are-in state of suspended animation-every
body is afraid to move toward or backward.
Money lenders keep there funds lying idle to
wait the turn of events. They cannot tell how
far this frenzy extends. Pennsylvania has
been seized with it, and at this very moment
demagogues are perambulating these two great
states and openly teaching agrarian doctrines
eho PooA oSdiuo1 que IICu-duu dutO-
eating financial policy which if adopted will
render reputation an inevitable certainty.
We had an idea that New York was tolera-
bly, free from this pestilent spirit OF commun-
ism. Certainly there are no leading men who
espouse the dangerous cause, with the single
exception of Peter Cooper. and the reverence
in which he is fheld on account of his great
age and pure character, place him outside the
pale of criticism. And yet large crowd gath
cred in Cooper Institute last Thursday night
to listen to speeches denunciatory of "bloated
bond holders" and limiting at methods of repu-
dating obligations incurred in the maintenance
of the national honor. The orators of the oc-
casion were not men OF note. What they had
to say derived none of its importance from their
reputation as leaders of the people. Nor did
they openly and frankly array themselves in
hostility to the payment of the public debt
The proposition in its naked form is altogether
too repugnant to the moral sense of the COM
mGnity to be directly avowed. 1t has appeared
II SaEsfy 4f dsgasss Az u asassm one green
back with another. Andrew Johnson's device
was to deduct the interest as fast as paid, from
the principal due. The expedent of these new
disciples of wrong is to superadd to the Pendle-
tonian theory an enforced reduction of forty
per cent. per annum in the rate of interest on
the funded indebtedness.
But though differing as to the most feasible
plan of consummatng the fraud, these infation-
lists invariably aim at the object of cheating the
government creditors. The very essence of all
their cunning is to evade the literal fulfillment
Of ho no. tI,o
cured in time of great peril. They have
peculiarly bland way of declaring their inten-
tions and are rather ingenious in discovering
mild phrases to serve as sort of sugar coating
for pernicious doctrines. There is nothing new
this. The approrriators of other folks prop
erty have a chronic distaste for the homely
Saxon words by which they are popularity de-
scribed.
''Whar have you been, Pomp?" said one
darkey to another, whom be had not seen for
years.
Use been to States prison, Ginger, by golly,
dats whar dis nigger's been, sahr'
'To States prison! What you go dar for?"
For borrowing money!
For borrowing money-look heab, Pomp,
dey don't send people to prison for Borrowing
money, 1 tell yerp'
"Dey don't hey? You jest look heah, tell
you was put in de jug for borrowing money
of a man;-bM Ihad to knock hin, do,pn t,oice
afore he'd lend it to me.
If that colored "gemmun" is at large nov, Il
dare say he was one of the audience of the
irritation meeting There is very little
difference in morals between his meth
cd Of horro nj ;nao
method of redeeming the governmenr-rle ges
The one is called highway robbery and is Co..
s,mmated by brute force; the other is robbery
all the same, although deprived of the element
of PHYSICAL violence and punishable simply by
disgrace.
Apart, however, from the ethical points in
volved, the idea of enhancing the general vel
fare by relapse into currency expansion is con-
trary to reason, precedent aud common sense.
Business cannot be revived by such bare-faced
quackery. A redundancy Of paper mouey is
the cause of the depression under which the
country has been suffering for two weary
years. A sufficient decrease in the quantity to
inspire confidence in its value and stability is
the essential requisite to restore the spirit of
trustfulness which constitutes the very life
DlOOu VI lnuuSbIldi dCtiViIy. Wueu uieiouaue
discovers that his credit is imp aired because
there are too many of his notes on the market,
and the rate of discount on them Is gradually
increasing the first thing he does if he is sem
sble and solvent is to curtail his liabilities.
The process may compel him to make tempo.
rary sacrifices He may be forced to sell his
goods at a loss, to forego tempting opportuni-
ties of profit by new transactions, possibly to
relinquish connections of long standing, full of
lucrative results if he would continue them,
but il he is wise he will not hesitate to give up
all these chances. to preserve his commercial
standing The same principle is as applicable
to public as to private debtors. Contraction is
just as necessary to the state as to the individ-
ual, when either is suffering from the mistake
of undue extension. In both cases there will
be nominal shrinkage for bhe time being
an apparent declension of wealth, but count
ing dollars at their exchangeable value, the
deterioration will be rather imaginary than
actual.
Happily there is no yerv serious danger that
the mischievous rant which is delugng Ohio
will work perm ,nent harm to the Republic. If