The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-28

f6e United ~ 5.
passedrthrooasa the mintNa thsss51se g !,
ment and corSes out quaftArs . ou naIl. y,
Iars then IL becomes money suL.pgse lou'
instead ofafsar Of silver oSsgold tBetso'ss. -. ~
ment Of the Emitted States fakes pisse D.: pa
ner. called green back, and says this snail =
iegal-tender IN receipt and expenditures Of
all Government dues and 10 all TRANSACTIONS
of the people. Suppose the Government 10
he ir good standing and sound credit, re-
soousible for IT'S words and for It's paper, tnis
dollar, thus stamped Ikea piecs@o metai, ID
10 all iptents and purposes equivalent 10 q
silver dollar. You want specle-pay ment.
How much specie would be used II specie
payments were required, to be nader FER"
haps a few ten.cent pieces or quarters 10 take
The place of shGplasters, " hieh wear out so
quickly and are very inconVenlent. UP 10
that point specie would be used, and no iuf-
Their. .s. a.
The party that is bowling all over the
county for spece<payment passed currency
set in the last Congress, and they could not
telI to save their own souls whether that act
was an act OF inhltion or contraction. One
norton of the Republican party swears it
was contraction; the other swears It was in
lation; but, whatever sort of act 1t was, they
wouldn't debate or give any reasons for
passing it. They put off this day which
was to carry deliversnce to the nation for
nearly four years. Now, if specie-pav
was such a good thing, Why didn't
they put 1t into operation right away?
Because they knew the presidential
election would have TO occur before
the expiration of the four years, and they
knew that if they undertook 10 enforce
snecie.pagment before that election they
would be utterly ruined. They knew 1t
would spread bankruptcy throughout the
entire land, and that no businessman or Ia
borer would escape. The panic drove mo-
new into The banks. Banks would not lean
it TO traders because they dlstrusted their
ability to pay in the future. There are plenty
of men in the country who have money 10
loan. but it is not borrowed, because the
great manufacturers and tradesmen who
have need of it have the threat Of specie.pay-
ment before them. They will not borrow
money worth eighty cents on the dollar and
have to pay at the rate Of one hundred cents
besides interest. Therefore the businessmen
let it stay where it is. .......- 49,.
That brings me to another proposition.
When you do come TO spech-payments.
what do you mean by that? Do you meSn
that all the existing debts OF the country,
thousands of millions of them, all contracted
upon a basis deprecated fifteen ceCts on the
dollar, are to be paid on certain day by a
specie bearing standard? If you mean that
you simply mean an impossibility, come
when specie-payments may. pronounce it
an absolute, an utter impossibility for such
IN act to have retrospective effect, and to act
upon contracts previously made. That act
must have a prospective effect, with the
single exception of such obligations as have
been previously understood to be payable
in gold and silver or its equivalent.
All the preeXisting contracts must be paid
in the currency in which they were
contracted. Then apply the act for specie
payments to the debts afterwards to be con.
tracted, and then the people will know what
they are about. If the people who have
borrowed at the rate of eighty.five cents on
the dollar are compelled to pay at 100 cents
it will break up every man in the country.
I say, therefore-l don't know how many
people may have said it before me, and |
don't care for them-the truth comes fair and
ssat into my brain. and / will utter it if it
bursts me. Laughter.] / say TO you now,
whether l speak alone or not. the resump-
ton of specie.paymeuts BY retrospective
act that embraces all existing contracts would
be an outrage, an intamy, and an absolute
impossibilty short Of revolution. [CheerSJ