Ellsworth American., 1876-04-20

larsf No. but they shall find their full equiv
alent in bonds. But what then are the bonosy
Why. they are only promises 10 pay; promises
TO pay, moreover, dollars again. Just as the
greenbacks are. and 10 be fulfilled and redeem
ed hy being converted, when IL comes to "A
pinch into grccnbacks again. One promise Is
paid by second. aud the second il redeemed
by renewing the first, by which process we
are gravely told. our financial prosperity shall
be all that we desire, but what has become Of
the dollar in all thi. iugglcry between prccn-
backs and bondsy Where is ''the little iokcr''
In this amazing game of thimblc-rigging in
which a great government like ours Is sobcrly
urged 10 engage The dollar, whatever Il is
and viii not quarrel here about it, meaning
the dollar i nowhere TO be found He 10 whom
It belonged. when seeking for his own. finds
himself the victim of a cheat, aud the govern
ment which palms of such procedure upon
him becomes party 10 a fraud. am awar'.
Mr.. Chairman that some very extravagapt fl.
nancial theories are afloat among Us. but sus-
pcct that a parallel for this interconyertihe-
grcenback-and-bond scheme cannot be found
outside of a madhouse.
! have said. Mr.. Chairman, that there are on
" three possible courses to h. taken respecting
our currency. only one OF which can lie wise
And IL further imitation is certain to bring up
on us all he disgrace and disaster of na'ional
repudiiion and IL our present system. defraud-
ing labor. A. II necessarily does, of us honest
rights, must. in the long run. .paralyZe industry
giving rise thus to innumerable delusve make
shiiis and fraudulent eNpedents. by which we
endeavor to cheat ourselves or Others with the
notion that the scmhance of n thing j. toe same
~ the reality. then the resumption Of spcrie
payments. the only course n. will b. sought
by every wise man hut hic Iabor. Apc opus
est. How To do this il, | am free to admit our
hardest financial problem. To see that fur
thcr imitation means repud alton. aud that the
attempted continuance In our present course i
the continued reiEn Of financial disaster and
ruin 4, mlfgh 90 asig than Ia ha
path 10 The only safe end But wise and p!ac-
teal People like ours ough, To b. able t. solve
thi> problem snd brave people like our ought
not 10 bc discourage ri bcfore IL.
We shall he aided toward tins solution II here
also we classify al the possible way~ IN which
any one might suppose It could hc reached
And. in doing this we shall find that their
are only three possible courses Tor ~ to take in
the general administration of our national inhn-
60. only one OF which j. wise. 30 there arr onN
three possible wa Of attempting specie rc>umr-
ton, only one Of which l. certain 10 succccd
>hN only three possible wavs. for ! cNclu T.
the thought that our currency. unless still fur
ther EXPANDED. can b. rcpudated. - an i'm
possibility
The first nfthc>e ways j. 10 hnrrd coin until
sufficient amount ha, been gathered 10 mskr
sure that resumption would not hr \ failure
This /. fAvoric method with ne. who hud
easy arguments in its support. but | suspect
the difficulties In its waV are too great to allow
II Ia succeed. For. obviously it would b. avery
costly procedure. The gold would have tn De-
bought in order TO h. STORED. and the Increasing
scarcity caused bv the incrras rg hoari would
rc>i,tlc>siY incrra~e the market price Of The
gold. What shall b. shid. too, Of the interest
upon the sccumuaions during the time oi their
progress and what OF the unsciiling of mnpcia-
~ values all over the wor 4 which such \ pro-
ccdurr would incu1ct II NAV safely h- said
iha; such an accumulation of specie would
be necessary io secure PAYMENT IN coin for our
u-nnlt t.rpAu~a sp.-h
ciai pressure here AMI clsw herr that we should
be forced 10 stop before we had finished. Aud
thus this method Of rc>uminE specie payment.
/. not really possible one, though az dr.; IL
nigh, seem 10 h. such. Moreover. II his were
possible there i another wty. not only easier,
but incalcushly more economical.
The second possibility i = return To the meth
oil - wisely adopted Al the close OF the war. II
gradually retiring and destroying these Legal
tender notes out Of the supcrabundaut revenues
Of the Government approves which bold 10
have been the wise>; financial step the Govern
mcnt has taken since these notes were made 4
legal tender. snl which had 1t been continued
A. u began. would have brought " back 90 sI.'-
eic payments snd prosperity long ago. Rut
though our surplus revenue - not now sum
cicni 20 permit,without An increase Of taxation.
a hopeful rr-inAuguration Of this method. We
should not forget that such 4 course. could Il IT,
pursued, would inevitably bring u 20 sp.'cie
payments again Specie payment. would r.
turn al onoc. as we all know: no power could
hinder their return II the currency which fir>t
drove them out ddn not still hold them back
You might - well keep the tide. Of the ocean
from returning when graviia:iou rcqurrs it.
And Just a surely and clearly. specie pay
ment- can NOR. return unfit our present
currency hss been reduced than can the sun
hShi al darAencd chamber TIL the shutters
have hccn taken down.
But II we Arc 10 have ! reduction Of our cur
rCury. n national honor ami national praspcri-
| y e - aI.A ~ nal
safety require, aud Il TIN. cannot h. done ty
withdraw al> from our surplus revenue, no
other way remains ihau - exchange this cur
rency for the latercsi-hcarlug bond- Of the
lion, PAYABLE. principal and interest. in com.
And thus we fad 81 the conclusion Of our sur
Ncy. that Of all possible method, of dealing with
our currrucv. only one = wise. and venture
to .ay aiso that. II this b. rejected. we have no
practicable alternative to reputation. We msy
A. well face this alternative first last We
must fund our grccnbarks or rcpudiAtc them.
for W. cannot keep on bearing the burdens. the
increasing burdens. with which this dclusiYe
currency oppresses IL. | % not hsiry"
stall repudiaic. have faith in the nation And
Therefore would hope that the Cousrv>, II
the nation. b. it, original convictions trust.
aud otherwise hv the unialierinE voice Of the
the people. will speedily set forward some
measure for funding our presen, lecAl-;endcr
currency. the only measure which can give u
monetary soundness again.
We must reduce the actual volume Of our
present currency in order % make specie paw
ments possible. lit pinche.. III pain, u. Il
II plunges u in distrcsses which for the time
NAV seem intolcrzhle. We have got 10 b-a II Il
We get back 10 ,pccle payments and healthy
state Of tu>Incs. again. AMI 4 wr are any !hiu;
bu; chi ldrcu. \ a., "a s-- i'-r-'., ~ ho can
see our ~.ckne.s and IL remedy. We shall not
sh riu> from the medicine or the knife uScdfu
to make u sound again. We arr rot children.
W. arr not a nation cf mp1u-stguck dreatnrr-;
our people can, they d. >er the difference b.
tween dancing ouuble and building on
stable bA,l-, AMI no party. whatever its name,
can lons maintain Il, hold upon them, which
under.A axes - claim thAia promise 20 paw
which csnnoi D. pushed 10 fulhlimcni-no
matter 10y whomsOeNrr or whatsoever made
can be equivalent 10 the actual payment. Our
lAhoring classes, the toiling millions BY whose
Industry alone comes TO nAilonsl wealth. are
too intelligent 10 have permanently palmed of
on them promises 10 pay which are never paid
and because the doctrine, by Whatever name Il
NAV be called. hat industry can b. paid with
Aa-ht which !, not itssf the product Of iulu>-
try. i delusion; the work kmrn Of the and
Will a,>uredly come 10 see Il ~ Il i. and Will
render 10 whatever party represents Il the
retribuiion II deserves.