The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-02-26

surv certificates or currency shall be
gal tender in payment Of debts, publlc
and private, contracted after its passage,
and for all existing debts except the IN
tecest and that portion OF the principal
of,the government debt, which Is by the
laws under which it was contracted pay
alb e in coin and that the Government
shall purchase with the lawful money or
interest bearing bonds the coin neces-
sary to meet the payment OF these eXcep-
tiols. 1t may be objected that this would
advance the premium on coin, ana there
bv subject the Government to loss; put
T think il will be found that this obJec-
ton is not we'll founded. l have estl-
mated that S54O,ooO,OOO Of principal OF
the debt would be liquideted at the
end If the first year, leaving to bear
interest but 81 ,2G0, OOO, 900, and that the
rate of interest would not exceed five
per .cnt., or SG3,00O,00O annually. Inc
diminished demand for coin would tend
to lover the premium, so that L think II
safe 10 assume that at the end or the
third ,ear the currency would be at par.
Then { our now outstanding bonds were
not due, and the holders should demand
an eX)rbitant premium on them, we
could suspend the collection OF taxes
beyonC what might be required TO
meet the current expenditures or
the Government until the bonds be-
came cue and payable at their face
value. There is one circumstance bear
ing on this point which the bankers and
other opponents Of a government cur
rency issued directly to the people, with
out the Intermediate agency or any sys-
TEN OF blnks, are careful to keep out or
view, VIII ch is the issue OF the first series
of demand Treasury notes, $5O,OOO,OOO or
which were issued in August, 1861, and
afterward increased to sixty millions.
These notes passed at par with coin, or
nearly so, until the following December,
at which tine the Government and banks
suspended specie payments, when they
Immediately began to depreciate in value
as compared with coin, (the only lawful
money then in circulation,) and contln-
ued to decline until Congress, in Febru-
arv, 1862 made them receivable for du-
ties on IMPORTS, when they Immediately
rose to pal with coin, and remained so
ever afterwlrd. The cOmmOn-sens way
and the only way to make and maintain
one currency at par with another Is to
endow it With equal legal powers in the
payment Of debts.
OBJECTION ANSWERED.; NO GOVERNMENT
BANKING, OR UNDUE IMITATION OF
THE CURRENCY.
There arb those who profess to DeileVe
that the Object is to embark the Govern
ment in the business Of general banking,
and to ISSUE legal tenders cd minimum.
But will say to,all this class OF DIRECTORS
that there il nc cause Of alarm on either
of those points. The object Of the advo-
Gates Of thoproposed monetary system
is to prevcnt such condition of things
~ the objection seems to deprecate, ana
from which WE are now suffering. The
system contcmplates nothing OF the
kind nor can il possibly be productive
Of any such results, for there is not one
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