The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-10-28

~ - than thss sull1sauSa whish fust
N ~ oossrunsQlt y this msttsr. Ee
4 I - G11tiqo a koncf ankuued fnill
! - 11at II shoaId ray IL ltgal-tsnlsl
p14 ipeoin{ {neanink gold 90, Of cour6e,
49, Y tie ea1asYt Praetioabls ne
= Nd admitting that the prouill
ON The lseAl-tsnder notes and on the lnte11
est-bssring obligations Of the governmenl
hsaas thsspayment Of coin dollars, l dsny
- II wss dollaxs containing 25 aud ss1o
zaHf standard gold, any more than il
- dollars containing SIT grains q
o9et coinage act passed under the
q stiva was April 2s1, 17s2. which
NJ fr the coinage Of eagles 10 be Of
\ of 81 doIlaes or unitz and 70
- 2l7R sEsihs Of pure gold, Aise half
Se1z1sr s>glse ~ VI geeeivs.
the eagle.
DOLLARS OR UnIrs eact - vslp>
Of the Spanish miiied ddIkr. and 70 cons
tain S7lt grains Of pure silver. This dol-
lar continued to Be tSe uuit Of value and
q legal Gender for any amount whatever
until the passage of the swindling act Of
February 18th, 1873 by which 25 $40
grains Of standard gold. was made tie unit
Of zAlue, and the coinage Of the nlver dol
lar, containing S7l4 grains of pure silver,
prohibited. Prior to the passage Of this
act, it was optional with the Government
and individuals to pay in either gold Or
silver coin, and every dollar of our national
debt y~as contracted under laws passed BE-
fore the demonetizaticn of silver. there
fore hold, that there isno obligation, either
legal or MORAL, resting uron. the govern
ment to pay one dollaS.cf its legal teDder
notes, or Of its interest bearing bonds, IN
gold coin and that payment in silver del
lars containing 3714 grains of pure silver,
would be an honorable ana honest dis
charge of any, and ~ of itt obligations.
4 can but regard the attempt 20 deprive
the government and debtor class of the
opeion to pay in gold or silver coin, as an
act of bad faith to the tax payers, as well
as to the debtor class generally; and which
can never under any circumstances meet
with my approval or support.
But Gen. Hayes says: "We should get
back TO specie payments, because by 50 do
ing we shall be enabled to avoid every APP
pearance Of deception, and shall get lid Of
that delusIon which is apparent in every
financial transaction carried on with our
present deprecated currency. The green
back rs it is to day is o deception. 1t is not
what it claims to be. The dollar bill claims
to be worth dollar, while in reality it is
only worth ninety cents in actual money.
When farmer sells bushel of wheat and
gets but ninety cents. When the laborer
received . dollar hill for his labor he re-
rminvpFAa ki~seAae vh~aasllas-, hss sAhkssh Ia
ssfss J. siid ySss 56 purchase food or cloth
ing for his family he can purchase only as
much as he could purchase with 1lnety
cents of real money. And this deception
extends through ali our financial transac-
tions with legal tender notes. We are do
ing business on delusive basis. Once get
back to specie payments, once make our
legal tenders equal in value with gold and
the delusion ceases. What We then call a
dollar will ne dollar, and will purchase
as much as one dollar and ten cents will
now.
"And this is the kind Of currency which
the Republican party wants. We want
currency whose purchasing power will be
equal to gold. We want currency such
that when a man puts one dollar of It into
his pocket he can feel that it is worth one
hundred cents of the best coin ever issued
from a mint Our present greenback cur
rency is the best currency We have ever
had in the nation"
have made this lengthy extract, for
the purpose Of showing Gen. Hayes views
on the currency question from which it
will be seen that he is in favor Of the gold
standard, and consequently opposed to re-
storing the dollar of 4l2t grains of standard
silver, as the unit Of value. His language
will admit of no other construction, and in
this, as will be seen, he claims to be in ac-
cord with the Republican party. 1t will
be noticed that he first characterizes the
greenback as 8 deIusion and deception, and
again as.the best currency we have ever
had. He says the farmer and laborer are
cheated by its use. How this can be, is
not clear to the common mind. The
farmer is now at liberty to sell his bushel
Of wheat for ninety cents in what he terms
real money, and the laborer 10 accept the
same for his days work, which is certainly
as much as either will receive when we get
back to a specie or gold base.
If the Iaborer who owes one hundred
dollars on his cottage can discharge that
debt with one hundred days work under
4 tuC pACSohb SyoeOAAS ~ ~ AC6S'
Ill days on the gold basis; and if the farm.
er has mortgage on his farm for 81, ,OOt
which 1000 bushels of wheat will dis
charge under the present system, it viii
require at least l, Ill, bushels toremove il
under the gold basis. Now l fail to SCI
why any Of the industrial, enterprising
business portion Of our population should
desire return to the gold basis, which
would increase their burdens without am
corresponding benefits ; but it is easil,
seen how national bankers, usurers anC
the money-lending class in general, woulc
be benefited by the change. And this i
the reason why they and their allies insis
upon it's adoption. The change would adj
at least Is to 20 per cent on all debts pub