Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-23
In view Of these facts, II would be
UNr,RDoNABLE MORAL WEAKNESS IN
OUR PEOPLE

not willing. myself, 10 acknowledge
that as n people, we are less honor
able, less courageous, or less compe-
tent than were our ancestors in 1880 (:
still less am ready to own that the
people OF the entire Union have not
the pluck and capacity of our friends
and kinsman in California; and last
of all would l confess that The United
States of America, with 100000 ol
inhabitants, with territory surprising
all Europe in area. and light almost
say all the world in fertility Of re-
sources. are not able 10 do what a
handful o: British subjects. scattered
from Cape Race i0 Vancouver
Island. can do so easily, 50 steadily
and so successfully.
Mr.. Chairman, one great trouble il,
this whole financial question has been
the general. and for many years the
+ growing disposition OF our pcoplc
not TO regard the legal tender note as
debt Of tho Governments, but rather
as something which is never TO be
paid. Such was not the feeling among
the people when tho iegaltcuicrs first
appeared, and | think this erroneous
and Injurious conception resulted
from the act Of Congress which in n
most vital point changed the charac.
! ter of the notes. When the first three
hundred millions Of lcsal-tcnlcrs
! were issued, they could he funded. M
the option of the holder, in :. 90 bonds
in sums Of $50 and any multiple there.
! of.
This provision gave a fixed, deter.
inmate character TO the legal tender
connected il with other Govcrnmen,
issues by am eInated value, made i,
an integral part of our whole system
OF public credit, and established il. in
short, as q sort Of balance wheel tc
our somewhat complicated nachiner,
SO long as thai provision was IL
force. the money OF the people wa,
precisely as good and JUS the same
rs the money Of the hondholhcr. Ry
mistaken policy, as l venture To nj,
firm, this section Of The law, on iht
request of Secretary Chase. was re.
pcalcd after due notice given: and
the moment that was done. The lr"a
tender became
q sept OF FINANCIAL ORPHAN
among us: II had lhanccfarward nc
connection or relationship with any
other issue by the Government; il
measured nothing itself. and was
measured by nothing: and. ever since
that day, il has bad to fight its own
battle. not merely nnaided by other
forms of public credit. but in a sense
constantly hindercd by them. To cs.
! tabiish a fixed, steady value for il un.
der these circumstances. were as i'm
possible as to determine q pound
avoirdup0is without reference 10 the
law OF graviIatiOn.
Congress having taken away the
provision for redemption. the pnblic
have naturally come 10 regard The
lcgal-tender as perpctually irrcleen-
able: and one of the first steps TO-
ward resumption is to change that
impression. by rcviving the funding
privilege, in q bond of lower rate
with extended time. and limitation
on the amount that could be funded
III any given period. AS an anchor
alton to the debtor class, the sugccs-
ton has been made that the bonds in
to which the legal-tenders should be
thus converted might themselves be
made Il legal-tender for all debts con.
tractcd prior TO the passage of the act.
This feature may have merit, hut
should desire TO consider il very fully
in all its bearings before asserting to
il, and especially as 10 lis cllrc, on the
value of the legal-tcnder note. and
also as 10 lis constilutionalitv. We
have done much 10 maintain our pub
lie credit. bnt think we
HEGAN At TIE WONG Ixp
when we made special cyenion 10
raise the price Of our bonds and lci,
the legal-teHder to take care Of itself.
Had We devoted our energies 10
bringing The legal-tender 10 par with
coin, the bond would have followed
but unfortunately. we have found that
the reverse is not the case. For my
self, ] confess always feel ashamed
10 see our bonds quoted al large
premium, while our legal tenders are
AT Il heavy discount and, while there
has been no little dcmagogucry about
the bondholding class getting ihrii.
pay in coin as the law directs. have
wondered that the mass OF our people
so quietly endure being deprived Of
gold for their legal-tcndcrs. a. the
law in lis spirit equally guarantees.
Bnt whether we shall SUCCEED or
shall fail in restoring 10 The United
States notes tho funding privilege
with which they were originally en-
dowed. ] must here enter my earnest
PROTEST AGAINST THE POLICY OF RE-
PEALING THE LEGAL TENDER CLAUSE.
which has given TO these notes their
great strength as a circulating mcdi-
UNI. cannot snG how the Govern
ment can consistently deprive these
notes of their legal tender quality |
until il is ready TO redeem them i'm !
coin on presentation and when it so
ready TO redeem them. what need or
advantage will there be in raising the
question! And ] have never heard |
any argument satisfactory Ia nv
mind that the repeal OF The legal ten
der clause would tend 10 make re-
sumption easier, On the contrary, il
seems 10 me that il would render re-
sumption far more difficult than il |
will Otherwise prove; that il would
throw an undue share Of the burden
on the banks; that il would force
them into the most rigid contradic-
ton. and ncedlessiy cripple their
power of discount thus plunging the
whole country into confusion. dis
credits. embarrassing pay
ments, fatally deranging business.
and creating widespread distress
amongst the people. Ii would be
peculiarly severe blow TO the debtor
class, and would make rcsump-
ton to them the signal of bankruptcy
and ruin. All wise legislation TO.
ward resumption will take care that
no needless burden be thrown on
those who have debts 10 pay, and tina,
in the transaction, the banks shall be
kept in such a condition as will make
them as helpful as possible to the
business community. But this policy
would drive the banks into a strng-
gle for self-prcservation, i'm which
DEBTORS WOULD NECESSARILY BE SAC.
RIFltED.
If | correctly apprehend the sound
public judgment on this question,
there is no desire to destroy the lc- |
gal tender character OF the note. but
Il settled determination 10 bring it to
par with coin, and by this means
bring every bank-note to the same |
standard. This policy will restore
the coin of the country, of which we
are producing eighty millions per
annum, 10 active circulation in The |
channels of trade, and will result moi
only in making our money better.
but assurGdly more plentiful among
the people. 1t is a humiliating fact
that, producing as we do a far larger
amount of precious metal than ali |,
the rest Of the world besides, we
drive il into export because VIC will
not create a demand for ii at home. |
Aud tho m; nnre, nr tho Pa o;Ca eIano