Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1876-08-22
One Dollar.

OF mind have resulted rom the DsDlI oi
calling sreenbscks and bank bills IDOL
lars" The face of q greenback reads
The Uuied States viii pay to bearer
One Dollar" bank bill, The -
National B4uk OF -- will pay on de-
mand to bearer, One Dollar" Then
neither OF these pieces Of paper is dol
lar. Oae is note signed by the United
States Treasurer, aud secured by national
or,dit; the other, one signed by q bank
president and secured 10y bonds OF the
United States deposited with the Treasurer
at Washington. Neither of them have
any value except that conveyed 10 them
by their sureties. ii bank fails, its
notes are worth bu, three cents per pound
for old paper. When The government is
in fiuaucial straits its notes lose credit.
In fact. the greenbsck or bank bill bears
the same relation to government that an
Individuals note bears toward It's signer
They are promisSory notes. and nothing
more.
What then is dollar-the dollar which
the signers OF these notes promise 10
pay There is a little round coin. which
"beiore the war; used to circulate freely
among the people. This coin weighs
25.S grains, OF which % p grains are
pure gold. and 2.5S grains alloy composed
of copper and silver. On one OF It's sid, 5
are The words "ONE DOLLAR not 4
promise TO pay, but name, such as is
placed beneath 4 picture or upon medal.
This is dollar. There is another coin
weighing 420 grsins-silver- which like
the gold coin contains g pure metal, and
the words 'ONE DOLLAR are stamped
upon its back. This is also a dollar-a
material tangible article. A dollar Is
also "Ihe unit commonly employed in
the United States in reckoning money
values"
Oi course note cannot be given Tor u
unit OF value any more than for an angle,
or for a point; and as these coins, above
described, and unit OF value are the
only things to which the word dollar
can be properly applied, our greenbacks
and bank notes must be promises to pay
coin.
10 a lime OF national distress the gov
eminent issued its notes, rs a business
man does when be has not sufficient
supply of cash 10 conduct his business.
1t did not give the people bits OF paper
in exchange for their metals, cattle and
time. but notes promising to pay them
coin for oil commodities delivered to the
general government. 1t did not declare
its notes money. and if it had, such de-
claration would not have converted
paper into money. 1t simply demanded
that citizens OF the United States should
use these notes for the purposes OF bust
ness exchange. Il could 10 no more.
These government notes were not
drawn on time. but on demand. and the
people understood thai As soon as the
eXigencies which led 10 taeir issue had
ceased TO exist, the notes would be
redeemed. With this understanding in
view, the last Republican Congress
passed law which fixed date Tor the
payment OF these notes. Ii gave def
mite promise instead of the vague one
heretofore accepted, and vas one step
toward resumption. But the Democratic
National Convention and the Democratic
House OF Representatives, by their voice
and vote, have indednitlT postponed
this day. They have decided in their
uneQualled wisdom that an indefinite
promise to pay is as acceptable as 4 GER
tain one. They have cut loose from the
only pier to which our financial ship was
moored. We are now as Ii lch ahuat as
We were when the war closed. The
greenbsck promise 10 pay zone dollar"
is again lie and snare.
Now the people demand that this state
of uncertainty be forever laid aside.
They demand that the government
shall supply them with the dollars which
are promised by both greGnback and
bank note. The only step toward this
consummation was taken by the Repub-
lican party. 1t was as promptly undone
by their opponents. From the DemC-
cratic party We can expect TO receive no
relief By their platform and candida IS
they favor indefinite action and uncer-
tainty. TIE Republican platform calls
for resumption at the earliest practical
moment. while its candidate says: Il
shall favor resumption in lS79-if not
before" Those who believe that the
government should be as faithful to its
promises SIS an individual is. will do well
to consider the attitude of the two great
parties on his question.
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