The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-04-01

| tivcS nave been thrown out Vi ~oih w thc
stoppage of mills at Worcester and all along
the Shlckle river
| The FREE TRADER will doubtless concede
that greenbacks are currency" because
they promise to pay They have at least
served very good purpose as currency for a
number years even if they have not fulfilled
their promise of paying. Now what better
have they been than If they had been printed
with the statement that they were exchang
able for interest bearing bonds instead of say
ing that the United States would pay 80 many
dollars? Indeed it Is the lack of this feature
which has kept them below par; with this
feature our currency, instead OF being "coB
vertible into no fixed quantity Of anything"
will be convertible into fixed quantity of
the government debt bearing fixed rate OF
interest, and would be thus worth the full
amount of the value stamped upon il, just the
same as the due bill or note Of the FREE
TRADER or any other good establishment
would be worth the whole value Of the fig
ures indicated on its face. Whether the in
terest is payable in gold or paper at par with
gold is of very little consequence, but il is Of
some consequence that the government fur
nish the entire paper currency of the country
and receive all the benefits to be derived from
it instead Of giving those benefits TO rich
corporations Herald.
This, permit US to say, is evading our chal'
lenge, that the Herald, which is an advocate
of Kellyism, should show, by quotations from
any of Kelly's usterances, or otherwise, that
in the monetary system" he proposes he
anywhere recognizes gold or silver as basis
of his currency; either directly, by promis.
ing at some time to redeem II in coin; or
remotely, by promising ultimately to pay
principal or interest of the bonds in which
he proposes to redeem his currency in coin,
OF course the Herald evades the challenge
only because it cannot be successfully met
Certainly the FREE TRADER comedies that
greenbacks are currency" and, consider
ing all things, have Served good purpose"
as such, better than unredeemed promises
generally have done, and for two very good
reasons: first, because they were made To-
gal tender; and secondly, because the ability
of the government at any time TO make good
tspromise TO redeem them in coin was unques.
tionable, and there was always an abiding
faith that before long it would do SO. And
they would have served still better purpose
as currency If, as the Herald suggests, they
had been "printed with the statement that
they were exchangeable for interest bearing
bonds,' provided those bonds had been u s.
5--40s or 10-50s, or even new 5 per cents. OBJ
viously, with this additional feature, they
would not be "below par as the bonds nam
ed are above par in gold, varying from to 10
per cent. But suppose the bonds they were
exchsngeable for were U. 8. 3 per cents: As
U. S. 6 per cents are worth 10, U. s. per
cents, principal and interest payable in gold,
would be worth IS cents on the dollar, which
would then be exactly the value OF your green
backs or suppose, further, the said Y. s. 3
per cents were Kelly's bonds, convertible
into no fixed quantity of anything" what
then would your greenbacks be worth? The
only element then left to give them value
would be the legal tender feature, and that,
all history shows, has never been sufficient
to "foat' currency at any respectable figure.
The French assignats and the continental
currency" Of our own revolutionary days are
ready and lncontrsvertible illustrations. In
short, the editor of the Herald if he can lay
claim to common sense, must be able 10
see that a currency such as Kelly pro
poses, based on per cent bonds, principal
and interest payable IN moonshine, so far
from ever approaching gold or silver in val.
ne, would sink in a year to so low level as
to make the U. s. the jeer and laughing stock
of the world and tho only chance such a
currency would have of not sinking TO utter
worthlessncss and proving shameful swim.
die would be the general belief that the gov. |
ernmen, would ultimately redeem ii in gold
rather than bear the odium OF such dis. |
grace.
That the government ought to furnish the |
entire paper currency Of the country and re.
ceive sll the benefits to be derived from it in.
stead of giving the benefits to rich corpor.
ATOMS IS a proposition to which the FREE
TRADER heartily asserts, provided that the
currency is, what the government can so easily
make it, acurrency always at par with and
in coin.
GIVE Us REST We are piled with on an
average three letters day offering to write
US daily, tri-weekly or weekly letters from
pbiladelnhia durinp the centennial show at