Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-01-15

during thesdark hours of single night
by dishonest officials (Which are GER
tainly very numerous at the present
time), real estate must be transferr ed
in open daylight, publicly and through
the regular process of law. The United
States government owns hundreds of
millions of dollar worth of real estate
in lands, public buildings. &c. Let
every dollar worth of this be pledged,
if necessary, for the payment of her
debts, and every dollars worth of that
which is sold be used strictly for that
purpose. The interest bearing bonded
debt of the United States is said to be
over seventeen hundred millions of
dollars-the interest on this amount
ing to over one hundred millions of
dollars annually. Now suppose we
could redeem these bonds and issue in
their stead greenbacks, then by re-
deeming the same amount of these
greenbacks each year that it now takes
to pay theannual interest ON the bonds,
we would in less than seventeen years
pay or redeem the entire bonded debt
of the nation-whilst as it now stands
we will pay the same amount of inter-
est in that length of time and still owe
the entire principal of our seventeen
hundred millions of dollars. Some
people claim that to issue greenbacks
in place of bonds would be imitation,
and that imitation means reputation.
This nonsense about imitation meaning
reputation is all bosh, and the polite
ians who try to gull the people with
such talk as this are either knaves or
fools, and can easily prove that they
are such. For instance. Not one
person out of one hundred of the vot-
ing population of the United States
owns or has any interest in single
United States bond, whilst if all ofthe
bonds were redeemed and greenbacks
issued in their stead, ninety nine per-
sons out of every one hundred of the
same voting population would own or
otherwise have an interest in some of
these greenbacks. Now, as this same
voting population must have the SAY
so aboutrepudiation, is it very reason
able to suppose that they will repudiate
and make worthless their own proper
ty which costs them nothing to hold
whilst in their possession more readily
than they will that of the rich and
lordly bondholders and bankers which
costs over one hundred millions of
dollars of their hard earned money
annually, in the way of taxes, to keep
the interest paid? Every honest man
of sense would always say no to this,
and at the same time know that answer
to be the true one.
Now in regard to the government
paying the National Banks twenty
millions of dollars per annum for a
circulating medium of four hundred
millions of dollars, when the same
amount of circulation equally as good
might be given to the people for only
the cost of printing the notes, must
say that it is an imposition and an out
rage upon tax paying citizens almost
unequaled. | do not propose to wage
any war upon owners of National
Banks nor attach to them any blame
for taking advantage of law that will
put into their own pockets twenty mil
lions of dollars annually, for they have
as just right to hold bonds and get
the interest accruing on them as any
other bond holders have but | do
condemn in better terms the govern
ment that will swindle its tax paying
subjects by forcing them to pay
twenty millions of dollars annually as
interest on four hundred million of
bonds, when those same bonds, or
like number held by other bondhold-
ers, might be converted into notes that
do not bear interest and at the same
time be as good circulating medium
in every particular as that issued by
the National Banks.
In connection with this subject |
propose to suggest plan for the
redemption of the National Bank
notes, and also all interest bearing
bonds, the resumption of specie pay
ment, and the paying off ofthe Nation
al bonded debt entirely. In the first
place, let Congress enact laws imposing
a reasonably heavy export duty on
gold and severe penalty for selling it
at higher rate of premium than ten
per cent. Then have printed three
hundred million of greenbacks or
treasury notes of the denominations of
from one dollar to one thousand dol
lars, having them dated July 1st, 1876,
payable ip gold fouryears after date, aud
marked very plainly First Series use
one hundred millions of these notes to
redeem and cancel the same amount of
note and bonds of the National Banks,
aud two hundred millions to redeem
and cancel the same amount of inter-
est bearing bonds called in from other
sources.
Do the same thing in 1877, having
the notes dated July 1877, payable in
gold four years after date and marked
Second Series; continue this arrange
ment each year until the currency is in
creased sufficiently to supply the wants
Of trade and the bonded debt REDUCED
to such limits as would be easily man.
aged without placing such heavy bur-
dens in the way of taxation upon our
people. In four years time the Ma
tional bank currency would be redeem
ed, interest slapped on twelve hundred
millions of bonds, our people supplied
with suficiency of good currency,
and the government ready TO redeem
the First Series of three hundred mill
lions with gold. In FIVE years she
could redeem the Second Series; ia
six years, the Third Series, and so on;
provided the people wefe willing to
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