The Morning herald., 1877-12-29
WHO 10 HONFSTe, THE ClsE
l -r-.t .--. tSTAYED. -

cry ofpublic hone,ty-agood, old fashion
81 rallying. cry truly, and one, we, AR
proud to say, not limited to any race
creed or'state, strong enough to zstane
), a'one Without tbe adventitious aid Of loca
prejudlee& We will not initiate the mod,
oftbe q nptionists and abuse all wht
differ IN us, but fairly Nate tie case o
tn bple W the Bondholdefs. I !
r to 1873 there was no QUESTION as t.
AT thai. .rnder the termI Iof the cor
aetyo tleaA between the hSldfrs of th1
public deb zsnd tie people, that silvel
do''s'sof 4l23 grains were illegal tender
for any debt, public or private. In tina
year there was passed through one Hous,
Of Coosrees law suspend;ak the coinag,
Of silver do'l,,s. IN 1874 the act wa;
takenn up again, and its advocc.es false y
and fraudu 'en''v ave.~ed rat there W nj
new feature IN the 81 ,aod upon That assur
spce it was permitted 10 PISS. Ithas sin p,
bcen discovered Tat there w21 a fraudu-
lent Interpolation IN the act Of 1874 which
dsmon;t 'zed silver. Tnis is the initial
chapter OF the silver QUESTION. Was it
honest be!ein to o3tai1 The passage Of a
bi'l by falsehood7 Is it honest TO sustain
the faud of 1874 in 1872. u. ~, -, 49,
We will now 80 on a sep further. In
1874 silver had fallen in rrJce in conse-
quepce Of this law, and is decentralization
by &c, msuy and lis incre- ID supply from
Nevada, and silver dol'a betai ine of 1ejs
value than a gold one bqt i must be
remembered tat up to Eis tinait was the
more valuable Of s4,e two. lf-es d resul,
OF legislation the people are now deprived
Of the option of paying according 10 the
terms Of q cont act of loan, and limited to
gold, does it not io'low that in paying tn
bondholder IN gold wo are pay.pg him
more tiau he bar, Tor? We are
paying the di8e epce betweea an appre-.
ciated gold and fo4cib'v deprecated sill
yer coin: q nopetaiy difference of eight
Gems to the dol'ar. We ale justified in
saying the bondhoIGer is benefited by
giving additional value 10 his bond. more
than he YVES 60, lied TO, to The iniu : Of
Industry, Ivy lcduci g The value of labor
and material, and Of 4eal esta.e. Is that
honest? .. ,.... .'
The advocates Of the silver bill are
charged with attempting 10 break the faith
of the government to tue foreign and do
nestle bohdholdes. This is dishonest
calumny. The advocates of silver pro-
Use to pay according to contract and
would be willing to leave the interpreta--
tiop of the contract 10 Delaware jury
or any other fair jurors. This j. the con-
tract between The bondholders and the
people, entered into by. act Of Congress
passed July IA, 1870: t.sr
/" The Secretary of the Tea ury is hereby
authorized to issue, in sum or sums moi
exceeding in the a%c. ega.e S200,000,0O0,
coupons of registered bonds of the United
States, in such form as he may prescribe,
and Of denominations of $50, or some
multiple of that sum, redeemuble in coin
of the present standard value, at the
pleasure Of the United States, after ten
years from the date of their issue,
and bearing iuterestpayable semi annra ly
in such coin at the rate Of five per cent.
per annum."
Is it honest to break this contract for the
beneft of the bondhoIder7
Tho act Of July IA, 1870, was extended |
to the A and 4 per cent. bonds. I he
tandard value of gold at that time was
25:S grains to tho dollar; the silver dollar
4124 g1aios silver being at the time the |
undi.puted unit of value. According to
that law the words and conditions are let |
forth and expressed upon the face of the
bond, to wit:
"Tbis bond j. issued in accordance with |
tho provisions Of an act of Congress ea. |
titled IAN act 10 authorize The refnnding |
of the national debt, approved July IA,
1870, amended by II act approved January
20, 1871, )" and is redeemable at the pleasure
of the United States after the 1st day of
A. D., 1891, in coin of the
value of the United States on said
July IA, 1870, with interest in such coin
from the day Of date hereof" etc.
All these bonds issued since 1873, con-
tain this contact on their face. Nowhere
does the word gold appear to the exclusion
Of silver. The United States promised to
pay in coin of q certain specified standard,
namely, gold dollars OF 25;s grains, and
silvsr dollars Of 4125 grains. Congress by
III constitutional authority may change the.