Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-08-22
The Greensaekers and Inaat.enI.ts.

The greenbackers and lnfiationists are
becoming quite demonstrative, and Wig
orohs efforts are making to arouse the
discontented lab0rers in alliance with
them. The more active in this move.
ment declare that ssthere must be an in.
crease in the medium of exchange, /"
money, and more money is cheaper
money, notwithstanding so. abundant
and cheap is money, and has been for
the past three years, that in legitimate
business tits not worth four per cent. per
annum. On this subject the Philadel-
lphia Ledger says: 0 II y
This greenback theory, this imitation
programme, is based upon falsehood,
and is thorough fraud. The first pre-
tense, that there is a lack of money, is
false. The second pretense, that more
money run through the printing presses
would help any honest man, is false
The country is suffering because it has
wasted its capital and labor. Some of
the capital has been squandered and
some of it frightened away. Imitation
has promoted profligacy, and dema-
gogues have demoralized labor, checked
industry, spoiled credit, and altogether
have shaken public confidence. The
theories that greenbacks are standard
Of value-that they are absolute money
that government can make money
that the government may coin paper
is all falsehood and foollshness. Such
intensity Of folly has been in a few crack
ed brains in each generation for some
hundreds of years, and at each expert
ment the utter delusion and madness Of
the schemes of these ultras have been
demonstrated. Then these inflationists
rush slam against the law that limits the
issue Of legal-tenders to S400, 900. O00.-
1t was perfectly understood that the
tendency in putting out paper money
was to flood the country with it, and
Congress solemnly enacted that the is
sue should be limited, as we have stat
ed. This is the contract. The next
point is the Supreme Court would, be-
yond all doubt, declare unconstitutional
any issue Of legal-tender that was not
backed by the war power. According
to the Supreme Court a military necessi-
ty is required to make the issue oflegal-
tender paper constitutional. The lam
guage Of the Supreme Court is clear, and
if Congress and the President should 90
wild and attempt to add more money
to the volume Of the national paper
heap it is quite certain the unconstitu-
tionality Of the money would be de-
clared. The whole imitation scheme is a
self-evident swindle. Those who are
the most urgent in it are the political
gamblers and spectators. They are
personally involved, and want an infla-
ton to float them out oftrouble. When
they talk Of the hard times Of the peo-
pie they mean that the remains of their
own shoddy schemes have gone away
and that they need help. If these
schemers can break down the barriers
Of law and burst upon the country with
flood of diluted paper that the people
will for time accept as money it is
doubtless their policy to apply to the
nation what Tweed, Sheppard and other
municipal chiefs gave to their respective
cities under the head of improvements
Nearly all the cities IN the Union are
now overwhelmed in debts growing out
of the rascally robberies that have en-
riched few to the great financial de-
preston of the many. One Of the al
most inevitable consequences Of the
success Of an initiation party would give
to the country at large the shameless
wrong, in the name of improvements,
by which American cities have been I'M
poverished. Imitation not only means
a debased currency and disordered in
dustries, dissatisfied people and a dis
honored government, but filching of
the public treasure on a scale more CO.
lossal than has been witnessed in the
history of the world" 5..