The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-12-01
Demonstration and Corollarv

The greenback papers are quoting with
great glee the following description of scene
at o boarding-house table. A very good story
it is, too, ard inculcates promptness in pay
ing debts which 1t is a pity the greenbackers
do not take to heart:
Mr.. Brown kent boarders.
Around bis table sat Mr.. Brown, Mrs. Brown,
Mrs. Andrews, the village milliner, Mr.. Black,
the baker, Mr.. Jordan, carpenter, and Mr..
Hadley, the flour and lumber merchant
Mr.. Brown took out of his pocket-book ten
dollar note, and handed it to Mrs. Brown, say
"Here, my dear, are ten dollars towards the
twenty promised you"
Mrs. Brown handed 1t to Mrs. Andrews the
milliner, saying:
That pays for my new bonnet"
mis-. Andrews said to Mr.. Jordan, as she
THAT, will pay you for your work on my
COUNTER
Mr.. Jordan handed 1t to Mr.. Hadley. the
flour and lumber merchant. requesting his lum-
ber bill.
Mr.. Hadley gave the note back to Mr.. Brown
saying:
That pays ten dollars on my board
Mr.. Brown passed it to his wife. with the
remark that that paid her the twenty dollars he
had promised. She paid it to Mr. Black to set
tie her bread and pastry account, who handed
it to Mr. Hadley, wishing credit for the amount
on his flour bill, he again returned it to Mr.
Brown with the remark that it settled for T that ,
months board; whereupon Mr.. Brown put it
back into his pocket-book. exclaimipg that he
never thought a ten-dolar bill would 90 so
far" @ ~
Thus ten-dollar greenback was made to pay
ninety dollars Indebtedness inside of five
minutes. Who saysS greenbacks are worth
less?
This is very good. A ten-dollar greenback
discharges ninety dollars indebtedness. Now
no one will deny that gold eagle will do the
same service. But if a ten-dollar gold.piece
will discharge ninety dollars indebtedness.
what comes of the argument that this coun-
try cannot obtain quantity of gold sufficient
to pay its demand notes? According to this
reasoning of the grsenbacks, thirty millions
of gold will pay three hundred millions of in
debtedness, and we have already twice that
in the Treasury. No doubt exists that by
1879 we shall have $3.50, ,000, 900, sum amply
sufficient for the needs of redemption. We
shall then be as well off as the Mr.. Brown of
the story who paid twenty dollars indebted
ness with the ten dollar note. The gold the
government pays out will return to 1t, as in
the greenback illustration, return to it in
the shape of duties and other sources of reve-
nue., and it will meanwhile discharge several
times its amount Of private indebtedness.
So it seems that in discharge of indebted
ness the eagle is as good as the greenback OF
the same denomination. That disposes of
the debtor argument. But the eagle has
great advantage over the greenback in anoth-
er direction. Men take the greenback in this
country in discharge of indebtedness because
the government forces them to. But no gov
ernment can compel man to give ten dol
lars worth of goods for n-dollar green
back. He will not do it. He will give
goods to the value of nine dollars and some
cents; but if you want ten dollars worth you
must tender him the eagle or note that he
can exchange for an eagle Thus The working
man is obliged to collect his debt in the green
back, to take ten-dollar government note
for ten dollars worth of labor; but he cannot
compel the trader to give him ten dollars
worth of flour or meat or clothing for that
note. Nominally he gets the equivalent of
his money; really he gets something over nine
dollars worth of wares for his ten-dollar note.
Is not then the eagle better for the laborer, as
for others, than the ten-dollar greenback? II
pays his debts as readily, and he can buy more
with it.