The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-10-24

Indebtedness. And the effect of that is
twofeld. First, to make very sharp de-
mand for money. You have circulation of
less than $7o0,000,00O of paper, and you
| would want, within ninety days, to meet
your bank notes nearly one half. But if
you succeed in that, as you probably would,
and you would have to at some cost, when
you have taken up your notes and given
the banks theirs, your circulation would be
short just $685., 900, would it not? Oh,
no, they say, it would not be short, because
the greenbacks would take their place.
How would that be? The greenbacKs could
possibly be printed in ninety days. But to
print them is one thing-to
| GET THEM INTO CIRCULATION
is another. They would not be pitched out
| OF the treasury windows for you and to go
| and help ourselves. You could not borrow
them. The United States does not lend
money-does not lend even its notes, and
| you would not trust the United States to
make loans. You used TO trust your state,
| believe to loan on real estate. You have
not gotit all back yet, have you? Laugh
ter. You are not likely to try it again in
this state, and you never will try it with the
government of the United States. There is
but one way to get that money into circula-
tlon-to pay it ou.. Pay it out to whom !?
To the creditors of the governments Who
are they? Your mail contractors, and your
other contractors, and your postmasters and
your collectors of customs, and your sena-
tors and representatives., and those who
have salaries, that they must take in what
ever the government sees fit to pay them in.
There are certain creditors you owe that
you
CANNOT PAY IN THAT WAY,
your consuls and your foreign ministers,
who are serving abroad, where your notes
of hand are not current. You must pay
them, and always have paid them, in coin !;
and you have certain bonds outstanding,
the interest of which, twice or four times q
years as the case may be, must be paid in
coin. But you have to disburse something
/ like ninety or a hundred millions which
could be disbursed in these notes, and, you
see, in the course of two or three years, if
you meet with no head winds, you would
get out the whole $322, 100000, and so fill
the vacuum. But there would be sharp
contraction all that time, would there not?
We are told, at least, that we are
suffering because of the retirement of 81, :
00O,J00 twelve years ago. And yet you
are invited to put upon the statute
book command which would throw hun
dreds of millions out of circulation at once,
which could not be replaced in long, long
time. But after this currency had got out
of the treasury would it be in circulation
After your postmaster has got his quarterly
installment, and have got my monthly in
stallment, we would want to do something
with it. I would want to pay my note to
the bank, perhaps; | would want to buy
some meat or grain, and would go to the
market for it. | would go to pay my note.
My creditor would say: az don't want this
paper" Well, but you must take it, it is
| hal. &c Il
legal tender; I'won't take it anyway" Very
well, have nothing else to pay. 4" Very
well, then, shall sue YOU" There is a law
suit.
A MYRIAD OF LAW SUITS
all over the country. The same contest
arises everywhere. The lawyers have {
glorious time. You and [ don't have sc
good time. This new currency don't Cir
culate, you see. There is terrible stagna
ton. All these suits are commenced anC
the country stands gaping to know how the
great controversy will be decided. Com
menced perhaps, in justices courts, perhaps
in Circuit Courts; in the course of years i
gets in the court of last resort and there it il
decided one way or the other. The cour
will say that it is a good tender or that it il
not. Suppose they say that il is not gooG
tender. There are 1922, coo, 900 of this paper
in your pockets worthless, denounced by
the courts, repudiated by the business O.
the country and you have nothing to do bu
STEP UP AND PAY YOUR COSTS.
Suppose they say that it is good tender.
What the court will say I am not going to
predict. | am going to remind you of this
/ however-that when we did issue the frs1
legal tender, many men, eminent as states
men, eminent IS lawyers, eminentas jurists
utterly denied that congress had any au
thority to do it. The Supreme Court once
+ decided that no such authority existed, but
: finally another court, when the bench was
, full and some changes had taken place in its
members, affirmed the constitutionality Of
the act. But there is nothing in that de-
cision authorizing you and me to infer thai
the same court would ever affirm the consti
nationality of a similar act passed in time Of
peace. That act was passed in time of war
Take your chances, as to what the court
would say as to the validity of this &C
passed in time of peace. But suppose they
l, affirmed the validity of the act. Why, ther
these debts would hep aid, and any of yor
who owed debt, not payable specifically
, in coin, and had this paper, could pay that
debt with this paper. But would that ge
,, it into circulation? Whether you coult
circulate it, and how you could circulate it
depends very much less on your statutes
'ii"n upoA O10 tC1uPcI VI Guo UuSluCSS uCI
of the country. You
MIGHT BE ABLE TO PAY DEBT ONCE
with paper-would be, if the court said il
was legal. But if the community continued
hostile to it, would you ever be able to con
tract another debt, which could be paid il
that paper? When you want to buy bar
rel of pork or a web of sheeting, the seller
knowing that you intend to pay in thai
paper, how would the negotiation be con
Quoted? Do you think he would sell to
you as freely as if he knew that you were
going to pay him in coin. or that which
could be converted into coin. AS it was q
legal tender for debt, it would be worth
something. How much would it be worth
From time to time it would be worth just SO
much as those daily conventions Of enter.
prising gentlemen, known as the gold
boards, in your great money markets al
lowed it to be worth. x When they wanted
to bear gold, paper would be worth consid.
cradle; when they wanted to bear paper it
would be worth just as little as they said !;
and you and your business would be
AT THE MERCY OF THOSE GENTLEMEN
every day of the year. You know that al
though the present legal tender circulation
of the country was issued in the form of a
promise-the promise of your government,
/ your government and mine-when it was