Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-26
CLARKsvILLE TENN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1873.


office OF money. "A new coinage law
was enacted. The relation of golo
: to silver was not disturbed, and II
;. experience had shown that the stand.
: ard silver dollar was sent away, il
: was determined not to coin any
S more silver dollars for the Govern.
: ment, but every citizen was allowed
: to carry his silver to the mint, there
} to be made into standard legal
: money. Gold, the cheaper metal,
: continued as before to furnish money
for the business of life, but silver
was not demOnetized, nor did the
Government renounce its right af-
terward to coin it if the interests of
the country should require. For the
, time it was not expedient to do so.
. This was the state of our coinage
laws when, in 1862, and in years
succeeding, the United States sold
! its bonds, some payable twenty
years after date, Others payable forty
|, years after date, but redeemabIe at
the pleasure of the Governments after
five and ten years. The interest to
be paid on both classes of bonds and
the principal of the forty years bonds
were in express terms made payable
| in coin, but the language employed
in the act of Congress authorizing
the issue of the twonty-year bonds
was not explicit, and long years in
advance of the time when the prin-
| cipal was payable, a question arose.
\ whether, according to the terms of
i the act, it was payable in legal-ten-
der Treasury notes or in legal-tender
coin.
The magnitude of the debt and
the great depreciation in the value
of Treasury notes made the question
one of great interest to the American
people. We have not forgotten the
heats engendered by the discussion
of the question =; parties were arrayed
against each other upon this as an
issue, and constituted platforms with
''greenback" and "hard money"
planks to represent their opposing
views; candidates for great offices
and small claimed the suffrages of
the people upon this issue; speeches
we've made in every part of the cOun-
try; the history of the act of 1862
and what was said in Congress when
| it was under consideration were
brought under review. The interest
in the question was only exceeded
by its magnitude; gold and silver
coin were then at q premium of
about 33 per cent. over greenbacks /;
| the bonds amounted to about 81, ,550,-
| 600, 900 and without change in the |
value of the greenback the sum in !
vOlved exceeded $500, 100000. A |
President of the United States was
elected upon the hard-money plat |
form. Congress met and undertook |
by solemn act to settle this question |
and settle it forever. A bill was in |
trOduced and passed by both the |
Senate and House of Representa- |
tives, but for some reason it was not |
signed by President Johnson. Pres !
ident Grant was inaugurated, and |
Immediately convened the Congress; |
the measure was again considered, |
and the act of the 18th of March, |
1869, became law. 1t declares
That TO remove any doubt as to the purpose |
of the Government to discharge all its just |
obligations to the public creditor and TO set |
tie conflicting questions and interpretations !
OF the laws by virtue of which such obliga- |
tions have been contracted, it is hereby pro- |
vided and declared that the faith of the |
United States is solemnly pledged to the pay |
ment, in coin, of all the obligations of the |
OnlISu states not bearing interest, KNOWN as |
United States notes, and of all the interest
bearing obligations of the United States, eX-
cept in cases where the law authorizing the |
issue OF such obligation has expressly pro-
Vided that the same may be paid in lawful |
money, or other currency than gold or silver.
1t is to be presumed that the Ian
guage employed was carefully con-
sidered by the statesmen who pre-
pared this celebrated act. The pur-
pose, as the act itself declares, was
''to settle conflicting questions and ia-
teJ7)T'etdtiOllS." The act of 1862 was
the subject of interpretation" The
"queStiOn" was what kind of money
should be used in payment of the
obligations Of the United States au-
thOrized to be issued by that act.
Congress intended to make final
settlement of the whole matter, and
to leave nothing about which there
could afterWard be different Opin-
ion. Itdeclared that all the interest
bearing obligations of the United
States, except those payable in other
currency than gold and SiIUer, shall
be payable in coin. What coin was
to be paid within the meaning of
this expression Evidently coin
from the mint of the United States,
for no other coin was legal tender.
1t might be gold or silver, stamped
under the act of 1892 or 1924 for the
Government or for the citizen or it
might be coin stamped under other
regulations to be made thereafter.
Now | think | have shown that
the creditor would by law be COM
PEELED to accept the standard dollar
Dfo cold oil lv-nfs fLnf rsniurhf hn
Scribed at the time of payment.
But the friends of the resolution and
of the expected legislation do not
than that the creditor shall be re-
quired to accept dollars of the stand
ard existing at the time the act of
1869 became law.
The act of 1869, however, was but
the first step in the legislation in re-
gard to our public debt. In 1870
Congress was convinced that the
rate of interest was too high and
determined, if possible, to refund
the debt at Il lower rate. 1t was
proposed to borrow 81 SOC, ,000, 600 for
this purpOse, and with the money
to redeem the bonds already issued.
No other Government had ever Of
fered to borrow at one time so large
a sum of money. The attention of
capitalists was at once arrested /; the
measure was talked about son
change;" it was deliberated upon by
statesmen; the service of experts
was called into requisition; a bill
was prepared. Now in view Of the
doubts and conflicting questions
and interpretations" which had ag-
itated the country when the act of
1862 was the subject of discussion,
and all fresh i'm the memories of
those who proposed this bill, who
will deny that each word was con-
sidered, each phrase was cOnned,
each sentence carefully studied?
1t was we'll known that under the
act of 1869 the principal of the bonds
was payable in standard dollars that
might be coined at the same time of
payment, and to guard against the
exercise Of the undoubted authority
of the Government to change this
standard at pleasure; TO fix with alb
sOlute precision the kind of money
in which the bonds should be paid,
the standard then existing was Sc {
lon4aI haino tho oroId dollar contain !