The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-09-26
all other taxes, it comes down upon


II slid:
e Every greenback ont represents a
value the Coy ernment has received
= That greenback has paid for services
; rendered to the country, or goods,
wares or merchandise furnished to the
l. Gov efnment, or helped discharge the
: in'crcst-bearing public debt, and SO
the Government has received value
for every dollar of grecnbacks. The
l consequence Of this is that the Gov
ernment makes q saving, or the people
which is the same thing, equal to the
amount OF interest upon this Green
: back circulation, because if the Coy
crnment had not issued the grccnbacil
< it would have had 10 borrow money
5 with which to meet its expenditures.
and il il had borrowed: money il would
have had To pay the interest on thai
7 Or il il did not borrow If. would have
| raised IT. ny taxation and the people
, would have lost the interest on the
money thus taken from !hcu. So you
see, when you study il, that the Coy
! ernmcnt saves interest on The volume
: OF greenhacks that is out Every year
it saves that much interest. Now, al
the lowest rate of interest 1T which
The Government can borrow money
four per ceni--on the S3I6, ,GSl uI6 Of
greenbacks, you find tho Government
sayes nearly $l4 100000 Il year. But
suppose the Government W ere TO snb-
stiinie gIccmbacks for the 1922 100000
| OF National i;aDk notes, then we would
save intercs: on that, which would
make nearly $l3,OCO,000 more, making
between $26,00O,0O0 and $27,O0OO0O
every year by the use Of grccnbacks-
enough money, as said, 10 carry on
| the Government as it used 10 be car.
ricd on in The days of John Quincy
Adams and Old Andrew Jackson"
The argument against the substitu-
ton of greenbacks. that it would put
it in the power of Congress to initiate
or contract the currency at will, is met
by showing that Congress has already
| that power, and il is inherent in it. 1t
could produce a great imitation of the
| currency at any time by repeating the
tax on State bank issues and thus in
viting them to go into the exiting
business. Or it could contract the
currency by adopting the policy urged
by the Republican financiers, ,and with
draw all the greenbacks. This was
expressly authorized by the Resump-
ton law, and John Sherman started TO
do it, but was brought up with q
round turn by a law OF the last session
That Congress is not to be trusted to
exercise this power, simply condemns
our form of government. In time of
war, as experience has shown in this |
and other countries, paper issues are
likely to run into an excess, but in |
time of peace Judge Thurman chal-
lenges all instance of excessive Issue |
OF Government paper.
AS to the constitutionality of the |
2recnback issues, what Judge Thur.
man says will satisfy the strictcst con-
structionist. 1t is not question, he
claims, what any one now thinks about |
it, but what the courts have decided
and then he goes on
"SiXteen of the highest State Courts
have decided tins question, and fifteen
out Of the sixteen decided that the
acts of Congress making the green
backs legal tender are constitutional
!aws--that Congress does possess that
power, Then The Supreme Court of
the United States has decided the
same thing after n great dcliberation
and great consideration. Surely then,
my friends, with the decision of fiji
teen OF the highest Courts of The States
and The decision of the Supreme Court
OF the United States, that grcenbacks
may constituiioua!iy be made legal
go into an argument of that merely {
legal question. | know that it has been
said often and again that thc decision
of thc Supreme Conrt OF the United S
States rests upon the ground that
when those acts were passed the |
was at war, and that il was ,
mn exercise of The war power in Con |
greSS tn makc those notes legal tender. {
| think | could convince any iurist, il :
h9d i chance ut him for about half |
Ill hour, that this is moi II trmc inter
hrciaiion of the decision. il;ii they do /
not rest IL upon the war powcr that il '
was vindicaicd simply upon pr2nciplc /
l'hc principle laid down in This .iccis- c
on is that il may be constitutional to Il
ssue those grccnbacks i'm the United 5
states as well IN time of peace as in t.
var. And ! want 10 call attention io q
he iact--if any o! you have any green {
'acks, for unfortunately, We Dcmo. p
rats don't have many these hard s
lines Laughter that if you will look L
i them, three chances to one, if they
ave not been Issued since the war; c
on will find, may be, 1879 on them, c
" 1913, or 1874, which was The date II
shen the thing was ISSUED. l think t.
ou will find that over three -fourths Il
# the greenbacks we now hayc, have t!
zen issued since the war. But it is Ct
id that they were Issued TO replace n
hose t5at were issued during ii
he war, and have become torn or mu- Il
Hated or worn ont. But il is ques- cl
:on of Constitutional power, the Gov Ii
had 10 more right 10 issue cl
reenbacks as legal-tendcrs in 1879, to CT
eplace old greenbacks, than it has to II
'sue grcenbacks as legal-tcnder foY a.
ny cause or consideration. 1t is a e.
uestion Of law. But enough OF that al
am contented TO rest on these de- II
isions