The Portland daily press., 1878-06-14
More Greenhacks.

We copy the following article from "Poli-
tics for Young Americans" by Charles Nord-
hoff, Published by Harper & Brothers. for
schools and colleges:
A greenback is a non-interest-bearino nro,,-
ise to pay money. issued by the goyernmsnt
and TOR whose redemption the holder has no
security in his own hands. 1t is 40 far -nrs,
cisely like bank note; but il has two faatpres
which make it differ from a common hank
note: You cannot sue the issuer of the note
the government, namely-and that has used its
power to make It legal tender. A bank note,
as you saw while back. has some of the fea.
lures Of forced loan; the greenback has an
it is forced loan. If should compel Won to
give me your dollars 10 exchange for a piece of
paper on which had written simply 81 o U''
SO much, that would be forced loan-uo,s
would probably call it a robbery; and thai is
precisely what the government did when il
issued irredeemable promises to pay, aud made
them a legal tender.
If banker issues one hundred Thousand
dollars in bills, that is evidence that he is the
owner of one hundred thousand dollars in
money or other property, which-or more cor
rectly, one hundred and ten thousa dollars
he has deposited in the Treasury as security
that he will redeem his notes on demand.
If now banker were to set up a claim to
issue one hundred thousand dollars in bills,
on the plea that he had no money or property al
all aOih acfich to redeem them, he would be
rightly thought insane; and if he persisted in
such an absurdity, he would be sent BY his
friends to the luuatic asylum. If he should
demand, besides that these bills which he de-
sires to issue should be declared legal tender
no doubt he would be put be put into strait
jacket, or sent to the ineurabls ward, and the
lowest attendant in the asylum would laugh as
him as an absurd creature
But this is precisely what the government does
in issuing greenbacks. 1t issues promises to
pay on the plea that it has no money; and it
makes them a legal tender because they are not
good. For if they were good, it would not
need to force US to accept them, which is the
only object of the legal tender clause; and if
the government had money, it could have no
excuse or occasion for issuing notes.
For you must not forget, what was shown
you under the head of Taxes, that a govern
ment can earn or create nothing; it is not q
producer. Again, you saw under the head of
Money! that when the governments coins money
il does not create gold silver does it add to
their value by coming them; ii does not even
oecn the metal 1t coins, but only for the general
convenience, stamps you or my or John Smiths
gold with its certificate that each piece con-
tains specified quantity of the metal.
This service plainly gives it no right to de.
clare anything else money, but if it did, it
| would be you or 1 or John Smith, and not the
| government itself, who would have the right to
| carry iron or paper to the mint to be stamped.
Nor does its authority to declare the gold it
] stamps legal tender give it power to make
| any thing-even gold-a legal tender for more
| than its actual and real value. For in all this
delegsted to it tor the general convenience, to
make pub,sse declaration ofa caIue already exist
ing.
ernment has no power 10 create value In any
way or sense; for it does none Oh tne tnings
out OF which, we have seen be. Ro' ssiue sio"s.
~ nesther produces, nor exchanges, not SogeS ~
only expends or destroys Whatever gwen 70
It by society. 1t is. in fact, like a Da, oeri iOr
1Ee pdaper, 1t e1ists by the contlbots. "tS
oahers; and as 1t can hare no surplus, but nee, %
sarily lives from hand to mouth and by the
labors OF others, pauper might as well put
out demand notes as government; for the hills
OF each would represent not existing values.
but values DESTROYED and extinct, and therefore
not values at all, but nothing If Won will re-
fleet that in order to call in and redeem the
greenDacks the government would have to first
raise money by taxes-or what is in the long
run the same thing, by sale of bonds-you will
see that the greenback is simply certificate
that the government has actually spent and
destroyed that much property; and that, as
before said, it represents, not value existing,
but value extinct, which is nothing.
You will see by this the extraordinary halIu.
cination of those people who cry out for "more
greenbacks." In q time of war, when the ex-
penditures of the government enormously ex-
ceeded the largest sum it could raise from the
taxes, it was authorized to borrow money. It
borrowed many hundreds of millions upon
bonds, or obligations, promising to repay the
let ders at a certain time, with interest at a
stipulated rate. This was perfectly leeitimate
and honest But, by singular bluuder the
government also chose to borrow money by a
forced loan from its citizens for which it gave.
not interest-bearing bonds, but notes promising
to pay, but neither stipulating time of repay
ment nor granting interest for the use of the
money. Such note made by an individual
would be void; made by the government it was
tolerated on the express gr Jund that the gov
ernment needed vast sums for Its current ex-
penditures and must get mouey where and in
whatever way it could
Bnt circumstances have changed. The taxes
now eauaI the expenditures, and there is an,
animal surplus even. How then can we have
UMore ereenbacksY' On what excuse, in what
way. for what purpose caE the government bor-
row money? What shall it do with the money
for which it is to issue "more greenbacks?S
The more greenback' people seem to have
perceived this dilemma, and to meet it thew
have begun TO urge great system of "public
works" canals, railroads and other costly inn
provements. But if We are to run in debt for
these, surely it is better to do SO honestly, by
selling our bonds, than dishonesty, by increas-
ing the amount of forced loan which ought
long ago to haze been paid out of the surplus
revenue, instead OF redeeming bonds not yet DUE
A delegation of 100 Virginians headed by
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston visited the Capitol
yesterday in the interest of reduction of the
tobacco tax.
The Emperor Williams condition Is very
iafactorv