The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-08-31
HON. A. CAMPBELL's ADDRESS.

Hon. \. Campbell the national grecnback
nominee for congress, being physically unable
to canvass the district, has issued Il closely
printed pamphlet of 80 pages setting forth his
views" and his peculiar claims upon the SUI.
frages of the people. Those who have had the
patience and nerve to read any of the numerous
pamphlets issued heretofore by Mr., Campbell
IN advocacy of his in some respects very pocu-
liar ideas of finance and currency, will find
nothing new IN this last pronouncement. We
find, however that the report was erroneous
that he had, in his letter which Senator Plumb
refused to read to the convention that nominal.
ed him at Morris, renounced the plan he had
urged with such pertinaclty for years Of issu-
ing national greenback currency to be made
intcrcOnvertible with low interest bearing
government bond Mr. Campbell still adhercs
stoutly to that hobby, doubtless to the disgust
of many of his greenback supporters who pro-
iess to condemn the issue of another dollar in
government bonds, no matter for what purpose
There is much of course in the pamphlet Of
Mr.. Campbell that the democratic party will
heartily endorse IN common with the nationals.
Such are his views in regard to war claims,
public improvements, the public domain, ex.
cesslye interest, &c. In favoring protective
tariff, he runs counter, we think, " general
western sentiment 1t is only in some of his
curious views on the monetary question that
he will find himself, not only with the demo
cratic party generally but even with many of
his own party, if we are to take the later Ma
tional platforms as the crierion, in sharp con.
fllct. For instance, money" he says, lis q
token in evidence that the holder has rendered
service to the government whose impress it
bears" According to this definition the miner
who extracts the gold and silver from the
bowels Of the earth and takes it to the mint and
has it coined, has no money, only worthless
metal, for he has performed no service to the
government as an equivalent. Yet on this alb
surd definition or hypothesis really rests the
whole superstructurc Of iredcema'e or fiat"
paper money,
The pamphlet closes by devothg couple of
pages 10 COntrovcrting the statement of the
FREE TRADER and other papers that the SUI
premc Court of the United States had decided
against the power of congress to issue legal
tender paper money in time ofpcace. To make
ont his point Mr.. Campbell ignores the well.
known history of the case OF course we all
know that after the Supreme Court, through
Chief Justice Chase, had announced It's deCis-
ion against the consttutionality Of the legal
tender feature of the greenbacks issued during
the war, President Grant packed the court to
ret an opposite decision, and that packed court,
by one or two of its Judges, in deciding IN fay.
or of the constituuonaity Of the legal tender
greenback rs war measure, also let fall some
expressions Obtier dictuR, which Mr.. Campbell
grcedily quotes, favoring the power of the gov
eminent at any time to issue legal tender pa
per; but that the court ever has made any such
decision, or that more than one or two judges
on the bench ever favored any such idea, Meth
er Mr.. Campbell or any body else can prove, for
the PLAIN reason that is not the fact.