The Portland daily press., 1878-08-14
Greenbacks Theory and Facts.

The Greenback theories of to day have been.
reduced to practice and left ineffaceabe i'm
pressions on the welfare of man and the in
terests of business. The doctrines advocated
are now no novelties. They were reduced to
practice, first in the history of the United
States in $780, The facts of the several ex-
periments in Greenbackism under government
manipulation are fully recorded not only in
the sorrows and disasters of the necessitous of
the days of their issue but in business and
legislations.
FIRST EXPERIMENT..
Sir VIM. Phips in 1890 failed in his projected
military operations against the capital of
the Canadas, and his armies returned unex-
pectedly home without pay and to find the
government destitute of the means to pay.
The soldiers became mutinous and the govern
ment levied the necessary amount to cancel
its war debt by taxation. The soldiers could
not and would not wait its collection. There
upon the government issued Greenbacks-then
called as they now in fact are, bills of credit.
as substitute for money.
The paper notes were made receivable in
payment of taxes and other treasury demands.
Exactly the Greenback theory of to-day.
RESULT.
But the notes could not and did not command
the money, nor commodities at money
price, The poor soldiers for bread had to
part with their Greenbacks at the rate of 12s
As per 6, q shrinkage of nearly 80 per cent and
were great sufferers. This also at once opened
grand scheme of speculation to all the
the bills of credit till cancelled. but the poor
were oppressed and made poorer, who could
not hold and hoard the bills. while the rich
wero made richer. And thus speculation
began in this country, and with the first
Greenback operation as government measure.
Hutchinson, VOL 1, p. 357.) Government
supported the declining credit by allowing per
cent on the bills held and paid in. Thus the
gain to the rich was augmented, and the
grinding of the fall in value and depreciation
only worried and oppressed the poor and needy,
who must have bread for their toll Govern
ment charges were thus paid from time to
time; and while the sums in greenbacks were
small, silver continued the measure and bills
held their face value.
In I'LL bills of credit were Increased: but
now, silver and gold, in proportion, went out
of the country!
In 1714 great cry of scarcity of money
arose. To meet it Government issued ESQ, 900
and in 1716 100000, which were to pass as
money and be lent to the people to be paid at
maturity of the loan. Silver and gold departed
as CAACudtluS mcuium. Dfll5 VI Cfcult,
or ''greenbacks' were the sole instru ments Of
commerce. For forty years the currency was
as if 100000 had been stamped on leather (as
in King James's day. or paper, and declared
by law to be the money of Government and
which every creditor was obliged to take in pay
and government in taxes!
What was the result? AT first the shrinkage
was such that an ounce of silver was worth
6s. Sd. of stamps in greenbacks. In 1749
an ounce of silver was in purchase power equals
to sos! and the five shilling bill of the first and
best guarded issue of 1890, in 1749 was equal
to only Sd. lawful money! about one-eighth
original value.
The above are the exact facts, showing the
practical workings of the "greenback" theories
of to-day, as held and applied when first
used by Government as q substitute for gold
and silver, and attempted to be made money,
based on the faith and credit of legislation.
History is said to repeat itself The areenback
theory is an old speculation, we'll tried, and
full of disastrous records, for more than half a
century, set as beacon lights in the first legis-
lati0n of the country. s.