The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-09-21
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NOME toRE


NONE MORE INFORMATION
That the Grecnbacit Candidate for Con
greSs did not Give u People nj the
Court House.
Cleveland Herald. aLh df.1 9n.
The Provisional Government of the
United States, finding itself without mon
ey or currency in 1875; and believing that
bills Of credit, or money founded upon
the wealth Of the country might proper.
ly be made TO pass as currency, ordered its
first issue Of Continental money to the
amount OF three millions of dollars. The
following is a copy Of the note:
"No. 10. 5000
This I'LL entitles the bearer 70 receive Ten Spanish
MillFtl Dollars, Or ~theValuo thereof Id gold and Al!ur,
according 10 tbs r~esplation Of Congress- held at PhiiA'
delPhia on the lOth Of Nay a. l1I5."
These notes were made u legal tender
for the payment oi-debts, and were dis
tributed to the Federal States in the ratio
of their population. They were promptly
accepted by the people, and a similar
amount wa again issued in November,
1875. On the 18th Of February, 1776, an
additional sum Of s%4,OOo,oOo was put in
circulation, The notes began to decline
in value before the close ofthe year 1875.
and OH the 18th Of January, 1776, Congress
passed u resolution, ''that whoever should
refuse to receive its notes should be deem
cd, published and treated as an enemy of
the country" Mr.. Poor, In his work on
the silver question, says that the news
papers and public writer's took up the
subject, and proved to their satisfaction
that the notes were as good Us gold. They
argued that whatever was agreed upon
as money was money, equal In value to
silver or gold" On the 9Th OF May, l776,
a further issue was authorized Of t5,OO0,0W,
and a serious decline in the value of the
paper followed. General Putnam, in com
mand at Philadelphia, issued m order by
authority Of the Government, that any
person refusing to take the money for
goods offered 10 be purchased, such goods
should be forfeited and the offender
thrown into prison. In Deccinber, lT7B,
II required twospaper dollars TO buy n
OF silver. On the 4th Of January, 1777,
Congress passed resolution that "its notes
were us good rs goid,S and that any person
refusing 10 receive them ut sucl. rate
should be deemed an enemy OF his coun-
try and should forfeit the value Of the
money or OF the house, lands OF commod-
ity offered to be purchased" The people
sneered ut tho resolution, and the money
steadily deprecated, Asa large class re-
fused 10 accept the notes at oil, Washing
ton was authorized to seize whatever he
deemed necessary for the support Of his
army. 1.-THE party would not accept the
notes at q fair rate in payment he was
subject toiiDe and imprisonment. kor q
second ofrense he was "liable to bRnlsh-
ment from the State toany place the Com
mittee Of Safety oithe State where tho Of
Tense was committed might determine"
The notes continuing to decline, Con-
gress recommended the States to establish
tariffs OF prices ut which the notes should
be received. The New England States met
by delegates at Providence In January,
lin, and fixed a. price at which wheat,
rye run, cotton, and other articles should
be sold, and paid for in paper money. At
the end Of Tie year LIZ, n silver dol
lar would buy -four in paper. In April,
IT'S. the total amount Of notes issued was
ST., 900, 900. In December, nl77X, tho
amount reached Sl0l, 500, 900, and their
value was in tho ratio OF eight to one In
coin. Distress and dependency every
where prevailed. "A mutiny broke out in
the armyat Morristown, which was only
ouelled by the influence OF Washington.
Commerce was paralyzed. Trade was alta
stand-still. Specie WINS almost impossible
to be procured, labor, found no reward,
and misery, ruin, aud distress were felt on
every hand. Says Mr.. Poor; 'Neyer was
there a more wretched picture than that
presented by the United States during the
reign OF paper money from the beginning
l776 and ending with the year l778.p
In l770 flour sold at one dollar o pound,
salt $40 a bushel, and other articles OF con.
sumption In equal proportion. Congress
in DESPAIR issued an appeal TO the people.
Let us suppose, it said, 'that the whole
debt at the close of'the war will equal
1900, GOO, OOO, of which s~200,000,000 will be
notes and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES debt,
suci, n sum will Gully average Sl0O per
head. What Is such q 'paltry sum to a
pcople occupying and owning q vast con-
and whose numbers double every
twenty yearsP How light within such a
time will ba tho burden OF such q debtf
The share Of the poor people will not
equal ten dollars q head" nll77a the
amount OF notes issued equalled $4,000
900. For this vast sum Congress did nor
realize over S5,000,000, in = coinl Tho
total amount OF paper In circulation at the
end of tho year was S24l,00O,UOo, anu one
dollar in coin would buy. forty dollars IN
D Finally the depreciation was at the
rate of 500 TO L. fThenotes we're ~ last
by the Government under Alexan-
der Hamilton ut the mte:'of 100 TO
and thus ended the revolutionary expert.
ment OF making paper dollars founded
uponrthe credit or wealth of the Nation
The historian adds: "They were chiefly las
will always be the case when calamity
comes) Keld,by the poor, especially BY the
and file of the army, who carried
them home only as ineinentoes OF the
wears OF toll, hardship and danger
ar. Webster, n prominent contempor,
ary writer OF the, Revolution, says: 1t
IGoyernment money! has polluted the
eouity Of our laws; turned them into en-
zines of oppression and wrong; eorrupf
led the Justice OF our public administra-
lions: destroyed the taturafgf h0nSdnds trho
had ne mot confidence ~ i; enerSated the
trade, husbandry and manufactures. and
went fur To destroy the morality OF the
people. We have suffered moro from
His cause than iany1other cause or calami
Il has killed moro men; perverted
and corrupted the choicest interests OF our
country more, and done more iNjtatce than
s,sn ihs arms Or Gtilica Of ts enemy Ram
say, the historian, says It was the helpless
people who were deprived Of their rights
IN thia lannl fender money, and they were