The daily gazette., 1878-10-15
What a Hard Money Paper
Says.

Says.
From the Reading Eagle.
The New York Sun has the largest cir
culation of any daily newspaper in the
United States. 1t is independent in poll
tics and edited with great ability. Its
Chief Editor is Charles A Dana, who is
also the Editor of Appleton's Encyclo-
pedia. The San is hare money paper,
but the following is what it says on the
financial issues
In their excess of power, the Repubh-
can leaders committed many grave blum
ders, which are now returning to plague
the inventors. They are directly respon-
sible, not only for the present distress
and prostration of enterprise and indus
try throughout the country, but also for
the prejudices and the false ideas in re-
gard to the finances which have taken so
strong hold on the public mind.
Undoubtedly the whole financial legis-
lation and the executive administration
were in the interest of what is called the
money power and the bondholder. The
| 500 bonds, by the terms of the law
authorizing their issue, were payable in
greenbacks, and were sold on the average
at sixty cents OH the dollar. The inter-
est only was payable in gold. When the
proposition was first mooted to raise these
bonds to the gold standard, Thaddeus
Stevens declared in the House Of Repre-
| sentatives
Il would vote for no such swindle upon
the taxpayers of this country. l would
vote for po such speculations in favor Of
| the large bondholders, the millionaires
who took advantage Of our folly in grant
ing them coin payments of interest"
And John Sherman, in his letter of
March 20, 1865, went still further. He
wrote:
Your idea is that We propose to repu-
| diate or violate promise when We offer
to redeem the principal in legal tenders.
hate reputation or anything
like ii, but we ought not to be deferred
from doing what is right by fear Of un-
deserved epithets.
IF the bondholder can legally demand
only the kind of money he paid, then he
is repudiator and eXtortioner to demand
money more valuable than he gave"
These were the apostles of the Green
back party, and they planted the seed
ten years ago, which has now produced
such an abundant crop of converts. But
in few months after these emphatic de-
al.
en- the public credit" was passed, and
was among the very first signed by
Grant as President. That law provided
that the currency lndebtt duess of the
country should be payable in coin, and it
added nearly five hundred millions to
the publc debt, which went INTO the
pc ckets of the bondholders, and bad to
be added to the then existing burd, MS of
the taXpayers
That act was an inquiry which no
plausible pretences have palliated, and
it was driyed through the House without
debate, under the gag of the previous
question, which served TO confirm the
belief that "A Ring of capitalists TODD be-
hind the bill who knew that such a
scheme would not bear discussion. The
Senate finished the work quickly, and
the patriots who prospered by Addition,
Division and Silence went on their way
rejoicing. Ten days after the passage OF
this law proposition was offered in the
4 House to tax the bonds. which the Re
publicans defeated by unanimous vote
on the +, cord.
| Mr.. boutwell, at that time was Secre-
tary OF the Treasury, and he became
possessed of the false idea that the people
who had borne the brunt of civil war and
4 had made the greatest sacrifices to pre-
serve the Union, should also pay off the
enormous debt which has necessarily
been piled up in four years of desperate
strife. To carry out this policy it was
indispensable that taxation on imports
= and by internal revenue she uld be ktpt
= up TO the highest point. Hence the pr, $
q sure was constantly applied, not only tc
, meet the redemption of bonds twent,
years before they became due, but indi
rectly to support great monopolies, pro
tected by Ring TART from which til,
) | greater part OF the pubic revenue wa,
= extorted.
< Besides these oppressive taxes, the re
ports of the treasury show that it eos
nearly a hundred millions of dollars I,
give effect to Mr.. Boutwelps scaeme c
reducing the public debt from the clos,
of the war forward. Here are the officia
figures:
Premiums paid on bonds ex-
IL tinguished. SF9 73k167 7:
Expenses on the public loans, ~. .45s, ,46l g
heiuhulDg OF tne debt, 3,0.1 ,e09 &
.
Total S95. .7s, ,439 81
All this vast expenditure was made il
e the interest of bondholders, who, under
a sthe law creating the debt, have no lega
!, claim whatever to receive dollar il
t gold or silver. The exchange from lega
It tenders to coin was the result of procured