Middletown transcript., 1878-09-21

Q6uSs. W 2. dIC III uCDlJ anu hlfC SOt
to pay it Of be disgraced; and l will
net admit there is any alternative to
the american people on that subject.
Now, we must study rules of economy
to do this. and the best way is to make
all the property in the country that
We can contribute. fairly and eqliitabIy
towards it. Now, the conversion of
nationa4-banh- notes into greeRbseks-
is the conversion of taxable, into un-
taxable property. ilI.3@
1t is argued by many that it is inn
possible for the Treasury of the Uuited
States to resume specie payment on the
lst of January next. The Secretary
Of the Treasury says he can do So; |
am not here to say whether he can or
hot. | think he is in post Of great
responsibility and | am disposed to aid
him. He is not there by my voice,
but he is now the custodian Of your
Treasury, and mine, and it is madness,
and folly, for us to undertake to act in
manner hostile, unfair or hurtful to
his efforts to serve us. "But," say our
friends in the west, "we are in favor of
specie. payments. We admit the peo
pie must have an honest yard stick, an
honest measure of values, but we do
not want it too soon, we cannot have
it Just now; it must come from natural
causes the country must grow into it.
Now, if we cannot resume. upon S35a,-
100000. Of notes how can we upon
S700,000000? So, |. must say that
the man who tells me.thatiheis in ia
vor of doubling the volume Of the de-
mand notesof the United States, and
in the same breath that he'is IN tavoF
of early resumption SOfspecie payment,
beTihers me-Tif he, does, not, intend
indefinitely to postpone resumption |
must wonder at his credulity or | must
do worse suspect his honestyI prefer
to take the first course, because, in this
matter, no man who considers the vast
and varied matters, of human govern
ment but will feel the strongest disin-
clination ever to impute bad motives
to those who differ with him. 1t is a |
dark business, at best;. l do not know
that we always understand our own
motives; | am very sure, that with the
best, we are oftentimes mistaken; and
so, it seems to me that in considering
such subject there ought to be the
widest, kindest, broadest respect shown
to all honest difference of opinion. m
The proposition to double this vol
ume of Treasury notes is an Indefinite
postponment of'specie payment, and it
also entrusts to the Congress of the
United States ain accidental major
ityHthe control of the volume, and,
of course, the value of the money, the
medium Of exchange in all our bar
gains and contracts. An old and fre-
quent saying is that''the world is gov
erned too much" but | do not think in
all the schemes ofpaternal government,
Of which we have heard so much in
Europe, that anything quite so far
reaching and controlling ever was i'm
agined as such power in a majority
Of Congress. Every mans contracts,
every mans bargains, every mans sales
would be subject to the will of the
majority Of Congress. Are you ready
for that? Do you believe that is the
proper rule 2 or, is it not self interest
that should control your contracts and
agreements 2, This is country gov
erned by parties; sometimes one being
successful, sometimes another. Some
times men 20 in upon the heelstof an
election promising prosperity to certain
classes, and the volume Of currency
and its value, is to depend upon the
ebb and flow Of political power. There
is no stability in that; nothing an
American can approve of. The great
strength of this countryis that it per-
mits men to exercise their powers freely,
according to the measure God has
given them. There is no bar Of rank,
sect, party or prejudice; it is the nom
interference Of the Government that
permits the citizen to rely upon him-
/ self, restricted only BY general laws to
i protect society. Heaven help Us If the
times shall come when the value Of
every mans farm and every contract
he makes is to. be determined by some
accidental majority in Congress that
may change every two years. The
doctrine IS SO disastFous, SO fatal to
sound credit and prosperity that all
who have read shist0Gytor studied E.
nance sec eethothiagi but the ruin and
prostration Of all public, credit and
confidence between man and man.
At the bottom Of all human dealings
lie certain simple principles implanted
there by the Author of our being.
ItTQne Ofithese is -truth-nothing that
is not based upon truth can long sub
sist, and honesty is but one form Of
truth. The reason why gold and sill
yer are accepted among men as a STAN
dapd,of:value is not merely because of
their attributes, their indistructibility,
their durability, but because these met
ais truthfully represent so much hu-
man labor 'ex pended in obtaining them,
and are worth somuch as commodities
because it costs so much to procure
them, If gold and silver shall be a.
dulterated they are no longer true, but
| are false. But if unadulterated they
constitute value in themselves, are ex-
changeable for all other values and
are honest equivalents. f...
Paper money is a form of credit
most useful and desirable when it
keeps its promise and procures the
value it represents when presented in
payment When it is secured and
made convertible into value at the will
Of the holder, nothing is 50 convenient
or practicable. 1t is then an honest,
credit money. What iscredit7 ersdo,
! I believer Z credit, he believes. The
man who gives you credit trusts you.
1t means faith, it means confidence;
and, if the promise is aeeer to be per-
formed according to its terms, what