Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-09-19
II ew SerieS-VO1. 18-No 35

we to have the standard that exists
elsewhere throughout the civilized
world? For 1t is of no use to say, we
only propose to increase the currency
forty, fifty or sixty or one hundred
millions now. Sir, you did that three
years ago. You authorized its increase
| fifty-fOur millions then, and If you in
crease 1t one hundred millions now,
three years hence there will be another
demand for another increase. The
very same arguments will be used, the
the very same pressure will be brought
to bear. Whenever there Is overtra>
ding, whenver people become deeply
in debt, or whenever people have
schemes of speculation which can only
be secured by an initiation of the cur
rency that shall turn men mad In the
whlrl Of speculation or In the desire of
amas5ing fortunes; whenever such
state of things comes about, the same
agencies will be at work, the same ef.
forts will be made that are being made
now, and that are pushing US forward
to what I see is likely to be the result
AN infi4tion OF the currency that will
only aggravate the evils under which
we at present labor. At least this
Is my opinion"
Again he says. "Are we prepared to
declare that under a government which
our fathers meant, if they meant any
thing. should be hard money govern
ment, but which has drifted long
way from their intention; do we now,
against all the world over. mean to
Danish gold and silver, and do the bu-
siness of the country upon nothing but
irredeemable paper, depending for its
volume upon the will and caprice of
the moment, or upon the views of
members of Congress seeking re-elec-
tion, or aspiring to higher place."
1t seems to me that re have about
reached the point at which the people
of this country must determine, In the
language of Judge Thurman, whether
against all the lights of experience
the world over, we mean to Danish
gold and silver from circulation in the
country for all time, and do the busi-
ness of the country upon nothing but
irredeemable paper currency
We have had long, weary struggle
with the evils of an irredeemable paper
currency; we have been afflicted with
all the dire trains OF evils predicted by
Vallandigham and Pendleton, when
they declaimed against the constitu-
ti0nality, and the policy OF this curren-
cy in 1862; we have for sixteen years
been paying to other countries in our
trade and barter with them, the differ
ence between our irredeemable paper
and the currency OF the world, and at
last we are approaching the time when
the greenback of 1852 will be full,
round dollar, equal to gold or silver,
and convertible on demand into either
~tk kn srNr,f d
now made to repeal the Resumption
Act, to go back over all the long weary
years that interviewed between 1862 and
1878. And for what good purpose?
To whose interest is 1t that we shall
have paper dollar worth less than
gold or silver dollar?
CONTRACTION,
/ know that it is claimed that hard
times, depression of business, bank
ruptcies, with all the consequent dis
tress in the land, has been brought
about by contraction in the volume of
the currency. Every notice of bank
ruptcy by the press Of tn" Democratic
party ia the west, and OF the (4reenback
party throughout the country, is head
ed with "more of Sherman'5 ruin," or
"SqueeZed out by Shernan'J Policy"
OF Oy
of the currency" Now, gentlemen, 1
show that there has been no contraction
of the currency in the past six or eight
years, that would bringhbout all this ru
in that is talked about, and heralded as
the work of the contractiOnists. Just
facts and figures upon this subject, |
IL. 70 N
leader in this Campaign In Ohio.
And refer to Judge Thurman for
the reason that he has been put forward
to sound the key note for his party and
want to quote him to his Democratic
followers as to the cause of this panic,
these hard times and these bankrupt-
cies. Ia the same speech to which 1
have referred, made on the oath of
March, 1874, Judge Thurman was
| brought out by an arraignment of his
cause in Congress, made by the Gins
cinnati Enquirer, and read from the
Enquirer the following extract:
"Last fall when the panic began,
Senator Thurman justly characterized
it in his speech rs the result Of an ef-
fort on the part OF the creditor East to
force the debtor of the South and West
into violent resumption of specie pay
ment, by which debt of $l00 wnuld
really cost the debtor $50. Senator
! Thurman went further and declared
that II God would give him strength to
reach Washington his voice would be
heard resisting this effort on the part of
Eastern capitalists, which II successful
would end In widespread financial ru
| in. This contest has now been going
on for over two months and our diStin
yuished friend has made no sigD." To
which Judge Thurman replied:
"Mr. President, never uttered such
an idea in the world; / never thought
of such an idea as that the panic was
the result of an attempt by the creditor
East to force resumption of specie
payments. On the contrary, In every
speech l made on this subject, from the
first one in the town of Kenton to the
last one, and especially in the elaborate
speech delivered in Cincinnati, said
that the panic was the result of over
trading excessive Indebtedness and
Congressional legislation; that 1t was
Overtrading, running too much into
debt, embarking in unremunerative
enterprises, and notably that it was the
North Pacific Railroad enterprise that
had been stimulated by Congress, which
brought about the panic. Never did I
say that that panic was the result of an
attempt to resume specie payments,
for nobody could say that or think it
who knew anything about the subject"
1 believe myself that Judge Thur
man WAS right four years ago, when he
declared that the panic was attributable
to other causes than contraction. l
have met with many arguments ad-
vanced by those who favor what is
known as the fiat" or absolute" mon
ey policy. Since 1 have been in Con.
gress can say within the bounds of
perfect safety that 1 have received
hundreds, if not thousands, of docu-
ments bearing upon this subject, advo-
eating absolute money, the issue of
money directly by the Government,