Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-22

would not only have stopped interest 10 Gnal
extent, but would have inspired new life,
vigor, and hope N the hearts OF an almost
despairing people.
Great merit is claimed for this measure be-
cause of the reduction of interest from six to
four, four and half, and Eve per cent. But
the toiling men and women of the country,
who, by the Unnecessary and unjust exactlons
of the government, are reduced to the ne
cessity of struggling from day to day for
precarious existence, will not forget that un-
der the law of the contract it was the right,
and. as | maintain, the duty of the govern
ment to have redeemed the hve-twenty bonds
in greenbacks as rapidly as the amount of
greenbacks authorized by law would permit
at the expiration OF five years from their re-
speotivc dates, and relieved the taxpayers of
this burden of over ninety million dollars a
year. But it is said that good faith and ma
tional honor forbade it.
Throughout the history of the world there
has never been usurpation or an act of
great oppression and wrong inflicted upon q
people that the honor and good faith Of the
nation has not been appealed to for its justi-
ication.
In what age of the world, and in what
country, has the honor or credit of debtor
suffered who performed the obligations of the
contract in letter and spirit? American honor
is too well established to be so easily alarmed,
and American credit too substantial to suffer
injury by such false and sentimental soph-
istry, however loudly and constantly it may
be dinned in the public ear. But the refund
ing act was passed, and the work of con-
traction goes on with its legitimate harvest of
commercial and business failures day by day,
week by week, and month by month. Under
these acts capital congratulates itself upon its
newly and wrongfully acquired right to de-
,.aa.ad FROM tho soror-.E1.ont COIN upon all of
its obligations.
Not content with this, but encouraged and
emboldened by recent and signal successes,
the next demand in its greed of gain and sell
fish exactions was the demonstration of sill
ver and In obedience to the demand, by the
fifteenth section of the act, approved the
twelfth of February, 1873, this additional
and almost fatal concession was made, not
only to pay all obligations in coin, but to
strike down and destroy the money quality,
the legal-tender power of one of the precious
metals, thus reducing the legal-tender coin of
the country about one-half and diminishing
the ability to pay in the same ratio. 1t would
seem that the cupidity of the most avaricious
should have been satisfied, If not stated, by
the ready submission to these various and
exorbitant exactions. But, no; the resump-
ton of specie payments will still further con-
tract the volume of currency and increase the
| purchasing power of money, still further re-
duce the value of labor and property. This,
| too, was demanded. And by the act approved
the fourteenth of January, 1876, conceded,
| which act, among other things, provides
that
"Whenever. and so often as circulating
| notes shall be issued to any banking associa-
| ton increasing its capital or circulating
notes, or any newly organized bank, it
shall he the duty of the secretary of the treas
ury to redeem the legal-tender United States
| notes in excess only of three hundred million
| dollars, to the amount of eighty per cent. of
| the sum of national bank notes so issued,
and to continue such redemption as
such circulating notes are issued until there
shall be outstanding the sum of three hum
| dred million dollars of such legal-tender
| notes, and no more.
"And onand after the first day of January,
1879, the secretary of the treasury shall re-
deem, in coin, the legal-tender notes then
outstanding on their presentation for re-
| demption. And to enable the Sec
rotary of the treasury to prepare and provide
| for the redemption, he Is author
lied to use any surplus revenues in the treas
ury not otherwise appropriated, and to issue,
| sell, and dispose of, at not less than par, in
coin. either of the descriptions of bonds of
the United States described in the act of July
| IA, 1870"
! This act not only requires further contrac-
ton upon the part of the government, with
the necessary increase of all the evils, bank
ruptcies and ruin that contraction has already
produced, but requires the sale of interest
J bearing bonds for coin, with which to redeem
non-interest- bearing legal-tender notes. This
requirement is an admission, In the face of
the act, that the government was not, and
recognized the fact that it would not be, on
the first of January, 1879, in condition to re-
sumP n and main ia specie payments
necessary for every bank in the country to
demand payment from its debtors, withhold
| loans and discounts from Its customers, and
hoard its resources to be in condition to
maintain specie payment.
The experience of all nations proves the
| great evil of sudden contractions and expan-
| sions in the volumes of currency, and that the
most effective, if not the only, remedy is to
require the circulating medium to be based
upon and convertible into coin at the will of
| the holder.
And while hold it to be the duty of the
! government to adopt this as its settled and
permanent policy, deny that it can do so at
| this time, without utter ruin to the industrial
| interests and general business of the country.
| The exigencies and necessities of the war
not only justified but compelled the govern
| ment to issue and put in circulation green
| backs, paper currency, to an unprecedented
| extent, an amount many times larger than all
| duc1ng the highest state of initiation that ever
| existed in the country, rendering specie pay
| ments utterly impossible.
Every consideration of sound policy de-
manded that the process of reducing this i'm
mense volume of currency to the proper
standard, to the redeemable point, should be
slow and gradual, depending, to great ex-
tent. if not entirely, upon the returning pros
perities of the country.
Arbitrary legislative enactment cannot in
crease the production of the precious metals
or bring them from other countries to this,
nor can it secure the payment of coin more
rapidly than coin can be obtained. These
metals can be obtained only from our mines
and by the production and expectation of such
staples and commodities as will bring them
from other countries.
1t is impossible for congress to anticipate
and fix with any degree of certainty the time
at which the production of precious metals in
our mines, or those staples and commodities
which command coin in other countries, will
enable the government to resume and main
tain specie payments; yet, while the act re-
curing resumption remains In force, day by
day it leads to further contraction, and con-
traction has already produced almost univer-
sal bankruptcy and ruin throughout the
whole country. therefore insist upon repeal,
not only of that part of the act which fixes
day for resumption, but also those parts which
require the redemption of legal-tender notes
In the ratio of eighty per cent. of the bank
notes issued, and especially that part which
authorizes the sale of interest bearing bonds
for coin with which to redeem non interest
bearing legal-tender notes.
Repeal the act, the whole act, and let re-
sumption come when the returning prosper
ity of the country shall make the maintenance
of specie payments possible.
Unfortunately, Mr.. President, these are
not the only evils growing out of class legis-
lation of which the people have cause to
complain. There are other abuses and
wrongs OF a kindred character under which
the people have suffered and still suffer, from
which they demand and are entitled to relief,
to one of which, now pending in the other
end of the capitol, and, in the form of de-
claratory resolution, pending here, propose,
with the indulgence of the senate, to refer.
For the last sixteen years you have main
tanned high protective tariff, under which
the whole people are taxed upon almost every
article used or consumed by them at the av-
erage rate of forty four per cent, under the
pretense of raising revenue, when the duties
are so high upon some articles as to prohibit
importation altogether, while upon many
other articles Importation is discouraged and
greatly diminished by the excessive duties
imposed, cutting off revenue Altogether in the