The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-09-04
achievement has been brought about
by slevating the credit of the Govern

achievement has been brought abou
by slevating the credit of the Govern
i ment. ssn0A sls 10 ssA
sliassert that II has been effected b.
the ntter prostration Of all busines
enterprises. Every man who has
hundred dollars to spare, probabl.
saved fron the wreck of . prostrate,
businessi wishes TO place it whel,
lit win not. be, Loaf, and where h
can get . email interest for it, aud put
it into q goversment bond. He won
put It into merchsndise or manufae
turing, 81 real estate, because that viii
not pay a, profit, and he runs risk o
losing the principal. l venture ths
nine. .tenths of the merchants of thi'
city would sell out their stocks to-day
take Id pay four per cent. bonds ani
quit business.
Does any sane pan here believe thu
small volume of money in this grea
country would go into four per cent
bonds II business was in a norma
condition.? When the millennium o
prosperity comes, the gray dawn O
which this old, seer sees in the distance
twill be manifested by depreciation
Of fonr per cent. bonds. Business
sseking to larger return of profitw l
make four per cents. most undesira
BILE investment. It is not thea the ele
vation of the public, but the destruc.
tion of private credit and the paraly-
sic OF ebusiness, over which Sherman
has occasion to rejoice.
hut Mr.. Sherman now claims thai
tramps and all. the business disasters
and ruin, of which we have had such
. ,bountifnl harvest, were tie product
of imitation, and not contraction. Il
this true in theory or in fact2 When
and where did panic, disaster and ruin
ever come when there was q full vol.
nme Of reliable circulating mediums
Even an imitation of wildcat money,
so long as its safety was undoubted.
never produced paralysis of busi-
ness. When its worthless character
was ascertained. and the circulating
medium was discredited, the financial
earthq nake soamel- ,.s a. stsss.
But Mr.. Sherman knocks the brains
out Of his owniargument, the stufiing
cut Of his own proposition, by deny
Ing that there has been contraction
Of the circulating medium. He gives
the figures, (which / viii not repeat)to
show that the circulating medium is
now larger in volume than ever before ;
that there has, been imitation instead Of
consraction.g He said figures would
not lie; but they might be SO arranged
az to make them lie, and charged Mr..
Ewing with doing that thing. There
is an old adage that those who live in
glass houses should not throw stones.
Let us see il Sherman is not guilty oi
the offense which he attributes to 9TH
ers, whether he has not made false
impression by withholding part Of the
truth. After giving US the amount Of
'greenbacks. National Bank notes, gold
aud silver, he leaves us to infer that
these embrace all. tho circulating medi-
ana We haye had in fifteen years, and
therefore s there had been NO con-
traction. We, are sgain induced to
ceApMr- Sherman .as . witness.
In January, 1868, Mr.. Sherman said
Id HE place II the Senate that the con-
traction which had taken place in
eighteen months had been Sl40, 122.89S
ana that about $60.O .O00, 90 Of that was
in legal tenders or greenbacks. He
said chat the compound interest notes
had uatured rapidly and had been'paid
olf; and that $40 00O, 600 more would
mature in the next six months, and
that sall these notes were part Of the
currency, sl1Tosissss 4assi. I
IS He might have added over $780,
OOO,O GOO more OF certificates Of indebt-
edness, which were part Of the cur
reney. General Grant, in his message
In 1873, said that there had 'been such
= acontraction Of the currency that there
vas scarcely enough to.transact the
business In the dullest season of the
year. He said there had been an senor-
NOUS contraction Of the currency by
the withdrawal OF the seven-thirty
Treasury notes. There were $3.50, ,O0O,-
GOO of these, which Treasurer Spinner
said were printed in form and design
ed to circulate aid did compose part
of the circulation. AS a matter OF fact
we know that they were paid out to
and 10 soldiers as curren-
Cyl Did Sherman misrepresent? Was
Grant mistaken7 Did spinner speak
falsely suas.a d So itie aIiaae
: There was an enormous contraction.
and this has resulted in the shrinkage
Of commercial valnes, and stranded
high and dry ppon,the beach the debt
or class. which ..composed cthealarge
Of our men of business enter
PRISE But what is there In thls won.
derful achievement Of bringing green
backs to par with coin, over which
there is such self.gratulation ? We
SEQ at what fearful cost the end has
been reached. May it not have been
effected without. such Widespread
and eruina The Green
bsckers insist that at any time within
the last ten years il the Government
had not discredited it's own paper by
refusing to receive it for custom du-
ties It would have been at par with
gold. With all the preparation for the
great event of. the fret of January,
1879, with all the sale of bonds for
gold to pile up In the Treasury, the
SECRETARY found it necessary, without
law. and in violation Of law, to order
the Custom-house officers to receive
grsenbacks for custom duties the same