Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1879-11-11


any attempt to regulate the volume of cur
rency by act of Congress is sure To end in
mischief 1t is time to abolish this dan
gerous element in our finances, and to
return to the policy which all our states
men, from the foundation of the govern
ment until 1878, consistently maintained.
This policy was never better stated than
by Secretary Morrill, in his report to Con-
gress in 1876;
The United States notes, commonly
known as legal-tendcr, regarded As sub
Stitute for money, are an anomaly III our
monetary system, tOlerablc and possible
only i'm the exigencieS of civil war--the
offspring of its perils and limited To its
necessities. To allow their continuance,
as such, after the cause which justified
| their existence had ceased is to violate the
conditions of their inception and to sane
ton what was only tolerable rs necessity
| 10y impressing upon it the stamp of legitl-
macy. The purpOrt of the legal-tcnder
note was and is Il promise TO pay. Its legal
characteristic has been definitely settled by
the Supreme Court. Justice Bradley. in
speaking of it, says
II is not an attempt to coin money out OF
| "A valuclcss material Ike the coinage OF leather,
or ivory, or kOwric shells. IL - pledge OF the
national credit. IL Is "A promise by the govern
mcnt To nay dollars The standard OF value is
not changed. The government simply demands
that It, credit shall be accepted and received
by public and private creditors during the
pending cNigcncy- No one supp"sc7
that these government certificates are never 10
hc paid-that the day of specie payments is
never TO return And IL matters not M what
fNr heN "a through
ever changes they pass, their ultimate destiny
is TO BE PAID.
Dealing with this question, Senator Shcr-
man. chairman of the committee on finance,
in a recent speech in the Senate, says:
Knight show you from the contemponncous
debates in Congress, that NJ every step of the
war the notes were regarded "a temporary
loan, in the nature OF a forced loan, but loan
chccrnilly borne, and 10 be redeemed aitCr the
war WIS over. No one then questioned
either the policy, the duty. or the obligation of
the United states 10 redeem these notes in
coin.
These notes did not and do not purport
TO be moncy-thcy are rather the symbolic
expression OF the governments authority
I'm lis extremity 10 supply its needs. The
quality of legal tender with which they
were impressed, should have been COCK
istcut only with the necessities OF which
they were the offspring. Having served
their end, they existed properly only as
evidence of government Indebtedness, 90
be provided for a. other debt obligations.
Indeed. this was the logic and the law OF
the legal-tendcr notes in their inception
and treatment, rs Interpreted by the pro-
visions of the acts hy which they were
issued. by the provisions Of the law for
their payment a. part OF the public debt,
and by the judgment of the supreme Court
of the United states. At the close oi the
war they were q portion of the public debt,
and they are "a constituent element OF our
currency today only because the original
provisions for their funding have not been
enforced. aud that iaucitul aud speculative
theoric, have proposed their permanent
incorporation into our monetary >y~tcm Us
not incompatible with The hard money Of
the constitution and the harl-muncy tnd-
tiou> of our people
That policy which tolerated the coutiu-
uaucc of these notes aS money after thc
close of the war, must Dee regarded a>
public misfortune. At that time they were
according 10 original design and los Tine
lo1ic of their cNi>tcucc--t1 Dee funded as
an obligation OF Indebtedness; 90 be- en-
bodied with the public debt, AMI not 10 Doe
treated or tolerated ~ an element OF the
national currency They were 10 pass out
OF the category OF currency and % take
their place with the public debt Congress.
| i'm l-Gp treated them n portion OF the
public debt. and pledged the faith OF the
nation 10 their redemption, aS such, al the
earliest practicable period, and the act Of
! ISIS contemplated their redemption iu Jan
uary, 1879.
By this latter act, the policy of speedy
resumption OF specie payments i not only
declared, but monetary system for the
| United States l. clearly indicated. with
provisions for the redemption OF irrcdcem-
| able paper current ~ money. and thc issue
| i'm lieu thereof OF national bank notes re-
decmablc in coin al the option of thc hold
er. and 4 return 10y that method 90 the met
allie standard Of the constitution.
The history, the theory and the law Of
the lesal-tcndcr notes are stated .u these
few sentences with wonderful precision,
brc,ity and force.
~ currency, the treasury notes are an
element OF disturbance. Congress might
as reasonably ordain that there shall all
WAYS ne 80 millions of steel rails ion the
market. aS that there shall Away, be $40
millions of dollars in circulation. When
people want steel rails they 20 60 the roll
Ing mills. When they want money, they
20 to the banks. If they can pay for the
steel rails they get them. II they can pay
for the money. they get that. And Con
greSS can no more tell how many dollars
will De wanted, than how many rails will
be wanted, or how many bushels of corn
will be raised next year There was never
any excuse for attempting to regulate the
volume of currency by act of Congress
except the plea Of necessity. and that has
long since been outlawed.
As debt, the notes should DE paid.
They constitute a temporary loan with
out interest. Sec. Sherman Is now using
his surplus revenue to buy bonds at a prem
ium. for the sinking fund. He should
rather use il to retire and cNtinsuish the
temporary debt represented by the treaSu-
nv notes. The act Of lS7S should he re-
pealcd. and the notes received at the treas
ury should be cancelled. If merchant
carrying a large floating debt, should make
fortunate ale and receive a large
amount of money, aS the United States
| have done this year, he would first pay of
his call loans. That is the only honorable
course that is what our statesmen prom
ised to do when this debt was incurred;