Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-01-25
WHOLE NO. 2,253.

n be paid for interest, their issue be
: ing authorized only upon the de
Y pOsit of standard silver dollars.
:, There is as much abSurdity in
s that paragraph as could well be
: crowded into as many words. He
i says "silver certificates cannot be
e paid for iaserest." xNdmit it; they
5 are not legal-tender To any private
; person for anything, but the SlI,-
e 260, 600 in silver coiH which these
: certificates showed had become the
: absolute property of the United
States, and already deposited in the
) Treasury, not only could be paid
/ for interest, but was by law and
/. specific permanent appropriation set
apart and dedicated first of all to be
applied for that purpose, and is a
: legal tender for all purposes. Again
: he says, and that is true: "These
| certificates could only be issued up
! on the deposit Tin the Treasury of
standard silver dollars" Yet he
says the S1I, ,260,0 "exceeds the
+ total of silver certificates issued" by
nearly $1,000, 600. / hope the FL
nance Committee will cause careful
inquiry to be made, and advise the
Senate by what authority and under
what law that state of things is
brought about. The Treasurer says
the silver certificates received for
customs in New York are again
"paid out By that office and again re-
ceiVed for customs" How they are
paid out except on the deposit of an
equal amount of silver coin, and
how $I1, 100000 of them have
reached the Custom House unless
that amount of coin has reached the
Treasury, is something the Senate
ought to know.
But | will not at present criticise
further the very remarkable answer
we have received from the Treasury
Department upon that point. /
assert, without fear of successful
/ and meaning of the provisions of
the act of February %, 1878, author
/ iZing vercertiticatest to be received
for customs dues was to place them
| precisely on the same footing on
which gold certificates are placed
/ by sections 254, 5000, 3, ,473 and J, 474
of the Revised Statutes. No certifi-
cate was ever made a legal tender
which the creditor Of the Govern
menf is bound to accept. He may
accept it, but his bond calls for pay
ment of interest in gold or silver
coin of the standard value on July
! IA, 1870, and nothing else will, with
! out his consent, discharge the obli-
cation to pay the interest.
: All the evasions of the Treasurer
as to the silver certificates not being
legal tenders for interest show, as |
was said by the Senator from Ohio !
/ (Mr. Thurman) on memorable
occasion, 'scant respect for the Sen |
ate and none for the law" The po-
sition taken by the Secretary that
/ the public creditor should beallowed !
/ to determine what character Of coin
he prefeFS TO be paid i'm when the !
United States have the right to pay
in either, cannot be maintained. |
The Secretary is the trustee and !
agent Of the people, not of the cred |
itor. The option is for the benefit !
Of the people, and the right is absO-
Lutte in their agent to pay silver coin |
without consulting the creditor, if !
the interest Of his cestuj 9as trusts |
requires payment to be 50 made. /
Not to pay in the manner most adj /
vantageous to the taxpayers of the /
country, Is a plain violation of the |
known duty of the Secretary. 1t |
seems to me TO be an obvious fact /
that il is the Interest of the people /
ato utilize the silver dollar byrequir- |
sfng the Secretary to pay the interest |
they owe with 1t. There has been
a constant struggle, or a bald pre-
talise of an earnest effort, eyer since |
tho TtsaE closed, reduee <he bnr- (
dens of taxation by the reductfcn Of 7
the interest bearing debt of the 4
United States. Sinking funds have
been maintained, even by large in
creases of taxation, to make il GER
tain that the bonded debt should be
annually redaced. The refunding
act of July IA, 1870, which author
lied the issue of 5000, ,000, 900 of ) per
cent, $500, 100000 of 4l per cent.
and 81, 000,000,00O of 4 per cent.
bonds, making principal and inter-
est payable in gold or silver coin Of
the then standard value, and ex-
emptinS slaena from all taxation,
Federal, State and municipal, adj
ded this provision "kgt nothing in
this act, or in any law nOW IL force,
shall be construed TO authorize any
increase whatever of the bonded
debt of the United States"
The Republican party have con-
stantly insisted that the reduction
of the bonded debt and consequent
relief from the taxation necessary
to provide for the annual interest
thereon, was their chief merit and
4hnft- cff.nv,r,r,ssN sslasssa 7
ance in power; vet in the face of all
these things the Secretary Of the T
Treasury shows by his report that
in order to enforce resumption of
specie payments he had from the
first day of November, 1873, in
creased the pripcipal of the interest
bearing bonded debt of the country
$l04, 493 40, and in his last monthly
report, issued on the first day Of
January, 1879, he shows that he
has increased the principal of our
bonds still further, from 81, ,79S, 750,-
$50 to 81 1909, ,8l2,S50, and being a
further increase of SlI ,062, 100 in the I
last two months, making an increase I
of the bonded debt in the last three
years and two months of $1l5,5G1,-
$50, which, at ; per cent. per an
mum,
ADDS TO THE TAXATION or TIE
PEOPLE
annually Sj,778,077, or Mt Al per
cent. interest S., 200 1863. The Sec
retary shows by his reports that the
annual interest has been increased
very largely in the last two years.
This is not fiattering exhibit at a !
time Of unparalleled depression of
property and business, when taxa
tion, direct and indirect, is already ,
almost beyond endurance. But we
have been so accustomed to talk /,
about millions lately that we hardly
realize the magnitude of the burden
the Secretary has imposed upon the
country.
IfSenators will return to the f. :
nance report Of 1877, pages II and
10, they will find the annual ex- !
penditures Of the Government of ,
the United States for all ordinary /,
purposes executive, legislative and !
judicial, war, navy, pensions, Indi- !
ans, everything from the foundation T,
Of the Government up to and in- a.,
l8Gl-never reached S73,- /,