The Portland daily press., 1879-07-24
Showing an aggregate OF s1,o42, ,539, ,015, or


the actual circulation.
Again, they demanded that the bonds should
be paid in greenbacks. There was question,
upon which honest men fairly differed, wheth-
er the five-twenty bonds were not properly pay-
able in United Safes notes. They insisted
that this should be done, though the payment
of the bonds in greenbacks would have in
creased their ISSUE. violation OF the limit of
$4,000 DC ) prescribed by the loan laws, and
would thus have kept the United States notes
in perpetual dishonor and depreciation; but
now they have been so paid by resumption.
All the tive-twenty and ten-forty bonds re-
deemed this year, amounting to 1851 ,676,550,
have been paid in greenbacks, and the interest
on all the bonds is paid in greenbacks, and all
this is done without raising any question of
good faith with the public creditors.
They also demanded that the customs duties
should be paid in greenbacks. This is now
daily done, without question, as the result of
resumption.
We receive United States notes for all pur-
! poses and all demands, and pay them out for all
| purposes and on all demands. Resumption has
| enabled us to do this. 1t has accomplished ev-
| cry object which the Greenbackers sought to
| accomplish by the repeal of the resumption act.
| Should they not be content? What more do
| they want? Are not we who have brought
about these results better entitled to the name
| of Greenbackers than they who would forever
| keep the greenback as dishonored and irrc-
deemable note? We presided over the birth OF
| greenbacks and guarded them in the cradle.
The Democratic leaders denounced them as
| fraud, with the mark of Cain on their brow, as
worthless, to be bought some day by the cord.
We have crowned them with honor. They are
| no longer deprecated, but may travel the cir
| cult OF the world, equal to the best coin ever
! issued from the mint.
GREENBACK POLICY IN MAINE.
The policy of the modern Greenbacker is to
| depreciate the greenback, to destroy its pur-
! chasing power, to make it depend not upon
the intrinsic value of the coin into which it can
hrf
given to it by law. The people of Maine will
| have to choose between those Greenbackers
who strictly preserve the national faith, seek
to maintain the greenback at par with coin,
| and those who, with utter disregard of the pub
lie faith wish to restore the old state Of affairs
| when the greenback could only be passed at
discount, and could neither be received for
customs duties nor be paid upon the public
debt. They would revive the old distinction
between the bondholder and the noteholder,
when 10C cent gold dollar was paid to the
bondholder, and an G0-cent irredeemable note
was the pay of the laborer. We would have
one money for all, and that good money, each
dollar of which will buy 1C) cents worth of
| food and clothing.
One would suppose, fellow-citizens, that our
Greenback friends, after all their prophesies
| had been proven to be false alarms, after we
have secured and enjoyed for brief period the
| blessings of a sound currency redeemable in
coin, would be content to let well enough alone;
but dropping the resumption act, they come to
on them contest with the Republican party.
Perhaps the fairest way in which l can reply
to them is by first quoting the platforms of
their party in Maine and Ohio, where the chief
political contests of this year are to be fought.
The filst clause of the Maine platform is as
follows:
'"The convention congratulates the people of
Maine that the increase of coin and bonded ndebt
edness of the Government in tine of profound
peace from 81 100, 900 000n 1866 to 50 00O, ,0O0-
900 in 1879, is fact so startling as to aarm every
OF coin interest and at the time increasing the
principal to such an amount as to vastly increase
the coin interest continually under the pretext of
economy by the redction OF the rate OF interest," is
such fraud upon the people as to merit the most
severe condemnation.
This is curious medley of deceptive statc
ments, the purpose of which would seem to be
to show that the public debt was increased in
a time of profound peace from 81 ,10J, ,000,CS0,
in 1865, to $20C0,Cc),C10, in 1879, while, in
truth and in fact, the interest-bearing debt in
1850 was S2,3S1 $50 ,2st.Sj, and now, that the
refunding operations are completed, it is
S1,797 ,643,7CO. 1t is true that the debt in 1865
was not all payable in coin; S217 02t, ,160 was in
the form of compound-interest notes bearing
per cent compound interest, and $780, 10
was payable in Treasury notes bearing currency
interest at the rate of 210 per cent; but the
latter, having matured, was converted eleven
years ago into per cent. coin-bonds, decrease
OF the rate of interest of l $40 per cent. In
fact the interest-bearing debt has been re-
duced since 1865 in the sum of $5S3, ,cG6, ,594.Sj,
and the annual interest charge ON this debt has
been reduced from $150,977 ,697. 81 to $50, 49,
1850.
The statement as made would be absolutely
false, but for the equivocation upon the words
'coin interest,"
Now all our interest, though nominally pay
able in coin, is in fact paid in currency. Our
friends who never misead, or hardly ever,
make their statement technically true, but
really FALSE for the interest-bearing debt has
been reduced near S6C0,OO0,CS0 and the yearly
interest S67 C00CSo.
Exactly how our Greenback friends can say
that the reduction of the rate of interest under
, the pretext of economy sis such fraud on the
, people as to merit the most severe condemna-
tion," is past finding out. The truth is that
the intelligent commercial world, except only
the Greenbackers, has been full of praise and
t wonder at the remarkable success of the Gov
ernment of the United States in the reduction
. OF its debt and interest No nation in the
, world, in ancient modern times, has in so
short period so greatly reduced the immense
, burden of debt that weighed upon us at the
| close of the war as we have; so that now the
tax on whiskey and tobacco will more than
pay the entire interest of the public debt.
But they say that this Administration has
, increased the interest-bearing debt, and they
point to the monthly debt statement for proof.
L have already explained how this was tempo
rarily done in the process of refunding the
debt. But on the debt statements hereafter
the ten-forty and five-twenty bonds will disap-
pear or cease to bear interest," so that our
Greenback friends will not hereafter be misled
by this operation nor be able to mislead others.
Again they resolve as follows:
"That we favor the unlimited coinage of gold and
silver to be supplemented by full legal tender pa
per money sufficient to transact the business of the
country"
l We have now unlimited coinage of gold and
there is little, if any, objection to unlimited
coinage of silver at its market value.
To quote from Mr.. Grochen;
SIT was for the interest of commerce generally,
both in India and Europe, that the whole of our
commercial transactions should be based upon an
aggregate of silver and gold together, rather than
that it should rest only upon gold'
4 This was the view taken by Hamilton and
jefferson. But to secure such q basis the coin
age ratio must be the market ratio. Free COIN
g age of silver at the ratio of is to | means the
: single standard of silver. What we object to is
the coinage of silver dollar that is worth only
. eighty-iive cents, and which thus will demon
etize gold and leave us only silver as the basis
OF our coinage. Silver coin has been made the
football of demagogues until now many persons
are led to believe that the Republican party is
opposed to the coinage OF silver, while it was
the Republican party, and the resumption act
itself, that provided for the recoinage of silver
, introduced it into current use in place of tn
4 fractional currency, and stands ready now tC
coin it without limit at its market ratio to gold
:, while the greenback element wishes to coin q
5 silver dollar worth only on the average eighty.
| five cents, and with view to cheaper money
g to impair contracts, and to Danish gold. They
refuse to recognize the fact, acknowledged by
, all the world beside, that by the law of trade
: silver has deprecated in comparative value
e with gold, and that the silver dollar of twenty
years ago is now intrinsically worth 10 per cent.
1 less compared with gold, than II was then We
: have tried the experiment of coming the silver
dollar since it was authorized in 1878, and have
a coined S35 sol coo. Every effort has been made
to put it in circulation without forcing it upon
f unwilling persons, but the Treasury Depart
ment has only been able to issue 13,359, ,9l2, OF
4 which S6,5lS,9l2 have been since returned tC
/, the Treasury. The sensible course to be pur-
sued with the silver question is to treat it ASIA
practical one, and to coin it without limit only
when the commercial nations have agreed up
on market ratio upon which they can al
stand. 1t is now believed that this can be
/, brought about by commercial treaties and q
negotiation is now pending for that purpose. In
the meantime silver coin should be limited in
amount to sum that can be maintained at paI