, 1879-08-21

ness mon had to pay In settling their balance,
with the East was enormous. In three yeart
india, With her silver currency, haa paid TO En-
ing--ffty million dotlars-in exchange, ciexrs
1oaeto thc former. And In that losing situation we
sha.l be In our dealings with toretgn countries
policy prevail which viii leave III sllvcr a. our
only metallic money. And tlnt Is a result
to resist.
mocracy prevail, shcn We shall not even have q
silver basis TO stand upon: Tor, rs have already
shown, their plan to substitute Rreenbayks for
the Nat!onal-bank currency wonid inevitably
hold Of the silver question al ait, 1t ia only 10
make as much mischief as possible under tue
specie system, II they Should find themselves
what They cali "che.p money!; tieY prefer iii:
yer. becauts they think it cheaper than gold
and silver together; but to either metal they
prefer that which has 10 stable value al ALL,
though IN Its ctTccts, especially 10 Tie poor man.
II Ia tho dearest, The most expensive country
can have. And
wHr THIS DEMAND ron "CHEAr MoNar"l
In order,. .as they ray, to benei1s the debtor
class, "Eycry little debs atl ncttle, vou,'w,
threatens you with tile loss Of yonr homo, your
farm, your fnctnry, or your storc.' THIS Is tln-
fortunately true and II will alwnya rcmntp lruo
Nnlcss ton manage to par YOUR debt: for which,
under any money system, you will have to make
earnings and to draw upon them.
but some ingenious pcraons among the H.
lationihts have devised a wav In which the pay
lug of dehts Ia to be matle easr, and In which,
class. They cunteud tllat 30 did very wrong IN
making the gsecnback dollar cuual ln value to
the gold dollar, be!oso everybody had psld tho
debts contracted under the sssten nf trretecn1-
HF1
And now. they sav. justice to the debtor re-
autres that tho ra!iiG 0! The grcenback should
be reduced 10 what 1t wns when the debt waa
contracted; ar that some arrangement should be
made Of like ELECT between debtors and creditors
for an equitable cxtinEufshmeut OF tic indebted
mesa. This, 1t will strike The ordinary mind,
would be rather complicated arrangement. At
any rstc, It was not thought Of when the green
backs were first put Into circulation and bcgan
to falI. Thcn every creditor, to whom a debt
was due contracted when only gold aud silver
were lcgal-tender. had 10 take his pay IN dupre-
ciated grccnbacks no msttcr how great The de-
probation may hive been. But II such an ar
rangcmcnt Is to be made at present, It ought
to do Justice not only to some but 10 al. Now,
there were debts contracted when, as IN 1854,
the greenback dollar was worth onls 3s cents ID
gold: there were other debts contracted when
the, grcenback dollar was worth, SUCCESS
lively, 70, B0 co ceuts in eold, and
80 on. Many debts Of gil these periods may
st!l be undischsreed; TO what point shall VIC
to all Of those dchtnrs1 II VIC reduce IL 20 per
cent It will oe unjust to one set nliu NOR, than
Just 10 anutEer, ulld proportlonately unjust to
The creditors Of the latter. And 30 It will a.
wars be, whatever figure you may ADOPT. There
will always be some one crying out: "h1V point
has not been reached yeti aud demand JUS
ticel''
Moreover, during stl that time not onl7 were
debts contracted. but also debts paidi md by
almost every member uf the bustness conmllni-
ty debts contracted aud paid tn rapid Succession.
Ia fact thu indebtedness now existing ia but
very sulalt III propurtion to the delta contracted
untl paid since 1880; atlh In erery one Of those
settlements, amid the continued fluctuations Of
The currency, there was some loss suffered on
Que side a.H some advantage gained on ths
other. But II VIC are to make the suggested ar
ranEctnent III tustsce to those who Owe debts tn
1871, contracted before VIC owe the same Justice
to those who paid DH their debts before 1876,
CONTRACTED ever s[nrc the currency began TO ap-
nrcrnte: an.i We nwc sn,nethng tu the creditors
WHO suffered wlich the currency WAS II, COURSE Of
depreciation. In short. X We xant TO TO that
Kind uf justice to MI concerned alike, VIC shall
have to rip i.p ascrr settlement made sInco
our blessed gsccnhacks hogan 10 !luctunte: ind
| fear this tnea1ure Ut adjustment would throw
the Whole community into 70 fnextflcab!e
nsuiilIc that oven Gen. Ewing's Cclsils would
finally have t., Eivc up the conundrus1. There
Il, tlsen, ano'her proposition fults equa to Gen.
EWt,..'s original conception Tint It was ihr ln-
tcscst Of tie National bauks to kiii their Gus.
tuu,ers.
Tllr honest debtors are certainly entitled to
sympathy md iusttce. hut let n,e sAy to them
that tlev must expect ntfslcr Justice nor rcief
from currency Of !lslctuattny value. Under oil
circumstances they cau discharge their debts
onlr out uf tflcir carnfngs; md tlcy will als-
cllurge tllcir debts out of their earnings only
Wien the spirit anImatlng The business OF tho
country ia such as to Induce them to app'y their
earnings carefully to TINT cHd, III preference to
other ventures. In times like these, When the
people aare learned that to acquire wealth they
mist apply themselves to useful aud steady
work. and that to keep wealth they must ptac-
ttuc Wae econo,nr; when tho value OF tho dollar
Il thin. Of stable reality, md not the subject
OF gambling Rpeculat!on: when prosperity rests
oil The sound basfs OF real production, thu
result Of hard work, und things aro esteemed At
sIctr rehs worth, ba more and no less, nlld cal-
ctllatlohs nre ,nauc Oh tho bottom Of hard fact.
-iu such times people will carn money ahd
seriously think Of ntaklnE Rafe that which they
l'asc. hy relieving themselves ot the debts
which t'nettlc md ttrcaten." Such t!mcs We
have now, AMI am suro that aB to-day
TIE MASS or PRIVATE INDEBTEDNESS
Is far less than It was i've Fcars ago, year hence
It Will bc tat less than It Is to-day.
But such times are not thUse when MI inflated
currency prevails. a,"i constant fluctuations
mud fictitious expansions 0f value create that
spirit OF adventure. Of speculation, nlul ganl-
bling which IA SO apt to think lhat wealth cnn 10
most easily acquired by rccklessly putting
money upon q chance. Our own cxner'cnrc
should teach us that such periods, however
prosperous tllcY nlay seem: are not debt-raytls,
hut detl.makiHD t,prs. When was It tilut The
burden OF debt WIS contracted which at last was
found tU we!ull so heavily upon tic nccks ii
municipalities, corporations, atMl private cfti-
Zcnsf II w1s during thosa bal30oE!iiE times
the good things ana struck recklcssly fur !hore,
with ot!,cr peoples money. Let Gen. Ewing
and his followers I'LL the BALLOON again, alid II
will be found that, Instead Of getting rid Of