, 1879-01-03

1867, IL viii not be denied MS fsct Of history
and law that the Rrecnback was loan without
mastering necessities Of the War. Its Issue rs
lceal-icn&cr for private dcbts was ncknow!-
edged At tho tfmc to be M act Of doubtful cx,n-
st'tusona'ity. and justified onl5 on the plea ofn;;
with great hesitation BY smal! majority and |
aRasnst thu protest and warning OF many able |
md nnt patriotic Senators au;l Reprt*entatises.
se IL rsss: ep.ss b o Es rsd
l}oycrnmcnt It's strouae.t supporters at
knowled1ed tlc areat danger Of tho ex.
against tho evils It wonld inflIct. They cu,-
bodied III The faw. and stamped upon the face of
every ,Rfccnbaek, this solemn llroinfsc: !" Tho
United statca will pnr.' They provided q
methM BY which tho notes should bo funded
snd ultimately redeemed. They did not bro
pose TO create = pcrma ucnt system OF paper
money. Thcy declared that the measure was TO
Be temporary ons,.thc "Meleine Of tho Con-
serted, agatn and again, tint tho money Of tho
Constitution wsa cola, not paper. Tho green
back Itself was promise TO pay Go'n; but tue
date of payment was nos axed. II was Gov
ais Of Ia law for not paying It on demnnd was
inability to pat. The moment the Government
WAS able to pay refusal became ttslouof, and
reproduced !ts injustice Ia every business inter-
est, public and private.
CHANGING VALUE or THE oHEENnACK.
But Tho unrelccn,cd grccuhacl: produced
cvils far greater than those which resulted from
ine debt. ii was a legal tender currency, and
ia excessive volume expelled real money trnn
all the channels Of Internal trade, destroyed tho
old measure Of value, and substituted In Its
day and every hour during the seventeen ycars
of suspension. On account Of its twofold cl,nr-
actcr "a debt and currency, the value OF tho
greenbtck was changed By eEesy military aud
Tho war. The march, OF hoatic army to tho
| near nclghborhood Of the National Capitol. in
1904. reduced the market value OF The green
bark 40 per cent In a eluQle week. Tho sama
Inc premium on gold, by penal law. caused
| an equally violent hurtuatton. A. arst this
greenbaek "as received at par with
In 1854 The volume WAS increased ono hundred
and ninety millions, and the coin value ot tho
| whole n1asa became ono hundred aud seventy
hvs millions less Than before the Increase; 49,,
fluctuations, It fell from par to 3s cents on the
dollar, reaching its lowest point on tho 9th Of
July, 1854. BY q series of changes, equally
irregular, It has returned, through IN ascending
scale OF dftceu years, to par.
No arithmetic can compute the injustice and
loss which these fluctuations have inflicted up
! on tile pcople and business of this country:
enet M ths ~
currency: lts debt-payinG and It's purchasing
power. Tho astt was arbitrarily, t'xed hy Cor,
orcss At ion cents Oh the dollar; but tue second
tion can sct aside-tho laws al value; aud the
vatuc Of the R1eenback As a purchasing power
suffered all he changes Ut tho market
n Sa! toi VIZ T., nit, na ths.. s.n.s ,s
e9noof e1,e ~ av co IN ssrsnt 'ess ca
discharge Of tho debt handful Of paper notes
which 10 could purchase for sss In coin: That
NJ nn sG y n11e ~ eo on;v M cen,.s vo1s
dtftroneo between ia dcbkpaylng pomer and l
~ purchasing powcr eatiseu eun.ns!on ano ILL.,
1"4sSs 20 the vhs neron of dsclnc the crc.
,so1 f was w1onRea ass % by Sudetpaymens aud during
wno,e n o. ~ "I" ,Ma
wrongcd py he'hR compei'eo 10 mako oVefpay"
mcnt- -.
payment Of eysry DEBT in'ietea'a wrong, either ~,
upon tue ctconoe 9l tuG aeuuos, amu sa1a s.e
wbo!o maen,netr y s1co1. w. ~, Oi,.er eg
an enaine o. ~ a asrn,av ~ ,'n
when the TWO iuhct'ons ol currency are OIL ua
cqual value. ...-.-
TIE N1sTAKk or 1S1.
The first great oppoEtunit! Tor putting an cno
TO these evils occurred soon after tbe close os tt
War. Probably at no other tins IN our history
was tho per capita sIera2e OF private indebted
ness 10 small u IN 18g5. Private depta ha0 beer
"A pxa-lp depre,aated paper; me Hnyernmen
had bccpme the great borrowcri and had loanct
| ucarly all tho surplus capital Of tho country.
TWO millions Of hardy, eutcrprisins
mcn had just been mustered out o.
the lately hostile srmles, and wert
ready again to become pro1ucerb ii
wealth. It Was matter Of the utmost iti1por'
tance that the fruits Of thoIr labor al,orld b
safe when earned, aid that ventures ln businea
should be u,nlo ~ free rs posstblo from
artificial auctustions. The volume Of cuFrenc.
: then extending was nearly four times "a grca
; ~ had ever existed at any one time before thI
! War. 1t amounted to ncarly, elRht hundred
millions Of obligations, In vAsiona fornlg. en-
: dowcd With the quality o! lcgal-tendcr. Ever
, In tho nidAt OF tho War, this volume wa
known to bo far too arcat for financial aafcty
Hut on tho return OF peace, when tho G0yern
rpcpt ceased to bc 9reat consumcF and tl'
payments from the Treasury nus rcducod q
ssliy S aami,t.d IL % thst tho yo,n,s ot earrsucy va
greatly In oxceas OF the legitimate wants o
business.
Under the combined influence Of this expand
. cd volume OF appreciated currency. md I'll
. enormous expenditures Ut the Government
a ~