The Portland daily press., 1879-07-26
Scion Chase's Bigger Dollar. "

The speech ofSolon Chase Thursday night.
ostensibly in reply to Secretary Sherman.
contains some incorrect statements, and
many false assumptions and erroneous infer
ences. One statement is undoubtedly true
that the farmer must now pay az bigger
dollar than the dollar he borrowed. and
that The lender receives bigger dollar than
the dollar he lent. That is one of the many
curses that follow fluctuating currency.
Ii our currency had remained stable, if it
had not deprecated and widely fuctuated
the man who contracted debt ten years ago
could now pay it in dollars of the same
value as those in which it was contracted.
But from 1862 to 1879 the value of the cur
rency was tiuctuating, monthly, weekly,
daily, and sometimes hourly. No man who
lent dollar could know that hewoud get as
much as he lent. No man who borrowed
could know that he would not be called
upon to pay more than he received. But
men went on buying and selling on credit, and
taking their chances. They did not even
exercise care in their operations. They
bought on trust finer clothes. and built OH
credit greater houses, yet all this time they
knew flor we all acknowledged it them that
we should return to a specie standard, and
that the value of the dollar and the burden
ofithe debt.must increase. Someindividuals.
some towns, some States wisely discharged
ged their debts while the advantage was
with the debtor The Government paid
millions of its debt. But many individuals
and corporations blind to all warnings,
went on increasing their liabilities and their
extravaganza of expenditures.
For long time it was the creditor who
suffered. The paper dollar was constantly
falling in value, and the money he lent
when it came back in a month or year,
though nominally of the same value, had
lost much of its purchasing power. He
tried to save himself from part of the loss
by charging great interest-another of the
curses of fluctuating currency. Those
who lent money before the paper dollar
began to fall and not payable until it had
fallen, had not even this small resource.
Then the tide turned in favor of the
creditor and against the debtor. The paper
dollar rose in purchasing power The
moneyNa man borrowed for long time cost
him more to pay when payday came. The
government was in the same plight as other
debtors, and the dollar it now pays it's
creditors is worth more in many cases than
the dollar it borrowed.
But let it be remembered that all the loss
and suffering caused in the first place to the
creditor and afterwards to the debtor are
due to fuctuating currency Had the
dollar been stable the distress to the debtor
would moi. have occurred. 1t would have
been better could we have done without the
fuctuating dollar. But we were in death
struggle, compelled to use many question
able means to save the national existence,
and careless of the cost. We did save the
Nation, and should not grumble now that
the doctors bills are coming in
Furthermore, we have freed ourselves from
this fiuctuating dollar that wrought the dis
tress. The dollar borrowed at any time
since last January will not become bigger
before payday, nor shall we have to pay
nearly so much for its hire. 1t is this pres
ent state of things of which the Greenback-
ers complain. They wish to go back to the
old fuctuating dollar and the misery it
worked, plausibly pleading that it will re-
lieve the debtor. So it may for a time, as it
did before; but the turn of The tide must al
ways come, and the debtor must, before the
tale is told, go again through hard times,
business distress, and industrial stagnation.
We have got our feet on solid ground. Let
us keep them there