Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-01-31
Bayard's Speech.

the Senate on Tuesday on his reso-
luton to divest greenbacks of their
legal tender quality. The effort is
said to be one of the ablest financial
speeches ever delivered in Congress.
The pith of the speech is contained
in his eloquent exordium, as follows:
Mfr. President-My object in urg-
ing the adoption of the present resO-
luton is to bring about an actual
resumption of specie payments; what
ever else may be effected by this res
olution is secondary, and merely in
cidental to this one cardinal object.
I ardently desire the prosperity of
my country; wish it to endure, and
l know that to be permanent it must
rest upon sound basis, and know
that sound currency is essential,
and that real money is the only basis
of a sound currency. have said
that desire to effect real resump-
tion of specie payments, for | do not
believe what is at present called re-
sumption, is real or reliable, because,
although since January /, 1879,
United States notes are redeemable
in coin at the Office of the Assistant
Treasurer of the United States in
New York city, yet, by the act Of
May 81, 1878, "when any OF said
notes may be redeemed, or be receiv-
ed into the treasury of the United
States, they shall not be retired, cam
celled or destroyed, but they shall be
reissued and paid out again, and
kept in circulation;" so that while
there is resumption of payment in
specie, it is neutraliZed in all its re-
sumptive effects by the immediate
reissue of the notes just redeemed.
To resume by such delusive pro-
cess is as idle as to bail water with
seiye. / am for actual resumption,
and a restoration of real money in
place of any substitute therefor, un-
less such substitute is voluntarily
agreed upon by the PARTIES to any
contract. Plainly then, this resolu-
ton is intended to secure the re-
sumption of standard of value
based upon value-and not upon
mere credit. 1t is not intended to
destroy the convenience and assist
ance of the present paper currency
but as that paper rests upon the
credit, that II is convertible into
specie and will be paid so do / feel
assured that by letting men feel a
confidence that a stable standard is
ultimately to measure all their con-
tracts-this will give them assurance
that the lapse of time will not bring
with it alterations in the basis upon
which their agreements were formed.
This will encourage capital to en-
bark upon enterprises which will
give employment to the laboring
classes, and will insure to labor an
honest equivalent for every hour OF
toll. Such believe will be a part,
and a part only, of the benefits to
flow from the adoption OF this
resolution.
The Baltimore americans Wash
ington correspondent says: Mr.. Bay
ard then proceeded to comment upon
the confusion of terms which had
led to a great confusion in thought in
dealing with the subject. 1t was un-
fortunate that notes should be called
"money," as it tends to produce con-
fusion and injustice. AT best, notes
are promise, and until that prom
Use is paid in money, it is unper-
formed. The very issue of these
notes was confession that the gov.
eminent had no money. To make
them circulate in the place of money
and enable the holders to get rid OF
them, they made them at first con
vertible into Understanding obliga
tions of the government and created
them a legal-tender for all debts
public and private. A man is not
obliged to sell his property for such
notes. He is only compelled to re-
ceive them for a debt then due. In
other words, legal tender is a debt
paying power, but can never be made
a debt contracting power, and nc
amount of tyrannical force in the
history of the world has ever beer
able to accomplish this last.
MONEY AND ITS SUBSTITUTES.
Mr.. Bayard next defined the diff
ference between money and its sub
stitutes, and quoted from the de-
cisions of the appellate courts and
from standard authorities. Passing
from this branch of of the subject
the speaker, replying to assertions
about the "money- power, said:
Mr.. President, we have heard in
this chamber illusions somewhat
vague, but none the less alarming
to an unseen, underlined "money-
power" What is meant by these