The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-07-28

me ask a question. Why did the Green
back depreciate? You answer because too
much OF it was issued; because of lack of
| confidence, and because there was no specie
with which to pay. That is the answer
universally made. If you are right, am
| wrong. Now, give close attention to my
argument. Ii you have given the correct
reason, then all the paper money would
have deprecated alike. Bnt it did not.
There was not dollar of specie with which
to pay for fifteen years. Sixty millions of
demand notes were made full legal tender,
and never did depreciate, but kept par with
gold. On Black Friday, when gold fiuctu-
aled so that lightning could not keep up
with it, and wires in the telegraph offices
were actually burned off, these notes were
nimble enough to keep up with it, and actu-
ally went up with gold and came down with
gold, and remained at par. Why? Because
there were no duties that gold could fulfill
that these notes could not perform. If the
Government wanted money to day interest on
the public debt, il the importer wanted money
to pay import duties, these notes could meet
the demand. They were made equal with
gold by law. The Greenbacks that depreci
ated were made by the law legal tender at
their face value for all debts, public and pri-
vate, except interest on the public debt and
money could not be as good as gold. If the
Government wanted to pay interest they
could not do it with Greenbacks. IL the i'm
porter wanted to pay import duties, he could
not do it with Greenbacks. He must have
gold. Now this is sufficient to satisfy every
man and woman in this audience. l now
swear you in, fellow-citiZens, as a jury.
Probably this is the first time in your lives.
You are my jury now, ladies and gentlemen.
Now l affirm before this audience that the
Greenback deprecated because of a crimi-
nal conspiracy to speculate on the misfor-
tunes of the Government and on the blood
of her sons. shall challenge no Republic
an, no Democrat. II had case in court
nesses who had been on the ground at the
time, to have sufficient intelligence to I'M
derstand the case, and should want them
to tell the whole truth about it. II 1 have
such witnesses / gain my case. / hold in
my hand the sworn testimony of a stawart
Republican, William Pitt Fessenden. Is he
not reliable? In his report for 1864 and 1860,
page 207, he attributes the depreciation Of
Greenbacks to "a criminal conspiracy to
| raise the price Of coin, regardless of the re-
| suit to public credit
| Now, will give you another witness. The
Congressional Gobe, Fortieth Congress, Ap-
pendix, page 4,045, speech of John Sherman.
Mr.. Sherman tells this jury why Green
backs depreciated "It was our policy dur
| ing the war to depreciate these notes so they
would come in more freely in the purchase
Of our bonds.' 1t was the policy to do it.
Let us examine this policy. Fessenden says
] it was criminal Conspiracy Sherman
makes clean breast of it and says: 1--WE
you could exchange 81 for $2S5 in Green
backs, then you could exchange your 500,
| 900 for $2S5, 900, and then the law allowed
you to put the Greenbacks into Government
/ bonds at their face value, exempt from tax
es, and drawing six per cent. interest.
Another point wish to make is as to
how much we lost in this first conflict you
had with the money power when you were
| trying to put down the rebellion. / call it
the first Bull Run defeat in our conflict with
/ Nah Gf,. Nhn. Axx-r hoo 90
the time. The Thaddeus Stevens theory
was to make the notes full legal tender.
The exception theory, Stevens said, "would
make one kind of money for bankers, and
one for the people," Stevens got the bill
through the House Just as NE wanted it. 1t
went to the Senate, and there it was mutt
lated by putting the exception on the back
of the bills.
1 assert here tonight, and propose to
prove it in ten minutes, that we could have
put down the rebellion without issuing a
single Government bond. We could have
put it down without increasing the taxes
which you did pay. That we could have put
it down without paying one cent of interest,
and with an issue of only 81, 360, 900, 600 OF
full legal-tender money, if the advice OF
Thaddeus Stevens had been taken. Let he
prove it. You must, of course. deduct
from each years expenditures all unneces-
sary items. We expended in the year 1867
(first year Of the war; $565, 600 900. But
y
for interest. Loss on the Greenback occa-
stoned by the exceptions contained in the
law was Sc, 900 600, and you paid in taxes
SOL 900 900. Now deduct these three items
it will leave you $434, ,000, 900 as the necessary
expenses of that year over and above the
taxes you paid. The second year of the wal
you paid out S714, ,00O, 900, but you paid $24..
100000 of it in interest, and you lost by
discount on your paper money Sis, 600, 600
You paid taxes $4,000, 900. Deduct these
items and you have $39S, ,000, 900 as the nec-
essary expense for that year over and
above the taxes paid. Add that to the $434, >.
0O0, 200 and it will give you $685., 900, 900 Of
full legal-tender money at the end OF thu
second year of the war, expenses all paid
and no bonds. In 1864 you paid out 1865,
00O,0 600, but you paid $50, 600, 600 of it in
interest unnecessarily, and you lost by dis
count on your money that year S519, 1000, 200
for In 1854 your money was only worth 3;
cents on the dollar as compared with gold
and you paid taxes for that year $264, 200,
: 600. Deduct these items from The total eX.
penses of the year, and it shows a necessar,
expense of only $27 100000 over and above
!, that amount and add it to the $685., 2,0O0, ,OOt
, previously issued, and it will give you at tn,
end Of the third year of the war 1861 ,000, 900
; and still no bonds. In 1865 (the last yea
Of the war; you expended $l,291 900, 600
but $77, ,OOO, 900 of it was expended for inter
/ est. You lost by discount $3S9, 900, 900, ant
: you paid taxes 1885,, ,OOO,0 900.
Now deduct these items from the las
' years expenditures and add the remainde
I to the 1861 ,00O, 900 previously issued, and i
! expenses paid and with but II ,35s, 900 900 O
r fun legal-tender money in circulation ant
: free from the curse of o bonded debt.
.. have given you the figures in round mum
a bers. l have them here exact. They ar
I taken from the Treasury reports and officia
| q
n verted In any essential particular. No,
: what did you have as the result of the adOp
a tion Of the theory Of Wall S rect? You ha
In actual circulation at the close of the war
q including the 7 80 notes, 81 ,996, 900 900, an
j. we have paid in interest alone since the yea
1852, by the official figures, over 81 800, 900,
e 600. And please do not get scared yet. YO
O still owe the debt. And do not let this trifl
b frighten you for you have to pay s., 900, 900
!, 600 morein interest before all the bonds final
n ly become due. Now this fOots up net los
q to labor of over ST ,00O, 600 900, and a conse
!. quent gain to capital. 1t was taken frol
!. you as result of a scheme and put into tn
n pockets of men who would neither work
Il fight nor pay taxes. When we show thes
n things upon the floor of Congress, and cha
). lenge the world, the flesh and the devil I
: disprove 1t, they say, ~ Oh! that Is not a
i issue. Look at the solid south" The SEE
,r ond scheme was he establishment of ii
-e Ma ional- Banking system in 1868, amende
it in 1864, and then in 1874, in the very mid
: of the panic, and when the laboring me
l. were out Of employment, they authorize
d them TO take their money out of circulation
re in whole or part, then in 1879 to issue
3 again without regard to limit.
/ have no quarrel with the bankers. N
n quarrel is with the system. 1t is an iniqu
al tOus system. You cannot legislate in regal
st to these Government bonds without toucl
~ ing the interests of the banks. The banl
is and the bonds are like the Siamese twin
a Death of the bonds is the death Of the bank
r. IL you take the bonds out from under Il
D. banks they must fall. A Funding bill w
a. before Congress few days ago. A MAORI
ce of the Congressman thought it ought to pas
Ill 1t authorized the Secretary of the Treasu
IN to exchange the five and siX-per-cent. bon
in for low-rate bonds-three- percent. II
40 Greenbackers differed with those who
10 vored the bill in that we did not believe
Ir refunding the bonds at all. We said tn
he ought to be paid, and will tell you how ,
as intended to pay them i'm a manner perfect
no consistent with the strictest construction
d. the contract. said we differed with ther
ay but majority of Congress differed with