The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1882-06-01
The People Want the Best.

In a recent speech in the United States
Senate, Senator Plumb. of Kansas, said:
The people want. not gold, nor
silver, but they want Grsenbacks. and
silver certificates; theywant paper mon
ey, National Bank notes, and all other
forms of it, and not the coin itsef."
In other words, the people want paper
money. 5
In making this statement, Senator
Plumb is stating nothing new. He is
merely stating that which is a we'll
known fact. 1t has been demonstrated
by twenty years experience.
For the last fifty years, there has been
ten dollars of paper money used for ev-
cry dollar of coin used. q
For the last twenty years, in the
United States, it is no exaggeration to
say that there has been thousand dol
lars of paper money for every dollar of
coin. $50
Till within the last two years. there
has scarcely been a coin seen in circula-
ton since. 1861.
The entire business Of the whole
United States, public and private, has
been done substantially with paper
| money.
1t is useless to repeat the manifold
advantages that it has over coin money
Suffice it to reiterate what the Senator de-
| clared, that - the people want, not gold
nor silver, but they sCdnt paper
money!" 8aIas-
Upon this declaration of the fact, let
us proceed to consider the question, by
asking achat kind of paper money is the
best?
Senator Plumb SAYS: "Greenbacks,
silver, certificates, National Bank notes,
and all other forms of it, t-.--
There may be some people who want
| National Bank notes, and others who
want silver certificates, but we venture
| to say that nine-tenths of the people
want GreenbacksT -s
1t viii be noticed that Mr.. Plumb says,
and "all other forms of it. We viii
not insrlt,the Senator's intelligence by
presuming for a moment that under
| that clause he refers to the old ,s' wild
cal" 3" or State Bank money in use before
| the war. We do not presume that he
would Ike to see q restoration of that
kind of paper money.
Silver certificates are well enough.
Though not as good as Greenbacks, they
are better than the silver itself.
National Bank notes are good, good
everywhere-but they cost the people
too much, and the power to issue them
gives to the banks too great q control
over the currency of the country. They
are good, because they are based indi-
rectly upon the credit of the United
| States Government.
The Greenbacks are the best Kind OF
paper money that this or any other
country ever saw, but are not as good
as they would be if they were a full legal
tender for all debts, public and private,
including import duties and interest
and principal of the public debt.
/ Where is the man who will publicly
declare that, in comparison with Green
backs, National Bank notes are the best?
/ Where is the man who will publicly
declare that the old State Bank money
is better than Greenbacks? aa 1o3
/ Where is the man that will declare
that the Greenback currency is not the
best paper money we ever had9 +.
| Where is the man, unless he be a Ma
tional banker, who would like to see the
Greenbacks destroyedP
If then they are good, if then they are
the best, why not preserve those that
we already have, and issue enough new
ones to take up what National Bank
notes there are in existence?
And if they can be improved by being
made full legal tender, why not, i'm.
prove them?