The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1882-03-09

ng importing tn Get OF NJ ] u. J. / Etl
the passage VI this last-nam / get tie Grs,-i-
oacS money Of thr c unty hsd been at the
ni"rcy of tn cretarv Of q Trcs -ury. II
h1d the power to rgtlr- and s. -troy 4 Il such
mes aud in such quantities rs he sew fit, thus
T nd"ring the condition of the fn noes un-
stable. uncertain and delusive. Ih3 Secrvtlry
of the Treasury could contract the currency,
shtcn the money market. breed financial
d stress at his own VIII and pleasure, and it is
a notorious fact Of 81 gry thHt the National
Banks were at all tines and under ell circuul-
stances unceas.ng III their dcmencs upon m
to drive ont Of ciFcuietion Gl kinds of money
except their own, IN order that they night
have the whole financial field and all its profits
to themselves.
Sir, hazard nothing in saving that II was the
caprciouS exercise OF tnI5 vast and danger us
power by different Secretaries of the Treasury,
together with the demonet zation Of silver.
which. more than all other causes combined.
created the panic of 1e.3, and cent nued Il
through the dismal period that followed. Busi-
ness men W re in ign rsince from day TO day
wnat would happen nc xt at the head OF tn.
Government % put up or tn put down tll val
ues in every market Accordingly a the Sec
retary contracted or expanded fhe circulating
medium he manipulated all tue markets and
depressed or advanced the prices a.d for pork,
beef, corn, wheat, cats, hy. as wei a. for all
ness stability prosperity under such sys-
tenn as this, was simply the essence of extreme
sonai good fortune that was I permitted here 1
on this floor 10 contribute by my luDOrs and
my vote TO the extinction of such m"nstrous
abuse. BY the act of May 81, 1873, each sue
ceeding Secretary of the Treasury is told in
clear and explicit terms TO let the Green
| back circulation alone at the exact amount
| then outstanding, to touch not single
dollar of 1t for the retir ment or destruction,
and to replace every worn-cu Ut Dill with a new
one, and this he shall not fail to do under pains
and penalties prescribed IN the law. We g me-
| times hear from thoughtless and foolish peo-
| pie that the Grcenback cause, as It Is styled,
| was a H. lure, and that its advocates suffered
defeat. Look ut the Treasury reports for the
month of May, 1873, and for tue month of De
| cember 1881. There were $5iG,6SI, ,Ol6 OF Green
backs in circulation in May, 1878 and there is
\ exactly the same amount in circulation now,
and IL has not varied a single dollar between
| these two points of time. Does this look like
| the Greenback had been whipped out OF the
| field? Does it not rather appear to have
achieved great and manent victoryf In
despite of all opposite, OF ell the hootngs,
Kisses, execrati0ns and IeriSou of its enemies,
/ IL remains q steadfast, Underwriting, honored
| currency. Its friends have trIulnphed, and
| its enemies are reduced to practical, if not s.
| lent, submission. In connection, however,
| with the act of May 81, 1873, Securing the
| Greenback from further molestatioD one
| more step in the work of financial ref 1rm was
necessary in order TO equalze and give stabil-
| ity tO the diff erent currencies of the country.
| The experience OF all nations shows that the
money OF a government which is hun0rgd by
the Government itself, by beng received for
| public dues, VIII never be deprecated. Such
| would have been the history of our own legal
tender notes, or Greenbacks, if the Govern
| mcnt had not discrimlEat q against their us
| when they were or. gInllly authorized. =
| Eeviug this to be true, gave my earnest sup
during u long session Of fhe Furty-fifth Com
gresa, mskirg the Green5ack money receiva-
ble FOR duties imp 'rts. Peud-ng that
measure in this body, and while il wis yet in
the hands of the Finance Committee, the Sec
| getary of the Treasury announced that he
| would do what the bill c c,ntempl2ted without
| the necessity of its passage While, there
fore, it did not become a law yet it accom-
plished the object of its supporter, and
| Greenbacks arose at once to par with gold, and
| have stood there ever since.
| Sir, none but the blind viii fail to discover
| In the legislation to which have briefly al
lud d the true source of the prosperity with
| which the country has been u IS ID during the
greater portion of the last fJas years. BY the
measures u which have spoken th. curr ncy
has been r7Ssanably expanded by tine ute OF
silver, and our entire circulation has been
rendered stable and Uniform IN value. This is
q great work to loOk back upon. it was ac-
cCmplished ut every step against tn" avUw d
hostility and active energy Oi a Repuh can Ar-
minIstrHtion; and those RepuDll lcan senate rs
and membt rs Of the House VINO aided in it did
so in oppos ton 10 the Organization of their
party at the head of tho GJgernm, mt. The re-
suits which have accrued t. the business of the
country have BEEN glorious. When once the
great American industries, on the farms, in the
factories, in the furnaces, in the coal regions,
in mercantile enterprises, on the rivers, and on
the oceans and IN railroad CIRCLES found that
the ground under their feet was no longer la
bic, from hour TO hour, to be shaken by the
tremblings and convulsions of financial earth
quakes, they sprang forward like liberated
giants, put their mighty energies in motion in
every direction, and the world has never seen
in any age more progress in the same length of
tine than they have made. Who would now
disturb the IN in the height of their magn nc mt
career by Withdrawing the means on which
they have successfully relied? Look out
over this broad land, this great brotherhood of
States eontning IN as tn9y must us "a. ana 90,
familiar channels of industry filed with cheer
full, hopeful activity, and new ones being
rapidly opened in the Sonth and in the West;
observe the laborer, generally employed and
fairly paid, and all classes more content than
they have been for years, and then make an
swer whether this is time well chosen III
which to reverse the condition of the people,
and return to policy which scourged them as
with whip of scorpions.
/ confess that am amazed at the recon-
mendations of the Secretary of the Treasury,
in which he is Joined by the President, on the
subject OF our silver currency. Under the act
per month, there have been coined about nine
, ty-two million dollars of full legaktender sill
yer money. By virtue of the same act there
have been issued silver certificates to the
amount of $66, $3.50, based dollar for dollar
! on that amount of coin now in the Treasury
and pledged for their redemption. These sill
, yer certificates, to the amount mentioned, are
now in the pockets of the people, performing
D all the offices of money in the daily transac
r tions of business, and their redemption is bet
= ter secured by specie than any other paper
. money in the world. The pledge of gold foi
Q the redemption of q paper circulation based
upon 1t is usually at the rate of one dollar in
gold to three in paper, and generally at a much
1 every dollar of silver certificate circulation
: has a silver dollar behind it, and is made re
9 ceivable for customs, taxes and all public
money is at par with gold, and stands on an
! equality with the best currency in existence
4 1t is as eagerly sought in exchange for labor
i and all the productions of labor as any of the
s other different kinds of money. 1t has thC
r great merit also, like the Greenback, of being
9 cheap money; it costs the people no interest
d and comparatively nothing at all for its circu
8 lation. Silver came from the mines through
d private enterprise, paid the Government fol
+ Its own coinage, and sxty-six millions of i
$ are now in the vaults of the Treasury, ready
9 at any moment to respond to every dollar o
ifa mi fha
= trader or the merchant, as he reads these re
= marks of mine, will open his pocket-book, h,
4 will most Likely find one or more handsome
+ looking notes based upon the silver coin in tn
It Treasury, and taken by him readily as b,
a would have taken gold.~
Il While crossing the mountains few week
s ago on my way West, in company with a yer.
, distinguished citizen of my own State, the con
> versatIon turned upon the qu sstion of slve
d curr ency, whether 1t had assisted To reviv
r. business from depression and bankruptcy. o
r whether silver money had in fact, remained il
t gard. To my friends surprise, perhaps,
g asked him how much money he had in h
q pocket, and requested him t. produce it. II
l. responded by exhibiting fifty dollars in ten
l. dollar bills, four out of the i've bills proving
e on examination, to be silver certificates gual
> anteed by silver coin. AS this gentleman re
placed his money in his pocket, he thought full
a ly remarked that the argument was at an end
st And yet IL is concerning this safe, strong, cor
Ie yenient, cheap, spece-guaranteed, parecircu
;r lating m oney that the Secretary of the Treasu
IF ry writes the following sentence in his annua
~ report now before me:
ts 1T is recommended, therefore, that meas
10 ures be taken for repeal of the act requ RIM
~ the issue of such certificates, and the early TT
" trement of them from circulation"
Z, IL Is difficult, in moderate terms, to charat
is terize such a recommendation. 1t is a wanto
le and, to my mind, q criminal assault upon tn
Df financial stability and the business prospert
q, of the whole country. 1t is here delberatel
ie proposed to retire from circulation more tina
ie sixty-six millions of money, and to destroy i
a Is IL possible for any one to fail to foresee tn
~ consequences of such measure if adopted
II Even the bare proposition to contract the Gu
4 rency and to disturb its healthy condition
D. this time would create disorder and panic bl
II for the faith of the country that Congress
y, wiser than the Executive Department, and wi
y pay no heed to its recommendation on til
ne subject No greater calamity can befall pc
IN pie than the destruction of money in the
ne hands, On a former occasion on this floor
q used the following language, and it is as appr
~ pirate now as II was then:
in, ,f