The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-04-05
Again Talking GreenbackIsm.

The following is an extract from a re-
sent speech BY George II. .Pendleton in
he United States Senate:
~ have only one word to say about the
Treasury note circulation Those notes were
ssued I'm 1862 In the strain OF the Government.
they were put out with n brand upon them
While II was said that they were good enough
.or all the transactions Of ordinary life be-
sween the citizens Of the country, they had
aot the value which would justify their recep-
ion for customs or for the payment OF the in
terest upon the public debt The law under
which they were issued provided that they
should be fundable in the six-per-cent. bonds
,f the United States-the five-twenty bonds
were sent out with this provision for funding
npon the one hand and this stigma upon them
on the other; and yet in two'or three years-I
think in lS64-the provision for their being
funded In the bonds of the United States was
repealed, and they were allowed to stand upon
their own basis. Simply because they fell in
~ gold under this treatment from the Repub-
iican party, Sxssn had put them into exist
ence, thy were derided and decried, and for
years we had them called In tones OF derision
the rag money, the dlshonored currency; and
gentlemen went 80 far as to say that their ex-
istence was a stain upon the financial honor
Of the country, that they were the one melau-
cholly reproach on the financial virtue of the
country.
Nov they h1@a grown up, they have
strengthened sncy nave become honored
members Of the financial household, until to
6sy it Is true that they are better than bank
notes, better than silver, better in many re-
spects even than gold, because they circulate,
as we were told exultsntly here In the Sem
ate the other day, wherever the gold coin cir
culates, and they are somewhere at q pre-
MUM. When they were derided and decried,
when they were called rag money in terms of
derision, they sustained wonderfully the fab
ric Of our domestic commerce; and now they
aid to sustain wonderfully the fabric Of our
foreign commerce.
"Mr. President, am very inexpert In all
these matters. compete with no body in
q knowledge of finance. am no prophet,
but wish to state now and here that the
time wiz ~ come, in my Opinion, When by
which we cannot control, when, by reason of
disturbances OF financial or commercial rela-
tons Of which We may be as well the victim
as the cause, the people OF this country will
be deprived OF their coin, and then they will
turn to the Treasury note circulation as the
means of upholding the tottering fabric of
their domestic industries and of maintaining
the prosperous Interchange OF their domestic
productions.
~ believe that debt Is a curse TO Nation
as to a man. I believe It is better to pay the
debt and pay the enlarged interest as soon as
possible, rather than to continue the debt 1T
any rate OF interest, however small. Debt is a
mortgage upon the property and labor OF q
Nation, as IL is upon the property and labor Of
a man. 1t Is a mortgage upon the bone, the
DlOOQ, the slneW, the neart, the Dra1n, the
house, the home, the domestic circle Of every
individual in the Nation. The periodical re-
currence OF the payment of interest, whether
it is by coupon or upon the note of the single
individual, Is the specter before which all pros
perity flies affrighted. II Is the darkness that
shuts out the sunlight; 1t. is the torrid heat
that prevents the dew and the rain; 1t is
the scorching fire that burns the fertile
earth; it Is the canker-worm which eats
into the vitels of all growing life. Taxes
pay interest. Labor pays taSes. Reduced
TO its analysis, II is the brawny arm and
the patient heart Of the man who goes out
in the early morn and remains until darkness
clothes the earth at daily labor In order that
he may gain food and shelter for his loving
wife and tender children who gives some OF
those hours to the payment of the interest
and the principal of the National debt. will
not, cannot, vote for the continuance Of the
National debt, or any part of 1t, one hour be-
yond what is absolutely necessary"
In noticing the above remarks of
Senator Pendleton an exchange says:
=. With the unerring foresight of a
shrewd politician, Mr.. Pendfeton sees
the Greenback star once more rising in
the horizon-and straightway he falls
down and worships it. What he now
says is true, but what we want to know
is, why has he been keeping silent all
these long yearsP'