The National tribune., 1885-10-15
A MATTER OF NATIONAL HONOR.

1
1t is something which has always been kept
unsullied, no matter what the cost In blood
and treasure, and it is something which
must continue to be kept unsmirched, nc
matter what befalls.
Awhile ago the Nations honor was held
to be closely involved in the scrupulous pay.
ment of its money debts. In time of its
need it had been forced to borrow money at
exorbitant rates. It had been compelled 70
accept all manner of hard terms laid down
by those who had money to loan, and who
took advantage, after the manner of their
| kind, of the necessities of the borrower.
The prices paid for the billions of dollars
in money, supplies and munitions required
to carry on the war, were in no case low,
and generally they rose rapidly toward
the grade of extortionate. Every man who
became a money creditor of the Government
exacted an immense margin for any risk that
he might think he was taking.
When settling day arrived there were
many who demurred against paying these
creditors over and over again their original
| advances to the Government; they held that
it would be sufficient to give them back the
money loaned, dollar for dollar, with fair in
terest; that where they had loaned paper
dollars worth 80 cents each, it would be more
than just to repay them the same kind of
dollars, which had risen in value TO 60 and
20 cents; that as the terms in which the
dept was c""...acted did not specify any par
| ticular dollars, it was outrageous partiality
to pay them their principal and interest in
gold, while the people at large had to be
content with deprecated paper.
The case was argued to the court of the
whole people, with an ability and earnestness
not surpassed in the history of American
politics. Men of splendid eloquence showed
how the money-lenders had already grown
enormously rich from the profits of their
transactions with the Government, and
argued that to give them more was an injus-
tice to robbery of. the whole people.
The people heard all the arguments pa
tiently, and though they were suffering the
priyations and wretchedness of the severest
commercial depression ever known, they
voted overwhelmingly that every man whom
the Government owed should be paid the
last cent that the most favorable interpreta-
tion of his contract would give him. They
voted that the National honor required that
every doubtful point should be decided
against the Government and in favor of the
creditor; that no matter if many of them
were sharpers and Shylocks who had taken
advantage of the Governments needs, their
claims must be satisfied as punctiliously as
that Of a debt Of honor and gratitude; that
though there was no stipulation that the
National creditors were to be paid-principal
and interest-in gold, yet as gold had be-
come the currency of the world, they must
be paid in it, dollar fer DOLLAR
There is nothing in OUR history that our
people are Preuder of than this honorable
determination, and the unfaltering way in
which it was carried out. Even those who
were the most strenuous in opposition to it
now applaud it as loudly as the rest.
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE holds that the
National honor is still more deeply involved
in the rendering of full justice to the coun-
try's defenders than it was in satisfying
every claim of the money-lenders. In its
hour of need it wanted men even worse than
it did money. The men who gathered
around its flag did not drive hard bargains
with it-they did not attempt to dictate
any terms-they accepted, with little
thought of the matter, whatever was offered
them in compensation. But Congress, the
press and the people deeply grateful for
the services profered and rendered, were
prOfuse in their promises to the soldiers.
They felt infinitely more grateful to them
than they did to the money-lenders
and so expressed themselves. The soldiers
were constantly assured that nothing in the
power of the country to do for them would
be left undone; that the dependent relatives
of those who fell should be taken care of as
well, at least, as if their protectors were alive
that those who were disabled in any way
should, as far as money could do it, be given
as comfortable a livelihood as they would
have had if they had retained all their nat
ural powers; that ali who survived should
be given a real and substantial preference
in all the departments of public en-
ployment These promises were made
thousands Of times Oftener, and with
thousandfold more earnestness and solem-
nifty than any promises TO the money lenders.
The promises were embodied into National
and State laws, more direct and positive in
terms than any law under which the money
lender received fuli-weight gold coin for his
deprecated paper promises o-pay-dollaIs
Therefore, as we have said before, the Ma
tional honor is much more concerned in the