The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-01-21
The Dollar OF the Fathers.

In the Senate Mr.. Brown called up Mr. Becks
silver resolution and addressed the Senate ON
it. The officers of the Treasury, he said, should
treat all public creditors alike; if they paid the
bondhoders in gold alone, they should pay the
OF silver dollars in the Treasury Mr.. Brown in
sisted that il was the duty of the Secretary OF
the Treasury TO pay them out to the public
creditors whenever anything was due, and il
that did not DISPOSE of them he sbouId call in
enough bonds on which the people are paying
interest to absorb the silver dollars, and
SO stop the interest payments II the
public creditors were paid 100000 or
400 900 of silver dollars their endeavor would
be to keep up the value of silver; If paid in gold
alone their endeavor would be 10 depreciate the
value OF silver-to make il represent less prop
erty. II it were said that it was not honest to
pay them in silver, on the ground that the silver
dollar was not honest dollar, Mr.. Brown
would reply that it was always honest to pay q
debt in the very currency which the creditor, by
his contract. had agreed TO take. The creditors
had secured several successive changes in the
contract, and the contract as ii now stands was
that the bondholders should be paid
in gold dollars or silver dollars, at
they had thus agreed to take payment i'm either
gold silver, they being paid in gold
alone, while everybody else paid in silver.
This was neither fair dealing nor common hon.
esty. Mr.. Brown advocated the issuance of
silver certificates to represent the silver in the
Treasury. Every surplus gold and silver dollar,
he said, not part of the necessary Treasury
serve, should be put into circulation by gold or
silver certificate. Instead of having too much
much silver coin, business would be much i'm
proved IL we had more of il in circulation in the
form of paper certificates. IL the national banks
attempt to practically demonetize silver. said Mr..
Brown in conclusion, and If the officials who now
represent the people in the different departments
Of the Government will not take the matter in
hand, then the people at their recurring cleo
tions should take it in hand and fill all the de-
partraents of Government with men who will
apply the corrective and forfeit the charters of
such banks as abuse thor privileges.
Mr.. Maxey followed ON the same subject. He
q w N raid ox.d
II successful would infict incalculable injury
on the United States. The bugbear of sill
yer, terrifying to the European money
changers, had no terror for the American
people. The people of the South were not
grievously burdened with silver or anv
other money, but IL they should by chance find
themselves hampered by great weight of sill
Yer they could exchange it for paper certificates
which, when based ON coin, dollar for dollar
were better than coin for act Dc use. Mr. Maxey
expressed himself utterly opposed to an ire
deemable paper currency, and declared fiuctu-
ating currency inconsistent with healthy trade
while "A sound currency, based on the precious
metals and convertible into cotn, was blessing
to civilization. The silver advocates, he con-
tended, repelled the imputation that they
wanted TO take any advantage Of their cred
itors by paying dollar debt with an SO-cent
dollar. fouler lie had never been uttered
against a brave and industrious people. The
people knew that the fall of silver was the re-
suit OF a conspiracy OF combined capital to de-
were but reaping the fruits of their own folly
The suspension Of silver coinage was but an
other name for the total stoppage of the coinage
and such suspension or stoppage would be
fraught with most serious consequences to the
people. What we needed in our dealings with
the bondholders, Mr.. Maxey insisted, was a
strong, vigorous enforcement OF the contract
made with them.