The record-union., 1892-12-17
TARIFF REF0RMERS.
ANNUAL DINNER AT TIE NEW
ENGLAND LEAGUE.
EX-Secretary of the Treasury Fairchild
Delivers the Address of the
Evening.
Evening.
Special to the REcoRD-UN1ox.

! special 10 Jne EECORD-ONION.
| BosroN, Dec. l6.-The annual dinner of
the New England Tariff Reform League
was held at the American House this
evening. President Henry l.. Pierce was
| the presiding officer. The speakers were
Hon. Charles S. Fairchild, Secretary of
the Treasury under Cleveland: Hon.
Harvey M. Sheppard, Josiah Quincy and
William B. Rice. The first speaker of
the evening was Fairchild, who said in
part:
"Those in favor of tariff reform still
have duty to perform. Our business
friends ask for stability in business, but
they built up an artificial system,
whereby the business of this country is
held up above the natural conditions. In
stead of doing the thing requisite to the
maintenance of the system, they sought
to divert the minds of the people in every
possible way from the consideration Of
the true subject. They formed habit Of
contributing vast sums Of money to buy
elections. 1t is useless to deny that the
Democrats are equally guilty with the
Republicans in attempting to corrupt
elections. But within the last few wears
The business men contributed of the gains
which came to them, as supposed, through
the Government, for the hardly concealed
purpose of buying elections. The con-
tributing of substance undermiues the
foundation of society.
Nv e have before US q very grave cues
ton, which involves protectionism. gov
ernmentailsm and paternalism, and that
is our currency system. 1t is a common
belief that the Government has a myste-
rious power to infuse value into a sub
stance otherwise valueless, and to add to
value which is already a substance by
putting it i'll the form of a bank bill
or coined money, ana calling it
legal tender money. / do not
think there is any power lin the Govern
ment to give value TO anything by add
ing legal tender quality to it. During
the war in this country, with the same
volume Of greenbacks, the same volume
OF business and the same amount of ante
cedent debt which could not be paid with
out money, 1t would vary enormously
between morning and afternoon The
legal tender quality has not varied; busi-
ness has not varied. What had varied
was the average belief of the American
people as TO the ultimate redeemabilitv of
the promise TO pay. That was the reason
money so varied, and the legal tender
quality bad been utterly powerless to re-
tam value in it. When the United States
IS no longer able to fulfill that promise to
make good that credit. then money must
stand on its foundation, and its founda-
tlon VIII be the value of the silver bullion
in the world. There is no mere states
nlanship-there is more sense in depriv-
ing the American people of one of the
most useful devices of modern times. be-
cause someone may sometimes lose bv it.
than there is in depriving them of other
forms of commercial credit In the face
OF the vast usefulness Of n good banknote
circulation, which viii pass from hand to
hand readily, but not legal tender, I
say it is utter imbecility for the American
people to lie down and say that they can
not do that and that they won't do it."