People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-07-29

Single gay ask you, 90 you tnlnK
that was an occasion for a contrac-
ton of Uncle Sans money? There
have been seven children added to
my family, and if | had contracted
my currency as the family increased
don't know what weuld have be-
come of my family. Laughter and
applause.
Now, the next question I want to
ask is this: Inasmuch as we have
learned now, and beyond dispute,
that all the money we had was in
the possession of the twenty-five
millions of people in the Northern
States, | want next to ask how much
money we had in circulation when
the war closed in the Southern
States, and | was afraid that if
came before this assembly, notwith
standing the fact that I have been
investigating this question from the
original books of the treasury, and
from the statistics Of the last
thirteen or fourteen years, | was
afraid that you would not believe
me or that some one might call in
question the accuracy Of what I said,
charitable though you are, and I
thought that I would bring along
with me to day some witnesses that
nobody will dispute. The gentle
men who had control of that ques
ton at the time, whose duty it was to
keep the books, not as republicans,
though they were republican office
holders, but as servants of the peo-
pie, so that their posterity might go
and investigate the books and read
from them and learn for themselves,
and will introduce on that question
John j. Knox, the comptroller of the
currency; the comptroller shortly
after the war closed. No one of you
doubts his integrity either. He re-
Gently passed away, a few months
ago, and when he died the world lost
one of its greatest fnanciers; a gen
tleman of large culture and great
financial ability and indomitable en-
ergy, and | hold in my hand here a
document printed, not by any advo-
cate of any particular school of
political economy; if, indeed, it does
represent any school, it is the school
opposite the one to which | belong
myself, a document printed at 128
Broadway, New York, and it is the
speech of John J. Knox, delivered
before the bankers association at
Pittsburg in 1887, in which Mr.
Knox answered this question on
pages 20-21, about four years after
the war had commenced, to-wit: for
August 1, 1865, which was at er its
close. The public debt amounted
to $2,845,906,O00 and included
in this huge mountain of indebted
ness 81, 54O,O00,00O of treasure !;
more than S1,5OO,O0O,O0O Of which
was a legal tender, and if you in
clude thirty-day certificates and GER
ti6cates due one year after date as
part of the currency, the whole will
amount to considerably more than
three ffths of the total national debt,
and three. ifths of the total national
debt of $2,845, 100000 would be
$1,707,000,000. Recollect that this
is federal money and that it does not
include $146,00O,000 of national
bank notes then in circulation. That
will bring it up to 81, 100000 :;
nor does it include $58,000,000 of
bank paper then still in circulation !;
that brings it up to ov $1,900,O00,.
600 of paper money; nor does it in
clude more than $100,000,000 of
specie that was then in use, and that
brings it up to over $2,000,000,000
of money of various kinds. [ OBJ
iect, says some one; these seven and
three-tenths notes were not part of
it, | have here the testimony of
Hugh McCulloch in his first report
to Congress made after the war
closed, December 4, 1865, and let us
see what Mr. McCulloch says about
it. From this statement it appears,
on page 1874, that, without including
the seven and three tenth notes.
money Of the small denomination in
circulation as money, and all of
which combined to swell the circu-
lating medium we have, and then
gives a tabulated statement, etc.
There is the testimony of Mr.. Nc
Culloch that they did swell the cir
culating medium. They were re-
leased as so much currency, and he
says that he paid it out to the army
in payment of their services as sol
diers. So that you cannot deduct
them. There you had then over
$2,O0O,00O,000 OF money of one
kind and another, all in the possess
sion Of 25,000,O00 of people in the
Northern States. Now you can see
why prices were SO high;
WHY TIMES WERE so GOOD.
What effect did that have upon the