The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-04-12


for the xrssnbaek 70 gre Chsse Tie ssne~s
Of war. Ii vas vicious sxpedisns. evea
- the 6ebassng Of his coin BY Frsdersek
the Great 10 ssvs Prussia from conquest
Vas vi<io1s expedienf- The sorti did
The sznae shsne for ths same reason Of ms
itsry necessity. The Southern Dsmocrats.
Who. before the ras. had ii says denounced
ttss issus Of legal tsndez paper money -
unconstitutional, bad, when out Of TIE
Enson. advocated tbs Issue Of the same
class OF naonsy by the Confedersss con-
Grsss. The cay differences Vas in the absl-
ity to redeem and this ability depended
upon suecess In arms which this issue OF
legal tenders wss designed to promote.
The last decislcn Of Iss0 was subse-
qusntiy taken - tie groundwork for the
establishment Of the Greenback party
This party in 1874 advocated "A unlimited
issue Of grssnbscks, or ''sa Issue based
upon the resources Of the eoanssy." The
Democratic party abandoned the princi-
Piles Of Jackson and the hard money
theories Of such Democrats - Van Buren,,
benton. eiias Wright and Tiiden. and
have ever ssnes 1874 been the imitation
party Of the ccuntry. giving she right
hand Of fellowship 20 the Grsenback
party and 10 the free siIvs1ites- Ohio was
carried By IN alliance Of GreenbscKsrs
and Democrats; Indiana became Demo
cratic, and in the Southern states the
Democratic leaders made open alliances
with the Greenbackers. The present
Democratic vice president Of the United
States VAS . blatant Greenbaeker and tn
fstsonist while in congress. In 1Ss0
Piaisted. the Democratic-Greenback can
didstc. was elected governor Of Maine.
Advocates Of similar financial theories
have not been wanting in Ill the coun-
tries Of Western Europe following great
wars or panics, theories which all great
political economists have from the begin
ming antagonised a. unsafe and unsound.
The greenbsck ought to have been r.
tired from circulation at the close OF the
war. The Law under which they were issued
authorized the funding Of them in 9 per
cent gold bonds. but Mr.. Chase unwise.y
persuaded congress TO repeal that permits
sion. II IL had remained in force the
greenbacks would ali have been funded
and retired a. soon - the 8 Per cent.
bonds rose above par after the close of the
war. The retiring of the greenbacks would
have At once restored specie payments. The
gold premium, which had been a. high ~
1850 e., the quoted price being 2S5). fell to
30 on the surrender OF Lees and John
ston's armies. The New York Erening
Post cites this fact, and says:
"a drop OF the remaining 80 points
would scarcely have bsen noticed, or II
noticed would have been generally APP
proved, and We should have been spared
not only the miseries OF fourteen years
OF irredsemabie paper. but the whole
money heresies that issued out Of IL"
That Is truth. the whole truth and moth
ing but the truth. The mos: dreadful, be-
cause the most difficult calamity Of the
war TO eradicate was the survival Of the
greenback after the war. It Is the parent
Of the false and pernicious notion that
greenbacks are money: that Il 10 the bust
ness Of the government to make money.
Il 10 not the business Of the government to
make money at all; the greenbaek Was .
mere certificate of Indebtedness which, en-
dowed with the legal tender quality. made
It . forced loan. and 80 the people who
submitted 10 the military calamity OF q
forced loan in time Of tremendous war for
national life are disposed today to perpet-
uate and increase this calamity o: forced
loan In time of peace at every opportu-
nifty. The '.greenbaek" is the parent of oil
our financial woes and heresies of the last
sixteen years. 1t is the bee in the popular
bonnet that isresponsib!s for the green
back party Of 1874: for the free silver party
tina. has been foaming at the mouth STAGE
il succeeded in passing the Bland light
weight dollar act of February, 1878.
So far rs tho decline OF silver 10 con-
cerned. IL was practically driven ont of
circulation by the act OF 1884. which made
q ratio between gold and silver which sent
the silver dollar TO the melting pot In
order to keep our subsidiary coinage OF
halt dollars. etc, at home We had by the
legislation of 1858 to reduce the amount Of
silver In those coins. When the war broke
out there were no silver dollars In circula-
ton; there we're none in 1s7s. and the act
of 1873 only legally acknowledged that the
silver dollar was obsolete because, under
the ratio Of 1884. il was worth more to
send to the melting pot than to keep in
circulation 40 coinage. The subsequent
decline In silver was due somewhat to the
adoption of the gold standard by the great
commercial countries OF Europe. bat
| chiefly TO the enormous increase in the
| production of silver. The great CON-
mercial nations Of Europe used less silver
for coinage while the production OF silves
| had vastly increased. Then followed the
effort to make the United States hold up
silver By the tail against the whole CON-
| mercial world, which we did until the tall
dropped out. and our only resource is "a
| walk until international bi-ms,aliisu,
makes free silver sanitary finance
| No other explanation of the decline in
| the price Of silver 10 necessary. The world
uses less and produces vastly more. and
Tia, explains the depression. So long a,
/ Europe stands for gold mono-metallism
| ne must stand by the gold standard: free
silver practically means silver mono.
rnesallism. except under international es
/ THE HISTORY or HARD TIMES