The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-08-29
H0RR CALLED DOWN,
Ills speech Was Full of Statements
Foreign to Facts

IL the lecture of Mr.. Horn on Saturday
night was the same that converted all the
sensible people of oregon, as the
of the Popuists of that state
is such that it would have been a
public calamity had they succeeded Any
Populist to be converted by such a speech
as that of Saturday night would be, to use
Mr.. Horr's own words, mot up to snuff .
want to call attention to one glazing mis-
statement of facts among many Others
Some Popuist in the audience asked him.
How about the demand notes?" His reply
was: congress issued 100000, 600 demand
notes, then they were always at par and
any Populist could tell why, but they We're
not legal tender for anything but GUS
toms. They didn't have to be- All of
which is Incorrect except the fact that
they were issued by congress. But what
right has an obscure Populst crank to
question the veracity of the great Mr..
Horn, ex-member of congress, tariff editor
of the New York Tribune, and all-around,
Populist-knocking-o athlete? Well, to
the law and to the testimony / have in
my possession a book on the contraction of
the currency, issued by the Honest Money
League a Republican institution organized
back in the seventies, to counteract the So
called greenback heresies Its author is G.
K. Backus, editor of the Detroit Post and
Tribune of Mr.. Horrs own state l nave
no doubt Mr.. Horn was himself a member
of the league as he said he had done bat
tie in Michigan and Maine at that time.
Every law creating bond, banknote or
greenback, from the foundation of the gov
eminent to the time of it's issue is con-
tanned in it, also analysis and history
of each one by Mr. Backus. Mr. Horn was
asked if the demand notes We're not made
legal tender soon after the first isuse of
greenbacks. His reply was: mo, sir; they
were not Now for the law in the act Of
July, i, 1861, and by the act of
March H. 1862, entitled IAN act to authorize
the purchase of coin and for other pur-
poses,' section reads as follows: That
the demand notes authorized by the act of
Feb. r. 1862, shall in addition to being re-
cevable in payment of duties on imports,
be receivable and shall be lawful money
and a legal tender, in like manned, and for
the same purposes and to the same extent,
as the notes authorized by an act entitled
An act to authorize the issue of United
States notes and for the redemption or
funding thereof, and for funding the float
ing debt of the United States, approved
Feb. % 1852 .
So much for the law; now for the testi-
mony. MI Backus. in his analysis
of the law, says: "These demand
notes. We're treasury notes, non-in-
terest bearing, ranging in denomina-
dues and originally redeemable on demand
in coin by the United States. Thir history
is this: Originally 900 of them were
authorized. OF these 1873, 460, 900 were issued
prior to the general suspension of specie
payments in December, 1861; up to that
time all of them presented at the treasury
were redeemed in coin on demand. After
the suspension the remainder of the $4,000
600 were issued, but as they were no longer
redeemable on demand they deprecated
n1,1p
saws they were always at par) On Feb
12 1862 the authority for the issue Of $l00W,-
900 more of these notes was conferred, but
few DAYS thereafter the first issue of the
"greenbacks' made it's appearance. AS
these were a legal TENDER while the de-
mand notes were not, even the fact that the
latter were receivable for custom duties,
while the "greenbacks" were not, did not
prevent the demand notes from deprec1ating
somewhat, especially as some of the New
York banks refused to accept them IN
clearing house settlements. TO meet this
difficulty the demand notes were. on March
H. 1862 also given the legal tender attri-
butte At once they not merely rose in
value to the level of greenbacks, but passed
on to premium, their receivability for
custom duties making them speedily com
mand a premium equal to that possessed
by gold
Perfect money "see" Now. which is
RIGHT. Mr. Horn or the Republican Honest
Money League and the United States stat
ute? If Mr. Horn knew better II was a
deliberate attempt to deceive the audience;
if he did not know better. his ignorance is
inexcusable and to use his own words, he
would better go and read the history of
hi. country" Misstatements may deceive
neople who read nothing but Republican
gospel. but not people who have taken pains
to inform themselves on the subject.
JOHN H. BARNES.
Seattle Wash, Aug. 49,