New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-07
VOT 4 FORCED LOAN"

Mr. Edward Atkinson. being apparently dis
satisfied with the debt statements officially ISSUED
by the President and Secretary OF the Treasury,
has contrived new form, in which he treats the
greenbacks and notes issued under the Bland
and Sherman acts as debts and the coined Sill
yer held by the Treasury as unavailable assets,
together with the unconcd silver bullion. Ii IS
not Of much consequence in what bookkeeping
form these items Of the public accounts are
stated. and perhaps nothing in Mr.. Atkinsons
nropos.I form Of account deserves real attention
excepting his frequent repetition Of the phrase
"forced loan under the Legal Tender act,
forced loans for the purpose Of buying silver
hullion." and the like. Possibly In some tech
meal SENSE Mr. Atkinson might be justified in the
use Of this phrase. But to nine men ont or ten
throughout the country it conveys a radically
falls. immersion. and cannot be used in connec-
ton with the forms Of public Indebtedness IN
question without essential misrepresentation.
The fact is that the United States greenback
never has been In the proper sense OF the "oru "
forced oan From the time Of It's first issue
down 10 this hour 1t has been heartily accepted
nv the p.oplc. and preferred by them TO every
other form of currency in their ordinary dealings
IN. provision making the grecnbacks legal
,,c, u.ver necessary 10 secure them acceptance
and wild. circulation. The circumstances under
which these notes were first issued had much 10
d, with their popularity. They were put OUT III
= tim, when gold had been 70 large extent
hoar,l,-l or taken out OF the country, ana WIZ"
the banking system Of IL" country was com
nle,oly dlsorgauizcd by tho disturbances Incident
>, secession and rebellion. The peopl" hceHr'
son,,. form ~ paper currency. uniform ana n'pre-
,erfinr the same value IN all parts OF IN" coun-
fry and they were glad to accept, Ia preference
., any other form the demand obligations OF
fhnlr Government in time ~ war because or ne
feeling then strongly prevailing that they were
srnn,rt,n, their Govcrnmcnt and helping for
ward the suppression az rebellion by giving their
hearty approval To such currency.
But NJ no time since. either nfier me war
.l,s,l or lp these days ~ earnest demand l'r
currency reformation. have thcrc been anything
like A ma loriiy II u" people who were dispoSeh
- get rid ~ tho grc.nback currency and 10 sun
s,i,ui. ANYTHING else In iis place. Mr. A'klhfoh
Greatly mistakes II h. fails 10 understand that
lila particular form - paper currency mas III II
loss % the true quality of forced loan man any
other Tie Government has Issued. Inc SILVER
certificates were indeed to large extent thrust
int, circulation rs Treasury influence ana 'he
Nailoual bank circulation was 70 larg" extent
brought into general use through N" operations
~ bankers IN the different localities, since II
was constantly 10 heir advantage 10 send Their
circulation rs far away from home ~ possible
i,ut there has never been time when The green
hack did not seem Ia the great body ar the PEG
III, decidedly the best and most convenient form
If money they had In Use. Nor has there been
any time when iis continued circulation In the
ordinary transactions OF business. either whole
sal. or retail. has involved anything like the
forced loan quality which Mr.. Atkinson AZ
tributes +, the lcgaltcnder currency. apparently
ln ,h. hope Of dscr,silting IT, Whether 1t would
hay. been 80 readily accepted. when first issued,
If its ORIGINAL issue had not been regarded by the
pe,pl. ~ essential TO the maintenance 81 their
Government or whether they would have SO
Willingly continued the notes In circulation after
the War II their origin had been different Is not
uo,y fine question The truth Is that the character
and quality of this part Of the currency in circu-
latlon are entirely mlsrcpresentcd by MIR Aik!n-
SON when he terms 1t forced loan collector
for any purpose Whatever