People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-03-28
THE GREENBACK is MONEY.
1t Is Representative of Value. and Is
Not a Debt

Not Debt
Was the greenback a debt?
Answer yes or no." said tie challen-
ger.
Well, then, we answer no. And by the
answer We propose to stand.
l. A debt paper is given to some de-
finite party for value received, and is
not in itself value received. The green
back was not such paper. 1t was not
issued to any particular person for par
ticular values received.
2. 1t was in itself, payment in full for
values received, and therefore there re-
NAMED no ordinary cause for its pre-
sentation at the place of issue.
3. The time OF payment is unlimited
or indefinite, making it, at laS, nom
suit.
4. It draws no interest, which leaves
no inducement on the part of the maker
to hasten the day of its payment in
other forms Of mony; and what is never
payable at common law is not a debt
in form or fact.
8. Those for whose special benefit the
money was made never wished it paid
in any other form than in its currency
use, and what the holder of a note
chooses is probably allowable at law.
6. Payment in currency use is pay
ment in full and no one is wronged
thereby.
Z. The possible presentation of very
limited number of greenbacks for the
purchase Of coin for legitimate use, as
provided for on the NOTE" does not
throw the mass of such notes" into
the debt calendar. The representation
Of any large volume of such currency
for the purpose CT abstracting coin from
the treasury, and that for no business
need, should be regarded as a INSIDE
meanor and not an obligation on the
part of the government to honor; since
the well-known purpose Of the issue
was to provide currency; while the
well-known purpose of the demand
would be to depreciate its value and
unsettle the concerns Of the people.
s. A debt that never wrongs the hold
er of the note in case he receives moth
ing but market property for it, cannot
be regarded as debt in common
phrase. Gold and silver both could be
purchased in the common market and
at a lower rate, indirectly, or even with
the greenback, cheaper than by the
method of presentation at the treasury;
because that permission, unlimited,
soon drains off the gold and allows it
to be appreciated in value, till "suspen-
sion" is announced and the first come
only are first served.
3. Therefore, form Of currency that
does not provide equitable cancellation
III any Olucl way ludu do CuIItuCl, ID
not properly to be considered as any
thing else than currency. Or,
10. A debt extlnguished every time
it is passed to other hands, and made a
debt-extinguisher by law, cannot claim
any special advantages as it lies in the
hands Of the last receiver, who may
wish to speculate on the customary (but
very unnecessary words that are print
ed on the face of it.
II. The government is competent 20
do what cannot be done by the indiyld-
ual person or corporation-make cur
rency in the very process Of making a
purchase, and give the whole people
consideration in the currency value of
that form of their own law. Strictly
considered, the people, in their govern
ment promise to receive and they mu-
tually pay themselves in the use of their
own legal tender.
A.. j. CHITTENDEN.
Mill River, Mass.