The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-03-09

aLGirectiy by r~csivs-r 4 limited quantity
% them. in place OF gold. in lsasfn-nt of
du,iss
ny did the greenbacks dsnreciate In
SaIae and n1ctua;es Chiefly because the
government male no attempt, either CT
recily o. Indirectly. to redeem them in
coin, snd because the credit % the gov
ernuaen, varied. They were Indefinite as to
tine a1d place OF payment To srez; ex-
| tent, Their value rose ard fen with TIRE sue
cesses and failures Of the Union arms
When Lee. with the finest army that the
South ever sent forth WAS marching
through Pennsylvania hoasting. with some
reason. tha. he would dictate terms Of
peace az Philadelphia. IL seemed very
doubtful whether Uncle Sam would ever be
able to pay his notes or not; and they went
down 10 ~ cents. After the battle his credit
was better and his notes rose in value The
successful close Of the war greatly in
creased the confidence Of the holders OF the
notes that they would soou be paid II the
exception clause prevented the greenhacks
from being at par with gold. why has it
not prevented them from being 1T par since
January !. 1879 she exception clause is
still on the greenhaeks- The bondholdsr
may sun demand coin in payment Of in
tsrest or principal IL he wishes to do 50. and
IL is regulation merely. not Law. that per-
mifs greenbacks 20 be received AT the Gus
tom houses. The reason why greenbacks
have been as good as gold since January l.
1872. is because. since then. the holders have
been able TO get god for thsn-fhe very
reason that made the demand notes as good
as gold.
Again. only $50 ossl GO OF demand notes
were issued, and they were OUT but a short
time while the credit of the government
was comparatively good The greenbaeks
were issued to the amount of si9,s0.eo
and were all outstanding during the dark
est hours of the war. when the credit or
the government was the poorest and the
public debt was increasing at the rate OF
several miliion Gbllars day. OF course
the credit of the government could be Kept
good for a small liability much more easily
than for large liability.
Mere receiyab!lity for government dues
can not maintain the value OF government
notes IL a greater amount of notes are
issued than can be used for that purpose
For, If any notes thus issued can not be
used for the purpose that gives them value,
their value mist be lessened. just as the
rent OF houses in city must fall II much
greater number OF houses are built than
can he used. 1t is right on this point that
Populists make a grave error.
And if the credit OF the government re-
ceiving the notes Cor public dues is poor
that fact greatly detracts from the value
of the notes During the war of lsl2 treas
ury notes OF this character. bearing 20
per cent. interest, were issued 10 the amount
OF 81, 600 eco. In 1874 these notes were in
such i'll repute that no one willingly accept
ed them. and they were away below par
with coin. But after the war came 10 a
successful close and the credit of the gov
eminent again became good. the notes sold
at par On.
As it is with men. so it is with govern
ments 1t is their ability. real or SUPPOSED,
to keep their promises. that makes their
promises good Let it be again repeated,
the demand notes were good as gold be-
cause the holders could get gold for them.
The greenbacks were not as good as gold
because the holders could not get gold for
them
1. Seven Financial Conspiracies," p. Is.
= THE Abandoning Revolution, p ~.
g. Congressional Record. August Il. 1885,
u $40 l. Congre ssionel Globe, lsbl LIST SEES
sion s7th congress, appendix. PIP. "a ~ q:
Lalors encyclopedia of Political Science
etc. Vol. 3. D. go; United States Notes,
n. 90; Bolles, Vol. ,. PIP. Is. 7s. e. Congress
sional Globe, February IL. 1862 p. ass. Z.
Congressional Globe, lsG2-6S. Part :, appen-
dix, p. g. S. Congressional Globe. ls5l-0-.
Part 4. appendix, p. $50. .. Congressional
Globe. 1882. Part 4, appendix p. $40. ~.
Perry's political Economy" p 4co. IL
American Cyclopedia, Vol. IL. p "a,
HERMON W. CRAVEN.