Warren sheaf., 1896-10-01
ABOUT GREENBAckS.

OF all false ideas regarding money,
the fallacy that we have inherited
from ancient times that the govern
ment stamp can createv;llne clings to
us most tenaciously. That is also
the foundation OF the greenback the
ory Real money is Il standard
substance appropriated to currency
purposes. BY common consent and
usage. it has come to mean the
precious met,ls-gold in a gold
standard country. Representative
money, such as pnper money or
greenbacks, is not real money, but
simply a promise to pay real money.
During the late war our government
issued it's notes c,aled greenbacks,
promising to pay the bearer the
humber Of dollars stnted ON the
face. The people had confidence in
the governments ability to redeem
said notes hence they accepted them
for services rendered. and passed
them as money among themselves.
What were these. notes to be re-
deemed in? They promise to pay
dollars, and the question then be-
comes, what is u dollar? 1t can not
mean another greenback, as that
would be paying one greenback with
another greenback, one note withan-
other note, not any better than the
first. A dollar means % % grains
of pure gold, nothing more and
nothing less. That government
stamp or imprint did not give value
to these notes, but the promise that
each note contained to pay real dol
lars, gold, and the ability and will
hngness of the government to keep
that promise, is what gave them
value. A rnasi' name. on Il piece of
paper doesrne,t make that valuable,
except as Hpecisl,en of his hand
writing, but let q promise to pay
something Valuable be written above
the name, then the piece OF paper be-
comes valuable in proportion to the
mans ability and willingness to full
FIJI that promise. Whenever the
prospects frightened for the final
triumph OF the Union cause, after
every great battle won, the green
backs rose in value, when reverses
came and prospects looked gloomy
their value fell. Our populist friends
attribute the fuctua tions in the
value Of the greenbacks to the ex-
emption clause by which they were
not receivable for duties on imports
and interest on public debt, but this
is IL mistake. The exception clause
is still on the greenbacks. but that
does not prevent them from being at
par now. The reason they are at
par now is because the government
can and does redeem them whenever
they are presented for redemption.
Populists claim that the so-calIed
demand notes, of which only about
SO million dollars were issued, circu-
lated at par because they were a full
legal tender for all debts, public and
private" But that CAN not he the
reason, as said notes were not q full
legal tender for all debts. The rea-
son they were at par is because the
government redeem ed them on de.
mand: in gold, and no more were
issued because the governmentfound
it difficult to get the gold with which
to redeem them lon demand. The
exemption clause was a most wise
provision and aided greatly in the
sale OF q. S. bonds. In it's need the
government was obliged to borrow
large sums of money on its bonds.
TO make these bonds sell mo1 readi-
ly the interest was payable in gold.
and had the government taken no
steps to secure gold, it would have
been unable to keep that promise,
and the bonus would have depreci-
ated more. To come now 80 years
after the war and accuse the patri-
otic men who were at the head of
public affairs in those trying times