The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-03-31

OuO 1teC SOlu III Ulle treas
ury from Jan. l, 1879, to
Jan. |, 1855. $50. ..... 90, 44O, 600
Interest from Jan. l. 1895,
to July l, 1907, ION 800 $780,
OOO per cent bonds. -. ALSO, 600
Interest from Jan. l, 1895
to Feb. l, 1904, on $780,
COo,COO per cent bonds. 45.4I6. 666
Interest from Feb. l. 1888,
to Feb.1, 1925, on $62 315,-
400 per cent bonds .. 74.77S. 4SO
Interest from Feb. /, 1896.
to Feb l, 1925. on $780,.
OOO, 900 per cent bonds. ZIG, OOO. 900
Total cost including liabil-
lty, except United States
notes still outstanding. 1876 200. SIG
Add amount of United
States notes still out
standing. ................ 346. oS OF
Total cost and liability 81 ,OSl, 1881, 562
This is what it has cost the govern
ment to carry the greenbacks. But it
IS by no means all. The greenbacks
nave also enormously increased the
interest the government has had to
pay on the national debt. by hurting
the credit of the country. If the
greenbacks had been funded on Jan.
L, 1919, into thirty-year per cent
bonds of 1897, then being sold. the
controllers statement shows that the
total cost TO the government, includ-
Ing interest to the maturity of the
bonds, would have been as follows:
Principal of bonds S346 6S1 .OCO
Interest from Jan. 1879 to
July l, 1897. .............. $74l, s97, $40
1otal.... $74l, S97 $40
The difference in favor of convert
ing the greenbackS into bonds would
have been the enormous sum of $3.50
9S4 .222.
Anticipating objections that would
De made by the fiat fnanciers to this
Indictment OF the greenbacks, Con-
trOller EckclS said in his report
1T may be objected that the item
OF $93 44o,O,O, interest at4 per cent on
the average amount Of the free gold
in the treasury from Jan. l. 1879, to
Jan. l, 1905, should be eliminated
from the items Of cost, as not proper
to be included therein. But even
when this is deducted, there is yet an
enormous direct money cost to the
government, gowing out Of these is
sues, which could have been lessened
OOC6S
had been funded on Jan. l, 1879, into
thirty-year per cent bonds of 1907.
1T may be still further objected
that part Of the notes, redeemed
With the gold thus procured, has been
used to defray the expenses of the
government but this objection does
not reach to the merit of the Ques-
ton, because none of this interest,"
bearing Indebtedness would or could
have been lawfully created if the
United States notes and treasury
notes had not been in circulation.
The seat of difficulty has been the
necessity Of the maintenance of the
gold reserve for current redemption, a
dlf11culty which cannot be obviated as
long as the causes OF it are in exist
ence."
But the cost Of the green backs has
peen only partially computed in the
treasury figures. If, instead of an ap-
gregate OF over three hundred million
dollars expended to keep these notes
good for their face value in the hands
OF the people, it could be shown that
no other expense had been incurred
tnan the tremendous losses inflicted
upon the business of the country by
successive panics resulting from the
fear OF failure of the government to
bear up under the vast pressure nut
upon its credit, the showing would
still more condemn all the methods of
that finance,
The best tinancierS declare the opin-
ion that the greenback experiment.
doubled the cost Of the civil war and
the cost or financial recovery. The
government credit has been weakened
and the public mind poisoned by the
fn1nCia1
to pay dollar is as good as dollar.
This is at the bottom OF all financial
heres:es. The green back as it stands
is continuing lie. 1t is lie even
when it has the full 800, 900, 600 gold
reserve back OF it, and so long as it ex-
lists 1T Will be standing Justification
OF tiat heresies Of all kinds, including
free coinage Of Is to l silver dollars.
The difference is that the silver dol
lar has Intrinsic value to the amount
of half its face value and the green
back has no intrinsic value whatever.
1t is tat pure and simple to more than
two-thirds Of its face
1t is absolutely shocking to find a
newspaper like the MINNEAPOLIS
Times, which pretends, every now and
then, to be a free-silver journal. put
ting forth such mess Of lies and mis-.
representations. The article was evil
IDENTIFY concocted in some Eastern
bank and shipped out mere, where it
was thought, the people were ignorant
and gullible enough to be terrified by
it,
In the first place there is not and
never was any authority of law for the
establishment Of a gold reserve to
guarantee the greenbacks. The pre-
tence that the paper money issued by
the government, redeemable at the
custom houses of the country. in