Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-03-23
ALTGELD in REPLY.
Characteristic Letter on the Sill
yer Question.
Criticisms OF President Eddy of IrO-
quOis Club, Chicago, Exposed by the
Ex-GOVernOr

plying to the statements made by the
president of the Iroquois club IN his
letter to the jurist, in which Mr.. Eddy
cited certain utterances of Mr.. Altgeld,
published in his book in favor of the
gold standard. The ex-Governor's
letter is characteristic, and speaks for
itself. Here it is:
"My attention has been called to a
letter addressed to you by Mr.. Eddy
claiming that I had favored paying
the United States bonds in gold. He
quotes from an article written many
years ago relating not to the money
question, but to the pension question,
and in which urged that the govern
ment should deal as literally with the
old soldiers as it did with the bond.
holders. In this connection il seems l
used the following language: The
masses of the people are not averse to
dealing justly and even literally with
the exUnion soldiers. They can al
ways be relied upon to support any
honorable policy. When, after the
war, it was urged by many that some
OF the bonds of the government should
not be paid in gold because they did
not call for it on their face and had
not been paid for in gold, the masses
sustained the government in paying
the gold not only because it was
thought that in some way the honor
OF the government was involved, but
because wise and far seeing public
policy required that the government
should deal literally with its creditors ;
While do not in this language express
an opinion of my own, it is true that
attempt to state, Incidentally and for
the purposes of illustration only, what
the masses has done, and Mr.. Eddy
and his class are welcome to make all
they can out of it. But when the date
and purposes of the article, as we'll as
the then existing conditions, are look
ed at, it will be seen at once that it
was simply case of careless, inaccur-
ate, and, therefore, unwarranted, use
of the word gold instead of the word
COIN The article was in the eighty's
and did not discuss money, but pen
sions. Prior to that time many of our
people had contended that the United
States bonds should be paid in paper
money-that the bondholders had
bought the bonds with paper money,
that paper money was still a legal
tender, and, therefore, lawful money,
and that consequently it would be just
to give the bondho1der the same kind
of money he had given the government
when he bought the bonds. On the
other hand, it was contented that the
government should deal literally with
its creditors, and that it ought to pay
its bonds in coin. No declaration to
pay the bonds in gold had even been
suggested.
'Only few years before Congress
had almost unanimously passed the
famous Matthew resolution which was
voted for by Mr.. Mckinley and nearly
all the prominent Republicans and
Democrats III Congress. This resolu-
tiou declared that the United States
bonds were payable at the option of
the government in our tour standard
dollars. This was the last formal
declaration, so far as 1 know, which
our government had made on the ques-
tion, and, instead of its being a declar-
alton to pay in gold, it was a declara-
tion to pay in silver com. But this
declaration was accepted by the bond
holders as a triumph over those people
who felt that the bonds should be paid
in the same money which the bond
holders gave tor them. There is not
an instance on record where bond
holder at that time complained of the
Matthew resolution. The bondholder
had been treated literally, and in
sisted that the soldier should be treat
ed with equal liberality. The careless
use of language is always to be con-
demned, but when it is used, not in
connection with the subject under con-
sideration, but only in connection
with an attempted illustration, it is a
very small prop for an opponent to
bolster bad case with. When the
question came up for discussion
whether the bondhol should be per-
mitted to increase the burdens of the
American people by demanding pay
ment in geld of bonds that were pay
able In silver, l promptly expressed
my views in language which nobody
has misunderstood. But we need not
be surprised at the tactics of the gold
standard people. Having both justice
and equity, as we'll as common honesty
against them, they have been obliged
to proceed by stealth, by quibble, and
by Misrepresentation The gold stand
ard movement ia this country has
never taken an honest step nor drawn
an honest breath. 1t deceived Presi-
dent Grant as beginning, and it has
repeatedly deceived the American
people. But Supposed had deliberate
ly declared for payment in gold. That
could not justify wrong.
"What are the facts about these
bonds? The law authorizing their is