Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-07-20

the various states, townships and mu.
picipalities about 81 400 900 900; of rail
ways and canals about $500 900 900
and of other corporations about $780,
D00,OO0; together about $1,000 900 900
Between fourth and a third of this
sum was owing to investors in Europe,
who had lent or advanced it, in paper
dollars, which cost them on the aver
age about half dollar each in gold OF
silver coins. An equal proportion had
been advanced by American capitalists
on similar terms. The balance was ad-
vanced before the war, or else before
the paper currency deprecated, and
was therefore lent in coins, or their
equivalent. Leaving this portion of the
debt out of view, it is probably near the
mark to say that at the close of the
civil war there were owing nearly
$4,000, 100000, which cost the lenders
Europeans and Americans), about half
That sum in coins. The whole of this
debt was payable, under the act of
teoruary 20, 1862, in greenbacks; the
interest on portion of it was payable
IN coins of gold or silver. The first
move OF the lenders after the war
closed was to open a newspaper war
upon the paper money which they had
themselves lent to the government
The greenbacks it was contended, were
dishonest" dollars; indeed, not really
Joliars at all, only worthless, disrep-
! utable rags, disgrace to civilization,
dlsseminators of fraud and disease, ETC.
Ihis question was fought in the presi-
dental campaign of 1868, in which, by
referring to the newspapers of the day,
1t Will be seen that the undersigned
bore no inactive part. As the election
Gay approached every sign indicated
the triumph of Mr.. Seymour. the cham
pion OF greenbacks, and the defeat Of
General Grant, the champion of coins.
All OF sudden, and without a note OF
warning, the then trusted organ Of the
democratic party, to-wit, the New York
world, edited by Manton Marble, but
owned, as 1t was commonly believed
py august Belmont, hauled down its
nag, deserted the ticket on the eve Of
the election, and left nearly two mil
non voters to the effects of treachery,
panic and disorder. The first fruit of
This nefarious transaction was the
passage OF so-called Credit Strength
enlng Act" dated March IS, 1869, by
which the United States government
pledged itself to pay the principal, as
we'll as the interest, of its paper debt
IN gold or silver coins. In other words
without any consideration whatever. it
undertook to pay for every paper dol
lar which 1t had borrowed, a gold or
silver dollar, Of the long established
weight and fineness, and by this and
Its subsequent action, it compelled all
indebted persons and corporations to
do the like. Having by these means Sc
cured the payment of a whole metal
dollar for each half of metal dollar
advanced to the government, thus
clearing cent-per-cent profit at a sin
gle bound, the conspirators next at
tempted to double the value or mr.
chasing power of such metal dollars.
by means of destroying one-half of
them, to-wit, the silver ones. The fol.
lowing Is brief account of their op-
erations: At that time and for several
years previously a government com.
mission had been occupied in the work
of revising and codifying the statutes
of the United States. The revision
commissioners being lawyers and not
financiers, merchants not metallur-
gists, We're not familiar with the tech
nical branches of administration;
therefore they made it practice to
visit the executive departments and
consult with the principal officers con.
cerning the practical Interpretation
and administration of the laws. When
they reached the mint bureau its prin-
cipal officer had already in his hands a
proposed codification of the coinage
laws, the model for which had been
forwarded to him by certain friends OF
agents of the Bank of England in Lon
don. This new American mint code
apparently embodied all the existing
laws on the subject; nay, it even pur-
ported to follow their very language
and to blend them all into an harmo-
NOUS whole; but such appearance was
deceptive. This deception is not
charged upon the director OF the mint
(since dead, but upon the men who
prepared and placed the codification in
his hands, some of whom are still liv-
ing and who will doubtless take pleas
ure in reading this communication.
The law (not the proposed codifcation)
made it the duty of the director of the
mint to receive deposits of either gold
or silver; to coin such metal into dol
lars-the silver ones to contain exactly
sixteen times as much metal as the
gold ones-and to return the same to
the depositor; and it declared all such
dollars to be money of the United
States and legal tenders for all purposes
and to any amount The public debt
was made payable under the act OF
March 1S, 1869, in such dollars, whether
of silver or gold. The proposed codi-
fication (not the law dropped the sill
yer dollar. 1t did not demonetize it
but by emitting to include it in the
We t.in iab ha ipt