Oxford eagle., 1899-10-12
An Argument In Favor Of Green
backs from the Pea Of cel.
VIM. ]. Bryan.
~, sA~ n~stvv.~ss .s e~~~sss~k.
w"sss n~~~ss o~sy N..~y msss-
er.-u sh~ Ge~~sss~k 0. s~~s
Ess.sh q. sss.s p~ss.s ss~ ossA
s.s~. d .. s..-s s..~xA ss sss.s
Afen~.

only legal tender For the pay us.nf ~
debts. puhiic ard private. have d..
eu-ssd ihis question on form~r oces
si~uS and have poirtsd out that ths
n~cv--ary elect OF su-h n Inv ~a.si,i
he to ervate a greater demand for g,,lsi
which wouisl then ~ the ONLY mooney
legally available Tor 'h- payment ~
debts. and thus al.i th- raou~s owning
class and iniur- the wealth producing
class
The second purpose Of the advo,-ates
OF the gold standard = to make bank
notes IN. only rresii, money
In response 20 your Invitation I h~g
to submit few arguments in support
Of the grs~nhaek ~ against she hank
note. The rrc~nbnck j. issued hy the
government aud tho volume uf -mch
money Is determined by the people act
ing through their representative. The
supreme court has held that such
a money can he made a legal tender
When man has gre~nbeck- N his
packet he has MONEY which - avaiia-
bic for the payment Of his debts u he
las bank notes. hts money i only guod
when the creditor il willing 10 aecrpi
the money.
During the war. when gold aud sii
yer were AZ n premium. hank notes
circulated on a level with gre-uhaek-
and w.rr never worth any NOR, the
reason being that national hank notes
arr payable IN Iawful money aud thr
gresnlaek being money land At tho
same time the cheapest monsyl was
u~-d hv the banks FOR tho redemption
of hank notes. 10 j. interesting uow 90
h.ar thssr same baakrrS Who redeemed
hank notes 10 paper when gold aud sii-
YER were at a premium % ever han
dred per cent. talk about dishonesty
of a debtor. wheih-r the d~btor - an
insiis i.iual ar the government. Who
would redeem hts obligations IN any
thing bar the si-ar-st mooney
Bs.A N..~. s~-sf.x.
The hank note has bsvn good h.,-
eaus. il has behind IL the bonds and
the grcenl aeks issued by the wov~rn-
ufwtt- --s--.tse-=A- e s.as
enough TO stand b.-hinsi the bank nose,
Il i. good enough 20 stand alone with
on, anv bank note in front Of IL.
\ rational bank currency i obies-
tionabI. because II j. gross favorittsrn
extended to a few. \ ball reported by
the house committee ON coinage.
weights and measures in the last con
gresS provided.
"First-That the treasurer OF the
United states pay out gold coin in ~
dsmption of greenbacks aud treasury
notes.
-s.cond-That the secretary Of the
treasury have authority 20 issu. gold
bonds, drawing not more than three
p.r cent. to secure the gold to main
tain gold redemption
..Thtrd-That national banks b~ al
lowed to deposit bonds and receive
bank notes mp To the par value of the
bond. 80 deposited.
-Fourth-That the tax ON national
banks be- reduced
II this plan goss into operation. tn /.
difference in its effect upon the in
dtviduaI and the national bank may bs
stated as follows The greenbacks arr
To be retired and bonds issued. This
will mean an increase in taxes to pay
the interest upon the bonds The In
divislual who enjoys no special prist-
I.gv will lind his taSes increased. while
the national bank that enjoys special
privileges will hnd its taxes dimin-
ished-
other a~sssss-
Seeond-If the individual buys a
bond at par. he will lose the uss of his
money and must content himself with
the three per cent. interest. II ma
tionsl bank invests its bonds AZ par IL
can deposit the bonds and SEIZURE bans
notes to the face value of bonds. thus
securing a return on its investment.
and in addition to that il can draw
three per cent. interest upon the bonds.
In other words. the individual parts
with his money and draws interest
while the national bank gets its money
back and draws interest besides.
The individual must eat his cake or
keep it. The national bank 10th eats
its cake and keeps il. This is favori'-
ism that ought not to be tolerated in
a government which recognizes the
doctrine of equality before the law
The moment the government 0sgins to
confer special privileges. those in 4
position to profit by favoritism begin
to ciamor for legislation Immediately
in their interest. and a. n result thu
instrumentalitiss Of government are
used for private gain and the true pur-
pose of government forgotten
There - another objection to m
tional bank currency. namely. that the
national banks are given control over
the volume of credit money. Power to
issue money should never be intrusted
to private individuals or private cor
porations. jefferson was an opponent
of banks OF issue. and in one of his
letters declared that his opposition
was so persistent that he had been de-
ncunced as a maniac by those bankers
who desired TO secure this privilege
from the government. Benton. IN
summing up the work Of Jackson. gave
emphasis to his fight with the national
bsnk. and compared his work with the
work of Cicero. saying that. when he
destroyed the bank conspiracy. he
saved America as Cicero had saved
Rome. by overthrowing the eonspira-
cy of Cataline.
| Wendell Phillips has SO well de-
scribed the danger Of allowing indi-
viduais to control the volume Ct money
that I quote from a speech made by
him few years before his death:
| WeaAell PhiIlsps, Views
In other words. il was the cur