Year: 1879

the details which may hereafter. become ne
cesSSry or advisable. The great question is,
shal gold and silver, or gold alone, constitute
our metallic currency? 1t is something new
under the sun for hard money men to assert
that We have too much hard money"


We give this in full because we pre-
sumo it may be Mr.. Pendl eton's best
point. He is much mistaken in mat
ters of fact. How could the demonetiZa-
tion of silver have put up the price of
gold in this country during the time
when the people were wholly ignorant
of the fact of demOnetiZatiOn, and when
silver was remOnetiZed before the
precious metals came into use as money
Mr.. PENDLETON has OverdOne his job
1t is true demonetizatiOn of silver was
unknown. There never was a petition
for the gold standard, never news
paper article for it-nO demand from
any Chamber of Commerce or assembly
of business men. Congress in revising
the statutes and changing the coinage
regulations, was not aware Of the trick
OF getting rid of the silver dollar. Pres-
dent GRANT, who signed the two acts
that put together, took from the people
the silver option, did not know what he
was dOing-and the discovery of that
which had been done was not made for
more than two years. During those
years we used paper money exclusively.
Gold and silver were as merchandise.
When silver change came about, inquiry
was made for the dollar, and behold it
was not This discovery did not put up
gold or put down silver, because the
precious metals were not employed. and
before they were circulated the silver
dollar was reinstatcd, so that when we
came back to the specie basis we had, AS
when we left it, both metals. The truth
seems to be that the persons meddliny
with our coinage did not know the far
reaching consequences of their work.
They were looking for an International
unit, and began to disturb the delicate
balances Of gold and silver measure
ment. That which was done in this
country escaped attention at the mo-
ment because we were not at that time
using the money metals as money, and
the moment the question was materializ-
ed by the advance to specie payments,
the wrong was righted, SO that no one
has suffered in the slightest degree. The
disturbance in the relations Of gold and
silver have been caused by the demOne-
tization of silver in Europe. Germany
was the great diSturber, and she is doing
works meet for repentance. The subject
is international. 1t is the international
subject. We have restored our old dol
lar to the old place, and coined dollars
enough already to go around. The steps
that are to he taken we must not take
alone. We have properly cared for our
selves. We have led the way Our
policy is declared. Our position is i'm
pregnable. We are the great producers
of gold and silver. The balance of trade
is with us, and we shall import in this
month of September thirty millions of
dollars in gold. We are in a command
ing attitude, and can afford to wait for
other Nations to join Us. We have, by
the employment OF silyc: rs money, by
coming thirty millions of standard silver
dollars, taken the excluSi anesS of gold
as money metal from i; reduced the
demand for it, and by allyirg it with
silver have prevented spectators from
cOrnering the Government; and now if
we take the advice of anybody upon the
question OF money metals, we shall prob
ably select a man who has not distin-
3
all practical measures of resumption and
leading his name to the dangerous de-
lusions identified with the paper money
fanaticism which is rebuked and sham
ed by the prosperity that appears as we
build upon the specie basis.


When Mr.. PendletOn retires from the
silver question he ricOchets to the Ma
tiOnal banks and says:


81 am ready to admit that. ia point OF sta>
bility.o value facility ofclrcul'stion and safe
rency is the best bank currency we have ever
had. L run no ecxless tilt against the sys-
tenn. will not deny Its merits. would not
do Injustice to either Its owners or It's custom
ers. But object to It's perpetustion. L would
gradually abolish IT,"


Exactly. 1t seems to be good thing.
Let us get rid of it, He says:


at is expensive. Tho only advantage the
people derive from 1t Is the existence and use
OF a currency. But for this the people have TO
pay an hmount equal to the interest on the
bonds, less the small tax on circulation, and
this Is quite too much when they also pay In
terest for the loan OF this currency, which at
last IL rsdeemable in the notes OF the people
themselves"


Here Mr.. Pendleton returns to the old
hog wallow The notes Of the people
are those issued as demand notes of the





loan, the Renaissance of the hardest
strain of the war. Mr.. Pendleton is
aware that to put out greenbacks in
stead of National bank notes would be
to extend the limit placed by law upon
the issue of greeIbacks, and also would
be unconstitutional, for it is clear the
greenback is constitutional only through
the exercise of the war power. Put
forth the peace greenbacks, and exceed
the limit, and the flood is out. Resump-
tiOn would be no more. Gold and silver
would vanish. Public confidence would
depart in night. A blight would fall
upon all enterprise. The boom of busi-
ness now so cheering would cease in the
land. We should lose at once all that
we have gained in safely planting our
selves on the specie basis. All this it is
plainly implied in Mr. Pendleton's re-
marks, he advocates; and yet he sup
poses himself to be inclined in rather
remarkable way to Conservatism. Could
there be better evidence that the party, of
which he is one of the most moderate
leaders, is unfit to be trusted in the
places of authority?


1t is proper after this that Mr.. Pendle-
ton should quote the fifth annual mess
age of Andrew Jackson. We trust it is
a great comfort to him to take refuge
from his paper-mOney illusions for few
moments under some of Jackson's para
graphs, even if the purpose is that of
perverting the Jacksonian literature
We quote him again:


at Is noticeable that the great injury to bu-
siness caused by contracting legal tenders
and boarding them lin the Treasury, never
struck the Secretary until 1t was forcibly pre-
sented by two banks"


This conveys an insinuation that can
not be made good. The policy of the
Secretary of the Treasury was simply
that the four-per-cents should be ex-
changed for the five and siX-per-cents,
and that this should be done without
disturbing the money market. 1t hap
pened that after the interest was stop
ped on many of the bonds that had been
called, their owners were not prompt in
making the change in their Investments.
The Secretary prevented great con-
traction Of the currpnpV Mt the moment