Year: 1875

ed attacks upon Grant, and that he thought the
good that Grant had done far overbalanced his
mistakes, if mistakes they should prove to be. He
thought that fault-fnding by the Republicans
was damage to the party, and that all such
business should be left to the opponents of the
party. He was speaking, mainly, with reference
to the financial question. We agree with him,
that Grant has done much good, and that he
comprehended and met the situation in the Lou
isiana affair; but when Republicans disagree
with him on the money issue, are they damaging
the party, or has he damaged it by his course
If Grant has been attacked by Republicans, it
has been because he laid himself open to it. Per-
haps enough has been said about it but we wish
to call the attention of our friend to few points,
and ask him if we do not state the truth, and if
Grant did not suddenly, and almost without
warning, squarely change front on the question,
and go back upon his own recommendations 7
Here are the points we make:


Grant, in his message in 1873, thus spoke of
the currency:


Ny own Judgment is that aspecie basis cannot
be reached and maintained until exports exclusive of
gold for imports interest due abroad and other
specie obligations so nearly to have appreca
Die accumulation of the precious metals in the country
from the products of mines. To increase our
exports currency Is regsired % keep al the indus
the e1pOed. Without national
indicidudl bankruptcy must The expert
ence Of the present panic has proven that e currency q
M best at has been devised Usually of


trials currency has been worthless much deprecat
life, compared with currency Every one holding
1t has been anxious to dispose Of it any terms. Now
they did gold IN former ezpsreness Of Ike Nature


patent to the most casual observer that much
trade Of the country during the fall and winter months
when the vast being moved than during the bal
the country throughout the entire year
resulting in the accumulation of all the surplus capital of


moving Of crops tempted there by the offer Of interest
taTy system therefore is the object to be Sttape rs
and next to that far possible prevention of the
Of other money in stock and other species of
Grafton whether this difficulty might be overcome by
sus 70 6 ssqs t.r az AMY
notes below fixed percentage of their issue 20 per
United States an amount Of Government bonds equal 10
the of notes demanded the banks forfeit the
Bonds N paacS during The tpe tbey remain With me t
Treasurer as security for the increased circulation the
bonds pledged 10 be redeemabe by the banks their
pleasure whole or in part by returning their
own bills for to amount equal to the face of
traction that has taken place the and the
paratve contraction continually going due to the in
crease Of population increase of manufactures and all the
industries do not beee there is too much Of 4 for the
dsLlest period Of us ysar During the last four
years the currency has been contracted directly by the
withdrawal of per cent certificates compound interest
notes and bonds outstanding the 4h of
March 1862 all Of which took the place legal tenders in
tho bank reserves the extent Of siIyTee million dol
lar During the period there has been much arg
comparative contraction of the currency The popua
ton Of the country has largely increased More than %
goo miles Of railway have been bnit requiring the active
have been opened to cultivation requiring capital to
II the s1Sd of m
weekly for the Of and for the purchase Of
traction arises from the Organizing Of free labor in the
south Now every abOrer there receives his wages and
sush wages carried in the pocket or boarded until
quired for


There you have it. He was more in favor of in
fstion than those who are now stigmatized as
infationists. he told us that specie resumption
could only be reached by increasing our exports
until they overbalanced the imports, and that
our exports could only be increased by a suffi-
cient volume of currency to keep all the indus
tries of the country employed; and without this
he predicted national as well as individual bank
ruptcy. He advocated an increase of currency
at certain seasons, and declared that there was
not at that time too much currency for the dull
estperiod of the year. He endorsed the theory
that national credit and not individual credit
should be the basis of the currency; and that the
currency of this country, based as it is upon the
credit of the country, is the best that has ever
been devised. The Republican National Plat
form of 1872, pronounced the greenback "our er-
celleHt national currency" Thus, we see, neither
the President nor the Republican party regarded
the greenbacks as "rag money" "lying promis-
es," "dishonored paper" "the sum of all villain
les" &c. 1t was "our excellent national cur
rency," ''the best ever devised" Having shown
how the President and the party regarded the
greenback at that time, we now proceed to call
the attention of our friend to other points, and
ask his denial of them, If incorrect. The Presi-
dent expressed certain views as to the reserve
greenbacks, but asked Congress to take action
upon it, to remove all doubt. A Republican
Congress, by large majority, passed bill in
accordance with his recommendations. 1t was
submitted to him for approval, and it was the
almost universal opinion that he would sign it.
This opinion was based upon his previously ex-
pressed sentiments and recommendations, and
was shared by the friends and enemies of the bill
alike. At that juncture, an immense delegation
of Eastern bondholders and capitalists waited
upon him, and had private interview. As soon
rs they left, he surprised everybody by sendi ng
in veto of the bill. Since that day, he has been
intensely in favor of resumption-the sooner the
better-and large portion of the Republican
party has kept up an unreasOnably bitter war
fare against greenbacks.


If our friend cannot gainsay the foregoing, we
invite his attention to the following facts Previ-
ous TO the veto of the currency BILL the Repub-
lican party held sway in nearly ali the States of
the Union, and had over one hundred majority
in Congress. Since that veto, the Republicans
have been defeated in almost every State re-
gardless of its former political standing 1t has
been disaster after disaster, from that day to this
relieved by scarcely victory, and that large
majority in Congress is on the Democratic side.


Now, we would ask, has the Republican party
been damaged by Grant, or by those Republicans
who have stood up for "our excellent national
currency Hthe best ever devised" and have
condemned the Presidents sudden change OF base,
under such suspicious circumstancesf Does
Grant care straw for the common peoplef Has
not single capitalist more weight with him
than ten thousand labOriDg menf Set Grant