The Democratic Watchman. interest, if not of, debt for the current
year.
- . Although the debt of some of tits
:principal Governments of P.urope
cans the aggregate of our registerid
tiebi e people of this country pay •n-
Dually a larger interne, thhn is 'noted
from the people of Great Britlitp,ltnince,
Russia, Austria, of Prusstift.--audi a sum
nearly twice as forge as war. •^qtaired
for allthe annual ptifposea of life t,tv•
eminent before JB6O. Yee, sir, the men
.of-thitt generation grew tip under an an
nual expenditure-by the Goveinment, to
support the civil list, the Army, the
Navy, the pension list, internal improve
merits. and ell the other objects to which
appropriations were mtdis;'of half !Le i
sum which is required now to defray the
ttingle item of interest. And then di
rtoe taxation was unknown Now the
lend swarms with tix-gath who
tat up the Substance 'cif the people like
Inca , a The estimates for the War
and Navy Dew 'mews and the civil list
for 1868 is $182,000.0W, whiCh is more
than five times as much as She actual
coat of the same service in 1860.
Thai the people should he restive and
uneasy under such extraordinary bur
jleus is net to be wondered at Nor *Se
is strange that this monstrous debt da
p and enterprise; for
debt in the enemy of industry and en
rpeise. It rests, like an incubus, upon
the labor of the people. and tf it is ever
paid their litho' must pay it ; for thong)
labor is not the only source of (value
place and circumstances may all be
sources) yet it is the great, the chief
source o' all individual and national
wealth. It is fashionable to diecouree
Isrgely on the wonderful resources of
iii- country : and it is true, indeed that
a bountiful Providence has given us s
vast extent of fertile lands, and inn
bmmist Otte minerals that match the wealth
of al. the world besides, but what are all
these resources except as the hand of
labor chltivates and developes them '—
The fertile heists, if the farmer ploW•
.hem not—rbe rich minettilit, if the tot
tit r digs them not, will never pay a dol
ler of debt. I want to emphasize this
iti our tu. I would have the Government
and t 1l its credit r. rt elite h .w enitrel.y•
they depend on the producing classes it
the coun , ry, the laborer. whe•her be
tills the soil, or delves in mines, or toil.
in shops and factories Even gold it
self derives its value from the Jabot
nect - eriary to produce it. Were it se
common es atopra.-and as enmity picked
op. it would be no more valuable than
stones. _And thin Bee what a load Of
404 we have laid on labor' It hag to
bear municiPal and State taxation, sup..
port and educate children, build of
homes and C , n• 1 ruet highways, and yet
the Federal Government lose• it higher
than puller F;ngtand or Famine in their
subjects. 1 have seen a comp.!. tilos
statement of our taxes and those of Eng
Pond and France for the fiscal year ot
'SCA, reckoning both in cur currency AP
BELL Elf 0 N TE, -Tvli
FMOAT MORNING, JAN. 31, 1868
Speech of Hon. Ceo. W. Wilbdward,
in the House of Repretentatives of
the United States. on the Debt and
Currency of the Country. •
Me. Chairman. I have Somewhat to
submit un the debt and currency of 'be
Country. When I fount myself elected
to itha Fottleth Congrees felt. and all I
taw end heard tended to confirm the inn
passion. that the financial condition of
the country was the eitubjecit moot worthy
to engage ti& attention of it Bepreseuta
live initereiy desirous of relleVing the
11011 u-try of his constituents from the
bar lens sod mob trrasstuents that were
weighing it dowu.
Bit tee iidtject was ailing-sided, and
to its details quite complex sod iritw-
Cale and, besnlen, it lay ouLof the line
of the studies to which my I e had been
devoted. I felt, therefore, wore sepsi•
Ally than ever before. the want of a-guid
ing hand to conduct me through three
unfamiliar mazes of finance. I looked
around for kin oracle. and I found so me
ny,end beard such discordant response..
than instead of being enlightened and
guidedj wao bewildered and puzzled.—
doubt if the builders of Itabel• under
atood,mich other so badly an the then
Who, through newspapers, Magazines,
sad pamphlets, have discussed the Goal
aflame of the country. A few weeks
ago Y public letter from a d tot ingubdied
source. marking out a financial policy
was extensively read. which an intelli
gent tilted In the eastern purr of the
8 ale of l'ennsyl•ania very earns ally
watefided to my - attention as a wise
sad comprehensive statement of what
was hest toe us, and abdut the same
time a friend of equal intelligence io
the western part of the State wrote me
to express his seduces at the exhibition
cf mental imbecility which the author
cf that letter had presented. This 11-
testrates the contrariety of opinion which
r veils in regard to every scheme of fi
issuce s-at is proposed. And when
Caine into [las House and listened to
,honorable members I found the came di
v•isity of optnion that prevailed out
bide A 'ormer lloube. with singular
unauintii, , approved the policy tit
the Seers of the Treasury for con
(taming I! volume of paper money
(hie llouse ended coot rat ion 11,•
repealed wt ,t 1 cotton. Ale Scuttle
virtually res. Some gentlemen
Insist on pay lug iho five Orient) , bonds
ib greenbacks. others deprecate it so
espudiatis.n Some would hasten a re
turn to specie payment ; other, noufd
postpone it apparently -to the lost al
fable of recorded time " The national
batiks are praised and abused as the
wisest and Ilse worst of Inelitu ions
and rut( laws are inktle'and al•
tered until they becOme ee unwieldy so
to defy the best efforts to execute them
Public Juane are proposed to coosolidate
our debt at the same ;me we are a:ripen--
lug the public credit And !hut we
flounder out, confounding and conlound
ed darkening connoted with words and
bettling yid adhering to no stable
r °tiny
Now, tlir, in the ro:dist of all !Lie jra
gon and discord or opinion, I know of
no wiser course than to recur to certain
great first,priciples which are either um
, ersady.,confessed to- be true, or ditch
can be easily defended This is necessary
,n all seasons of doubt The sterm
toe•ed mariner corrects his reckon:ngs
by toe meridian sun,the mathematician.
when lost in rho labyrinths of the diffq
entuai calculus recurs to the axioms and
first petucyples of his science, ■nd
though in moral, and political science. we
have out the same ample and cure elan
dards of truth in appeal to, yet the hell
11,4 ft rtornt recurrence In n
tal priumples Is as necessary and w,..e
in these departments of knowledge as iii
the more exact sciences tr lam leer
pabie of seeing how a particular line of
policy is going to effect the business u.
the country, and am, therefore, linable
Ip judge of it by its fruits nod conse
quences, I can bring it ,lo the reels of
certain great and well abCertailied !rattle
upon 'stitch our peliikal fabric in built,
sal if it w ill not beer the test I will re
;ect it, however promising its proposed
results, or however speoundll sod plau
sible the reaso,,ing by whicri it ne.sup
started
What I propose to day to ititnply to
,tir up the pure minds of the House to
a remembrance of some of Hid princi
plea of political economy and of conAty.- •
tutional law in connection with the fi
asocial condition of the country. I
have no /tenon- of finance to pro/tope
file great poluu•al parry with which I
have thq honor to act to out of power.
and in unab e to carry out a policy.
if it should it.ark one out, never so plain
ly When the responsibility of udmtn•
tsteriug the uovertiruent is again luid
upon the shoulders of that party, as it
no doubt will he neat year, it will be
scion enough to develope the line of
policy upon which the party shall move.
Meanwhile, the requiem bilk) , resin tip
-011 the Repttbl•can party under whose
administration the pubic• debt, from
about eighty million dulled in 181;0, -
grew in five year,. to the coon') 'us .um
$2.757,(18i1.371 Ili .Iccording s to the
report of the SecreLau of the Trenritry
this debt had been reduced on the lit of
!Komi Ler last ki $2,112.5 rittl'„S.lty
Thuthey be 'akin as th• aggrerile of
ohs putitii:ol , Ltanctriniiied. corded,
end regintred upon the books of the
Treaoury Deportment, but it don not in
studs unmet-qua claicuit upon Govern•
anent - , growing out of the war, which ere
ws yet unadjusted end ineuaceptihle of
teen nn approximate ent_imate While
route of 'ken* clams sec anrbitsut,.uu
rea.id,b 4 ,e 011.1 dleht•llt sl, m.,ny are
doubt!..." e.juilnble and nu , : and •iith
48 the oonacietioe of the rountry will ul
iinnuely acknowledge WCaiever the
aggregate .4 ;hero. ehlice , rnui hest will,
•y , co that& ,well Le ifuLlIC dobt
feeftinti - the big cigurer which now 'x i
ores' n
The annual' interest we pay on this
Cebt in gold is $1471,ie1,;,01.91. This
was the sues the Secretary sawed we
paid clueing the fiscal year ending June
81 - J, 1887, but 'for the quarter ending
Septa/abet all, 1887, the interest on
the
public debt was stated at $88,816,0i0.-
47, indica , ing a contiderahle increase of
f illowP
Eng!tab tease 1311 We per rent. on enttntiton
ti. taxer .4.1.93 per cent. nn •alltatt. n
Fog Hob taxer.. . $lO 92 per nenpit
French laze,
C S. tales.
Thum it appears, sir, that we have. in
the last few years, outgun. the pried'
pal nal ions iat the Old World in charg
tag industry with annual interest and u.
imposing general taxes upon our peo
ple lu seven yearn we have built
pyramid of debt like that it ioil them more
lino seven hundred years to resr And
now, the party under whose adalt'tttelra
nou these hntdena hii•e fallen upon lb,
people, have • 'i.ting upon them the re
sponsibility devising measures of
relief To I r wisdom and statesman
ship the row ry has a right to look for
such reasmind.e and practical IllellP(17,0
as shall ine ease revenues while the:
lighten • re, and shall 61111101 We and
re./II II I n dustry and enterprise Itll.
ihome of u., who have been ht tit bete by
lieno C011410114' fICII lire brunt to
bit thole our best couneels to ll a dam
J. , 11111 pArt) lle Lrve tin ttCln t f.l
to the Republicans. your settiotoil pion
cif - den-wed policy brought t n 104 er141,11
111. 4 1 war, and overwhelmed t he
i wait debt and inxetten, sod now, with
out our extricate the county. no
best you tnny. from the difficulties Into
which you brought it Illit•evel Jit•i
such language might Le by a parto out
o f power, when addressed to a part; to
power. iritititdititi. who Ire placid its re
sponsible representative poeiiit ns.though
they way belting to the party that is o ut
of power. are bound to advise and coun
sel and warn, according to their ability.
for the good of all und of the
whose country. They have no right to
' fold their mins and let the ship i.r finite
drift to destruction becaure they ar e not
et the helm It they eec dangers tiltend
they are bound to point them out, and
then. if the doutin•nt pail) will persist
in running us upon rocks or shoals, all
that can be done is fpr the masters of the
&vet in throw them overboard and re
;tore the ship to those who have guided
Ii safely through many storms nod dan
gers In discharge of my personal du
ty I proceed. therefore, to point out car
lain general views and principles which
ougb, never to be lost sight of by those
who b no the power to give shape to
i public measures—general views and
principles upon whioh the public debt
end its incidents and consequences ought
I to be treated
And, first. the public dt lit •huuld nut
he regarded u a permanent fixture:to
descend to.poeterity. but ebould be pu.
in prnoete orliquidstion, no as to be
paid off or reduced within tuaungesble
proportionsduring the present genera
tion.
The author or all mischief never in
vented a worse falsehood than the Fray
trig that n national ti..bt is a national
blessing Debt is no mate a blessing
to a nation than to an individual, and
most of us know bow it oppresses the in
ilicidutil unit), cramping his energies.
depri . A•ii.g his ambition. and virtudlly
?hive. if not of We credi
tor, of his circumetstices —.The rich
ruleth over the pour. and the borrower
is servant to tiro lender
II o wt.r r coutrenin I n greni nni i wad
debt may be to a monarchical institution
which . Eagle upon the principles of pri
mogehiture and en hereditary aristoers
cy. no representative and popular Oov
vernmeit like ours—cen be truly lode %
pendent beneath sorb a load of debt as
has been piled upon us. Why. eir.at Ibis
moment*, are restrained from buylpg
territorial addition., and from exploring
the extent of the precious metals in the
public domain, and from other necessary
and advantageous' expenditures. by the
presence of this del t. It stands like •
hideous spectre in the path of our pro
gress. And suppose we had to resent •
national affront, or ,vindicate a national
right, by war; sloppier, for example,
what is, quite supposable. chit to oonipel
I:tropen.nations to 'reepeot the,„‘Vc -
trine of ezpatrisiiott; upon which tour
njelem of naturalisation is built, we
would find I't expedient to adopt a bellig
ereut policy, would not this debt tend to
make ua obsequioua, eelt-sacri
' floing t I tear it would make tome pol
iticians
"Crook the pliant hlngee ci the knee,
Where thrift may follow liwing."
I have said. sir, thel--if the debt be
ever paid labor must pay it; but to
enable labor to do its worst it must have
the asi(siatanee of capital ; nod
habitue-41y timid, Is seared away fr o m
enterprises of pith and moment by this
overshadowieg cloud. - At this moment
every industrial interest in the country
leoguishes,and every look •Jut into the
future discourages both cepa! and la
bet. Between capital and tabor there is,
naturally, not only on antagonism, but
a strong elective affinity, which, if un
disturbed by repenting forces, will draw •
them into harmonious co-operation. A
national debt is the worst of all repell
ing fortes. In England and France in
ni•idual wealth may be invested in pub
do funds wiThont Mnierial injury to la
hor, because the Government becomes
the employtr of labor and dispenses the
wealth which is lent to it: but with us
the Gocernment is and ought to be con
fined to• its appropriate functions as a
political power. and can empire in no
it rt al improvements ur publio works
which ate not necessary for common de
fense or ordinary governmental purpos
e. All the wealth, thet afore, wbicl lhe
l'o•critn ant concentrates in public
loans is so much withdrawn from the
o mmon avocation/1 of life and from the
T. ward. of Inhor When, as in the le—
•
ante bef, re LlB, a system of banking is
seed upon the Government bonds. and
he Government abstracts from the labor
lot the country a gold interest to pay to
1-!he bankers, who sell it at a premium
an 4 divide the prolitritamong themselves
the public debt becomes a peculiar
curse to the people The only currency
which the banks furufah.to the people is
a - depreciated paper currency, which has
the effect of enhancing the price of all
itecesie•riem they consume while the)
return to the titmice a coin interest to
swell the profits of these favored corps
nit inns.
But a more eomprebennive objection
to a perm metal public debt is its consol.
"titling power. Thin is strikingly :111u.
traied in England, where, under the
op 'ration of their public debt and-thee
ay stem of inienincy, au aristocracy has
grown UO which p0F“@.81.1.1 MOM of the
wealth of the country and. controls its
legialat ion Toot moneyed aristocraoy
has ground the Millions down into ab
jecl pot el ty Dwelling veer in men
stone of regal splendor. it has sentlabrie
to eat tin scant meal and sleep its bard_
e leep in email anti mean collages. some
tilliee made of mud, and often with no
rod but a -thatch and nn-floor but the
ground lll-smothered discontent and
often open csuibi voice of popular passions
have been the consequences of,the false
eal , o ion that curate between capital and
labor in that country Hence the ne
cessity fir's standing army, an armed
police and a hireling constabulary to
keep the people in order"and to enable
capital to wring the last drop of sweat
from the brow industry All this, I
rereat, may be well enough fur a mop.
•rehy, but let nut our simple republican
institutions fall under the control of a
moneyed aristocracy, else the people of
this cm utitry will share the fate of their
kindred to the mother country. E•ery
t..ing which tends to a conn , didaiion of
money power, or poltotal power, is in
imical to the prnciplet and genius of
our American liberty Our PI•leln of
int. si.tey in ties of the Lent inetitutions
of the e..untiy, to t n illtliineo the accuni
ulttied of Inmtlte , but charters
of 11.0.11.1,1110° t.sorl and thtfral the
operations of the 11,11 Male 1111//1. ♦i hen
a, nee a va-t hoot's.. boned upon
iltent WIWI." J 1 hl, and rapidly ac
cumulating wealth, While the people lit
large are embarrassed to pay their tol
e, ere nine well lake alarm and conclude
that it We would preserve and perpetu
we republican institittions'we must get
rid of that debt.
.7 07 per rripon
If 00 r.l' repuu
I do not propose to Pay the deli) iii
once h:lk kyo big to be wiped out sud
denly, but we cart place oureelvee upon
sound pi Iticiplen. wt. telt, it steadily ad
hered to, will exiinguich the debt w tib.
AD the lifetime of living men And the
moment the world 'seen that tie hove
adopted a system of finance that eliall he
tttorted upon the world . % measure of val
ues, that we have begun to retrench ex
pense4 in earnest. that we hip, levii il
such rensonable barn as can be collected
and that we consid'er no debt paid until
ii is redeemed in gold cud silver, our
debt, great an it is will for altpraatical
purpoern, llis.ppthr It will be ',moody
paid from that hour.
My next observation is that Govern
ment boms ought to be taxed as bonds
The text of several of the awn of Coo
greets under which they were issued ex
empts ibern from Slate and municipal
taxation, but not from taxation for the
,purponen of the Federal Government.
The income derived from them by our
own eithenn in, 1 believe, included in
taxable incomes, hut as distinct forms
of property they have escaped taxation
while all other forms lit property have
been laid under contribution to pay in
teract on theme very 'Muth', and to cup.
port the Government, which, gives them
.11 the value they porsens. This is not
equitable or just
But it will be said there bonds were
placed in the'markri and sold with the
underetanding, express or tacit, that
'hey Were no, to be taxed. Mir, the
taxing power is vested in CollgreSS rtlf
trust for the people, to be exercised for'
throeprotection and benefit, but riot to
be ali e ned. mortgaged, or given away
No iormer Congress could lake the In •
tog power 1111 N) funs this or Ally tot tollr
future Congress The dead cannot bind
the living. This Congress assembled
with all its conic ittiliOtla . . functions and
powers unimpaired by what former
Congresses or Treasury agents had said
or done in respect of the Min; power.
"Congress shall have power to levy and
°Oleo& taxes," says the Canal itutlow.and
to argue that we hare not this power bp
melte of what our predecessors did t ds to
make theygonatituilon repealable by as
sot of Congress or a Treatiiiil circular.
The taxing power istire breath in
the nostriti of the 'Government. if .it
may be suspended in respect of one form
of property,, it iniy in respect of all oth
er torMs of property, and thus be extin
guished, *blob would be suicide of the
tioverninedt .
Buil( the power exists, it may be ill
faith, a t•ori of repudiat ion to exercise
It Not so. The public creditor know*•
what the legislative powers of the Gov
ernment nre when be lends his money.
and t e lakes the 6,4 of u constitutional
• .aerume of those powers. Salaries nre
fixed by law as Bolt (only on these bend.
promise to pay, and judicial salaries are
protected from diminution by the Con
stitUtion, yet the Government 110 E% not
hesitate to tax saltines, and nobody re
pronches it with repudiation. The fact
is, all forms of property, whether they
be house' end !mole. sticks, bonds, et'
• lit es et jo 0. • te del protection,and
I hvttiOre OMe lie con Wive only of
support to the Covertictient This is the
prittetple upon which thr foreign bond
holder can be justly taxed Ilia prop
arty, so for es it is invested in bonds, is
tiers to be proiletril and defended by
our Government Whet he holds in his
strong-box aeries Ilse ocean is only the
side-deed, the evidence nod sign of the
thing signified Ilte substance is here
in our bands, to be wistded, preserved,
and rettirned ; and as all thews are go♦
ernmental dui its, whnlev, r end Ihnever .
enjoys governmental protection is bound
to contribt is to the support of flo•ern
ernment Nor will there be furry xprn-
sive machinery necessary io collect 'him
lax, for it can bo . deducted from each
coupon as it filth. due, and go directly to
the relief of ihe Treasury. will - lend
al-o to equalize nod render uniform all
public burdens, and thus take away the
irroniing cmirast that is now presented
between Government bonds and other
forms of property, She invidious dis
crimination between bond-holders and
tax payers in gent tal
bly third observation ifi, l that we
hould fit s iimc foribe rtstimption of
specie paymenta, first, of all CURIA nut
liceeding -twenty dollars, and a more
distant day for all other sorts The ad
vantage of doing this new,by a declara
tory act would he to give the country
notice toorepare fur specie parnienta.
sod such is the elasticity and Adapta
bility of our people that they could. with
ample notice, prepare for !him return to
our normal condition without material
-.crifice nr tlitonscnlellCS The prom)
ninon incliden. of course,' he re-pe , •l ot
much of throat of Congress of 2. - Ph Peb
re.ry 1862 and•of subsequent Roe, a•
made Tlt 7 nstiry !twee Ishii tenders tit
"cygnet), of tit her By the set 0f,„186'2,
$l5O 1100,010 were aurhorized, and by
SUbsecitlviti acts panic fi•s hundred and
fitly millions more—making an aggre
gate of some seven hundred millions of
irredeemable notes that were made legal
tenders in' tiny merit of (low many
of there noire have been issued seta are
14111 oursiandurg...l am. nimble...to ascer
tain from the officinf reports, but 1110 ,
entered at one into. the circulation tit
the country. and were not d to pay oil
all debts that had matured Ground
rents and mortgages were paid off to a
valet extent in yennsylvanin—debiors
hunting their creditors tea keenly RP, in
other CirCtimsb , nces. creditor. pursue
debtor,. As these notes Lava not aver
aged in value more than from platy to
ne•eury cent, in the ollar, and yet were
m .de legal tenders a iri it is apparent
lbw the debtor who u ed them awed a
third of his debt Rod him creditor lost it,
.boil yet all the d. but of the country, ex
cept such as stipulated fne payment in
specific artic'es, were contracted on the
epecte basis, and were redeemable, be
tore three acts of Congress were passed
in nothing but gold and silver coots If
three come were expressly anpulatedfor
in the centred, of course the legal ithli
gallon existed to render them. but if
'bury were not expressly stipulated for
the creditor had a right to demand thi ta.
1.,c nothing elee was a legal tender --
When t'ongrrSH Crated litiollicr legal
tender. wottli only two thirds as much
as that upon the faith of which contrbote
had bet 11 made, they tempted every
l o ut or to use the cheaper and baser cur
rency to pay his debts, and thiy !tomtit
kited a third of the debts el the entilltrii
If any man would ntensu,e Cite sacrifice
and Or private rtglo• which this
legislation bleb caused let hint inquire
turn the aggregate of defile, puh'ie and
private, Butte. municipal. corporate and
individual butt have heed extinguished
by tfternhat km, and a full third of that
aggregate May 1 , 0 regarded as 1.. el 111 t he
c , entry, Cttrifiscaleti, annihilnted
And now ti to proposed to pay the
live twenty bonds, which bear a nix per
cent interest in coin, with these green
backs that be .r nu interest, and It IX ar
trued that the text of the Oct of 1842 ati
tl•Orizes Ibis to be done. I believe this
auggest ion °TN/Jawed with NI r. Pend lo
ion, of Ohio, hot it has found an able
defender in this Boone in the person of
the glember from Massachusetts. [Mr
Butler ] The gentleman from I
[Mr Coley ] also favors the suggestion,
and indeed he reetos to think greett
' bucks are a better currency than gold,
and silver The gentlenian from Maas
gohUa [Mr Butler] is not f .11 taut to
the cause he ham espouted when lit ad
mit, that the indebtedness of the (toter
'went. antecedent to the act of 1862, must
bur paid in coin, and the reason be gives.
.t.t wit: that that indebtedneas was con
tracted on the specie bailie. would have
applied to the and ions of private and
corporation debts that have been paid in
greenbacke. Does not the honorable
gentleman know that the court. have de
cided that the act of 1808, first- legal
tender law, applies to al . ulecedent
debts, public and private, even those ex
pressed to be payable in coin! Interest
on the public bond. and duties are the
only exceptions mentioned in. the act
All other debm, public and private. are
within its .weep And though tonna
created by subsequent awe. which mini*
Wed tor colt* would not be within the
°pea atom of the legal-tender sot, these
prior loam,. which the geistlemsrit so
conduit) excepir would he if we take
lite 'leis, ter we are . take them,
according to the judicial interpretaiion
they have received.' ,
The question, then, is abasewhat lar
ger tine than the honorable gentleman
seemed to isuppoam It is no less than
this, whether not only ,lithe five-twen
ties but all prior loans Shell It, mild in
greenback!! Obviously the Interest on
these bond, ceonot be so paid, for the
sot of 1862, in establishing the patter Ic
gal tender,-eiprassly sate% bole eel on
Government bonds. Trie Item of inter
est. being expressly exceptediant of the
enacting clause, cannot be Pgid is green
back+ end must be paid In 9010. But as
to the principal .of all bonds lettoept those
Wiled usder acts of Congress subse
quent tp legal-tender tots; the question
is, does the law authedie payment
of them iii greenbsoke? TbJs (Winton
touches (be $600.001,1.00 authorized bv‘
the act of 1862 Rod whaitsveir hod
,been
authorized by filar and it must he
confessed that the ph, izeology of the
Rot of 186.:layers the propositon to make
them payable In greenbacks. It doer
nut prescribe coin for any debts except
interest and duties, and it does make
Treasury notes legal tenderd in payment
of —all claims and demand+ agntnet the
.United etudes of every ktru whatsoever,"
except fur interest on h , and it do
Glares also that they shall be lawful
money and it legal-tender In payment of
all debts public and private within the
United/Stales, except duties ou imports
aid it.terest as aforesaid "
If Congrout bad power to make such
An enactment oert•tuly the holdeit
of five-twenty buids, nod of 3111-previou
bonds I k olvo no.more right to complain
that th'ey arc paid in igreenbaoke than
ell other private erect turn hod, nod 0101
complaints were unheeded. The words
of the enactment are large and oompre
hensive enough to inolude these bond
holderS, and t is ilthpo.siblo Re conceive
of any equity they lut•tt, show whet
creditors. to be taken out or the onset
men!. Thtagentleman from M tine [Mr"
tit:titre) - was at con itirratvie - - trouble—l o
show Item our current !motor.% tint tilt
bonds were negotiated with ti.. under
standing trout they were to he relit emed
in emir; hut it has been wt II an.wcred
that advet tinements and
by the Secretary of the Trel.•tit or tiny
n
of his agents cout,' alter the t nor of
tilt/ law upon the Intik of %atoll the
hoods were is tied Tl , at hte wits open
so the purrs er of the bionic. 10.1
must be pre,coi, , l he purchased subject
to it.
The gentleman from Ohici[ftlr Catei]
has discovered, at limo!), that the bond
holders did not buy their bonds upon
any high and p4triutic inotlye, but Nun
ply Me n speculation. Then it in no
nordship to treat them an c treat the
soldier who fought our bailee, and the
,mitlter'er4gidow, the .Ity laborer, am:Pair
the other most tnetiturious creditut4 of
the Government.
So long, en , as you Will insintnin tyro
legal tenders, of diverse values, I shall
vole for pay ing dt4its," not ex pretts
ly excepted, to the cheopeet 01 t lose
tenders If you will pay the most•-meri
On- creditors of the flovernment in grotto
haeka tixey are good entich. In my
jtatlgutetd, for those bondholders whoa,
the honorable gentleman from Ohio ple
Cutely J has found Ic be no Intai pi' nut ir
than other people
nut, sir, I d not believe that Con
great had tiny conottnnional power it
make grvenbacka n legal tender I
know the octane of lest region itt ofverat
Staiem bate decided the act of 181;2 ton,
c.dintitutional, by a bare majority of
judges, and the Supreme Court wr the
United States have nut yet passed upon
the question. No far os the Judicial
mind of the country has been expreoeed
upon the subject, I confess tny'elf hound
to regard thy Wei as conetilui knit!: and
would, therefore, for the present vole
for applying it to all debt'., public and
private, which are not excepted from
Its operation; bni believing it to ho of
evil trample. destructive of that gond
faith which should belong to all con
irocto, andante of the conontutional
rglirs or citizen!, And not wathin the
delegated powers which we are sent here
to exercise, I would wipe all such curios
out of our statute-book The effect tit
repealiug•that bad legislation would be
happy in many to-pacts Ir would t a k e
away the ugly question started by Mr
P.ndlt ton and no fiercely discussed on
this floor. because. movie .ii of leveling
the holdholder down to the o,her credi
toe, it would level the other creditor
up to the bondholder It would bring
tie hack to gold and ether. the conontu
'tonal currency, which I !fun sorry to
brae the honorable gentleman [Mr Ca
rey] sneer at i, '•bard many 'and —the
idol of the Democratic heart It iv
bard, to he cure hard to get and lord to
keel). but while you keep it it is tm hard
that it will not perish on your handy
That it iv Democratic money is alto. true
becautte it IS constittitionol, and r need
not tell so intelligent a gentleman no toy
friend from Ohio that all things which
are constitutional are democratic
And if, we would repeal this low'by
cat.y,stagoe, as I propose, jt would. ores
NIOII the country no shock : whale, if it
should happen to be knocked in the head
in the'Suprente Court, the multifarton.
interests that are bound up in it would
for a time he greatly danraged These
are my reasons for suggesting itninetit
tine steps for a gradual repotil of a his
i that has done us more:dishonor allii nn
jury 1110 any other rule:anent Of nut
day
I will nut to-day argue the constitution
al question, but I wish to bring to the
notice of tbe comities the collocation ul
the thoughts which led to tie_enaut went
Of the legal tender law of 1862, as con
timed in the report of the Comptroller
of the Currency. erlitat has been laid
upon our dent If gentlemen will look
into that it they will see that &lithe
leading mel-bere of both Houses placed
the law, not upon the Constitution. hut
upon ••uncontrollable neebasity," ••the
unusual exigenoiesoflhe country.'"•ne
oeseity, not eh: ire ' Mr. Sherman. of
of Ohio, brought out sharply the preys'.
ing thought when hweald, "Toe Sena
tor from Vermont. (Mr. Collatnero
whois optutou le certainly entitled to
the highest consideration, and who sup
ports it with an able argument, cowends
Hutt this measure Is unconetltuttortal
I contemn be," adds, "if I did not feel Its
necessity. I would shield myself beiilnd
Iris conviction and v,ttt• against it. • '
rut a voice seems to Lave been raised i n
belt Of of the constitutionality of the
measure. but the uecessitten, of 111111
real or imagined were perrni.ted to set
*side the Constitution. And suoh has
been the Hoe of argument in the courto,
as if necessity were a higher law than
the Conatltution. I will not enter Into
these questions to day, but I beg leave
to refer to and quote an opinion, which
I put upon record on the 24th of May,
1866, in the following words:
"By overthrowing the specie basis end
flooding the country with a depreciated pa
per eurrency at a time when tba (imam
meet WWI the elder pitrehaner and consumer
of the prodnete of the nonntry, it rsired
prices on Itself, Ind unnecessarily augmen
ted the public debt, Which will be a burden
u p on The Industry of Abe country: ..Did the
people grant to their Reptilian/dives the
power to do this thing ? They gra nted the
power to /mulish a metallite currreney, but
in what part of the-fundamental law did
tdiey grant the power to_take it away f Ii it
be true that war cannot be carded on,nitv:
nub pager money, It is , not true that war re-.
quireiPaper money to lee madd a legal tend:
er. Our Government has carried on several
were, foreign and domeetio. and a commerce
that has penetrated every part of the globe
upon a pnper currency, fitlite and Federal,
having a round opeolobasig;without making
a dollar of that paper currency a legal ten.
I e Where, then, is the ground for the es.
gumption that these acts of Congress were
demanded by the exigencies of our civil
war ? had Congrees borrowed enough gold
and silver at. current rates to maintein the
tpecie borte of our paper currency the debt
of the country had been lees than `half..whet
tt is to day, and no Wort of the Government
to subdue the reo Ilion would have lacked
energy of effort "
These, Mr. ( Lawman, were my con
victions three years. , g and euhsequeht
omen vstions and reflection have tended
to confirm them And it gives me great
plesaure to see how strongly corrubora
too. ot 'beer tisws are the obeervat ions
CI Beere.ary MoCulluob in his late re
volt, especially on page 15. Ile there
as) /I in terms that the ..fin•scialr evils
uhdor which the country has been clut
tering fur twine yearn past, to say noth
ing of the dangers which loom up in the
hut brd'are inn grgst degree to he traced
the-direct Issues by--t be. Government
wt uttoon•ertible currency with the legal
attributes of money.
When the IleCebell led of the hour were
09 strongly insisted oil an 1862 the tells
and dangers to which our ministers of
hionice alludes ought not to have been
forgotten A - really prudent statesman
ship would not have ores look irrent.ncr
have underrated the evil euustquensee
ut impairing the obligationg of dtmintern
of intlating prices, of stimulating rash
'peat/lan JLS and lavish expenditures,
and induct:lg lite taxation. All these
are deniuralizttig agencies and Nice'',
and they hate led to loss of el-edit,
onerous debt, the most dtiring frauds
upon the revenue, a general derangement
ut the liyiness of the country, and a
debarenient of the moral sense of the
people' -Bbch are some of the conse
quences of eutdituting - printed rags lot
100 constitutional currimcy, that •tdt I
of the Democratic heart'--silver nod
,;old—tati tell are the mensiii.es of value
titrougl,uul the civittred world, nod
whicti was our at front, 1.1.0
adop
ttott of ilie Coutusiulion of 1787 until
overtt,rown by ,he apt of l•ougress of
181;2
:%ly next thought is, 1114 t if we Would r
pair the tnistakes at the past and get
beck to •pecie payments wo must cur
tail the expenses at the Goverum tit
And the Gist and 'mist obvious reform
Wankd he to abandon that crazy policy
which, with grim facetiousness, we call
recoortructiou. - nary are tea Slates,
some of them older mail Any of us, all
4 Ilion . lllTTliirgaticiel reki.lative,
execiiii•e end judicial departments after
in, model of all the republican Slates of
our Federal Union, known at all times by
ie sea en MPS and bo toilet te- they hat e
to-day except Virg nut, whom we have
carrot In tw itu a g , - inst her consent,what
reconeti action de they tieed If the
propontiton was to restore the 1 1.1 Do
minion to- her fair proportion.. recou
struction would so far be intelligible
but am it done not mean thin, what ilium
it mean • These Stater, according to
the (loot tile the Declaration of Inde
pendence, which certain gentlemen are
iund of misquoting, were "free and in
dependent Btaree. ' and originally had
nfully power to It vy war. conclude
peace, contract alliances, e.tahlislutom
mercy, and to do all other 11C19 and
things which independent Strifes may
°fright do " Such Stater , may confederate
and icy did confederate. uoh States
form a more perfect union, and
they dttl no under tile l'onstliffin.n of ihe
Untied Slitter. Thxt intorument con
e. mplaied a permanent and irrepealable
t‘m, bet, int.e it did hot nut icipate any .
utlnwuouA t r in pruvis
tune Hut it nu happened that is wap
violated, and then tbuee ten l4tates, con
iitlaring that a bargain broken on one
tide, was broken un all !Wen, repealed
their Noe of accesion to the Federal
Union and passed ordinances of aecesmon
I hat brought on war wino!' to
compelling them to repeal their °reit
meiteetts (et sOCO,BIOII, which hod the effect
of re-toring their acts of am:emote Fur
it to s rifle of the common law that when
ft statute which - repeals s prior eioiutote
inself repealed the pilot statute to telly
ed lie-tdee, every depot !merit ut the
Federul tiovernno ut 'rented the ,4 , llunti
coo of seceseion u. null and r , nd Ordi
n nee and I.l“twev whteh nre Halt !tit
raid, and whiro ale rep, aled it. lures by
the power thsi plese , l thew, nrr no II
they had unit hero iov ' , gra rill 1 in,
hired not the vuslity nod wool tnt.•gtity
of the Staten. What the war overthrew
WWI the southern Clolifeaerun , out (111 .
southern metre
Now. !brunet all 'ht.. ploce.to of se
mission. fortnittion 01 the :tout he CI (on
federacy, and war, these litotes were
olive and notog as Stater, Withthe Paine
form of goternuient they adopted from
the first Our armies had in , letl over
run them and hod sut•pended the civil
functions of some of their officers, and
the President wisely considered that, at
he was the commander It WIC
his duty at the 0108 C of 1h . reor to so
withdraw him Army es to sat 1)108188_1mm+
on their legs again and rest .re them to
their normal condition Thin he was to
oomplishidi peacefully sod Heiman)
when some evil geottw. whispend hum
the ears of the legislative department
that reconstruction belongs to t hern, and
straightway iegislatora sr I about ttiptaie
ing the President ott . enacting a Perms
of harsh anti V1L1111 ,1 1V.3 mea.ure«that
cool(' only he 0411 t, 1 oitt by ra •nunl mg
army Wnd could te..uit In nolbiogl , i the
&mail - 11 , 10U of till' over Ice Isnot.
roar. •A.n.l shims tloettuetive n t raeure/.
are what mite noreti. by a ate it ohnee tt
la tog iiegt, reeit net meth,. 1.1,011 the
plain etatement of histoviCal t o eta which
ha•et made ii is apparent that readmit
lion of 'there folly constinctrd' States
into the Union, kr the (Once of the war.
would not only Wove cost us nothing,
but would have *sited Ile a large and un
necessary expenditure, besides bringing
into productive contribution to our war
merce one of the mom fertile legions of
the whole country. Under the ill-starred
[PUACLPD,►D 7*. TI11111; PAOR.]