Honest Money

iH-.iy. at Itliaca, üi-H. Thia absolute mouoy is Bomctbiog entimly nctf io the preneut generation of Ainericans, aud as it ia to bo a legal tender f or all debts, public aml private, let lis inquire what it is? Hore ís oöe, f the picture of one, of thcir absolute paper dollar". ít msgi :" ; IiegalTeuilur all Dcbts aod Dues. : ,g : TUÍ8 13 i'.NtTEP STATK8 ABSOLUTE MOXI.Y ! Kï ' :gL: : One Dollar. Washington, D. C. : : This ii the mcmey of tbe Natloual Greenback paity, f party ïianied on the hwa a non lucendo principie, " iütioiial " f rom uot being uational, and "Qreenback" befiitiae it doos not advocate greeuback nioney as the people undcrutand that term. As yet, hovfever, no debt exiat anywhtro, by Goverument or iudividuale, which was contracted to be paid in thia absoluto rttoney, It ivill be of no immediate uee without firnt repudlating tl'o contracta. öentlemoD, bear with me a moment, and we will examine iato those two kinds of dollars : The genuine old-fashioned greeuback reada : 'The United States will pay bearer one dollar." Now, what is a dnlíar? According to the lawa cf this country aud commeree of the woria, it 8 a piece of eoiu coutaining cilhor 25 8-10 grains of gold or 412X grains of bilver, each 9-10 fine. The Goverument stamp on it simply cortiöeB tbat it has this weight aud ñuouess of metal. Borne people eay that it is the Governmout stamp that gives it its value. It adds to it value really a nitro triflf, the cost of the csrtifleate. The comuierce and custonid of the world fii the value of 25 8 10 grains gold, 9-10 fine, and 412L grains silver, at nearly a universal and deficite figure. Thereforc, it is the standard or measure of value uil óver the world. And in traveiing over the world it would malie very little difference whether I had gold coiu, gold duet, gold migects or silver bare. The only difference ivould be that if I had dust or nuggets I wonld havo to take them to an aupay oflico and fiiid ont the weight and purity and get a proper certifícate, and I conld pay all my bilis with it, beoause a certain weight and fineness of it i the measure of value everywhero. A 12-inch rule is a known meaeure of dimensión, a quart measuro is a knowu nieusure of quantity; by a little calculatiou these measures are readily couverted into similfir meaures of other nations. And a certain woight of fineness of metal is a meaeuro of value, and thiü is one oi the principal unes of gold and silver coin. It is also, unlike other meaeuree, a mcans of cxchange, but purely as a means fof exchange a paper credit cnrrency is far preferable, but its credit mut bo based on the moaöure of value adopted by civilized nations. It is the belief on the part of tbo holder of a paper credit, that at ome time, if he so desires, ho cn convert bis paper promise into the aotual measure of value, that cüiefly makes it valuable. INOW, wneiö ia luo muusuie ut uc ui mis absolute money? We re toli that it is the " f aith and credit" of the country. Well, h&s uot the old greenback the faith and credit of the oonntry, as well as a coin baeis ? We are told that the Government, depreciated its oirn paper by refusing it for cuBtom duties. The foolishness of this argument is shown by the f act that, in sonie Btatee in the Union, there are banks whose daüy deposits are larger than the amouut daily colleoted by Government as cuetom duties. If the Government, by printing on a piece of paper, "this is $1," can make it SI. known as euch to the civilized world, then it can print on another pieco of paper, " this is one sneep," and it at oace becomes a sheep Gentlemen, I ehow yon another paper credit used a good deal in my neighburhtvd. It reads : oood for : OSE QUART MILK. E. Goodrich. : Now, Mr. Goodrich is a very worthy, euergetic farmer who lives near nie. Last winter we bad a littlo deal, aud I got screral dollars' worth of these paper counter. Now, suppose, when 1 applied for milk, Mr. Goodrich had fallen back on his dignity and said : "Sir, do you doubt my solvencyï Are uot my farms, lauds, tenements aud chatteU pledged for that milk? Are not my resources a3 large as any mau's in Gratiot county '! What you want is not milk but faith I ïou oxight to have more faith in these tickets." Most of you woul'J thiuk Mr. Goodrich a very singular uiau. Now, suppOBo the murrain breaks out in Mr. Goodrich's herd of cowb, or a drought comes ou and makes bis pastures fail, and the quantity of milk is decrèased by opehalf, so that every moruing instead of giving him two of thoee tickets and getting twoquarts of milk, 1 can only got one quart and give him one ticket. Everyboiy is eerved the same way. Pretty Boon a part of oor popalation get tired of half rations of milk, and tncy hold a ronjjfag i indigDation meeting, and a terrific resolution is passed that Goodrich ehall issue, uot more milk, but ïnore milk tickets ! which shall read, " This is oue quart absolute milk !" But, geutlemen, I have a piece of "absolute" money hire. It was on white papui' originally, but it has beeome yellow with age. It is rudely engraved. Oa its face is a ship, a plow, and three sheaves of wheat, emblematic, of course, of agrioulture and commerce. It bears this legend, "This Hll ehall pass for sixteen shillings." This bill is ab .ut in the huudredth vear of its existonce, aud it has failed to pasa fui' anything for about ninoty-üve yeari. The "faith and credit " of the grand oíd couimonwealth of iVunsylvajiia that isdued thU paper was ay great as the limuau zuiud can conceive. Her mea wore of the bigbent oidor of p&triuís; they gave forluu uá Ufe as a free libalion on the altar uf their couutry, iu the cause of freedom. ! Thexo is a swoet odor of liberty t 11 clinging to thia oíd bilí - politica! liborty, individual liberty, for which m&rtjrs have died and héroes contended for ages. Tho charter of human rightg, the habcas corpus was uot suspended to print this bul. No arrest without warrant or law was made. A speedy trial by jury was denied by no one. AU the great righU of personal and coiumuoity independence were held sacred. If govoruinciít can créate money ont of notbing, this was the euprome moment of tho world'a history for the ac-ompluhinentof so great an end. And vet with all their paíiotirai and valor, with ali their heroic deeds ou land and sea, with a faith in the destiny of thcir country which efcood side by side with the faith in their Creator, with a faith and credit built lip of ctemer etuff than ever bivouacked ou the world's battle-fleld- and vet its paper absolntO mouey failed. Five hundred dollars wonld not lmy a pair of boots to proteet your patriot father'tí feet from tho frozeu ground, as he marched forward to liberty or dcath. My God, what a commeuUry on absolute money. Wearc told that the pensions of the soldiers of today's ropublic ato to be paid in this absolute monoy. If po, when another centennUl birthday cömea to thb repnblic, somo grandson of yours wül stand here, whoro a graudson of the old roTolution stands to-day, ana will show to tbat generation, as you seo to-day, the ntter worthlesstiens of a dollar, socalleO, created out of nothiüg. It is argued by thoee who oppose promiee-to pay curroucy that puch is impossiblo, bocause tliere is not coi n enough if all the currency was returned for redomption at oue time. Thefactis that a.11 buinees and legi-Ution is, or ought to ba, coaductcd on the idea that men are not crazv lunática, but sensible bsinge. 'It may be asked whero would all the lifeiusiu-anco companiea be if tveryboJy ïosured iu them died on one day." Or what wouid bocome of üre iosnr&noe compaires if all our housea bnrned down about the f ame time. Thero nevor was papar currency erongu atlont in this country to pay half the debti if everybody wnnt to everybody else tbe same day and insisted on havlng what was due them. If vou were going to uieasure a milp, you would uot want a measure a mile long; if you have a crib of corn at home which yon wúh to meaBure, yon wonld uot look around for a measure that wonld hold a hundrerl bushels. Ihe survpyor's chain aud the Lnshel measure, oach repeatfd many times in its o-.vn capacity, answer admirably. Mr. B. F. Butler says no oue would thinkof having the quart racasuro or yard-stick redeomet!. Of csurse not - no one expects to have gold and silver, thu measnre f value, redeemed, becau=e as a m?asnre of valne they are the ultimatum, the fmality. But the commercial world does expect the cloth measured bv on", the wheat meatured by the other, and che paper currency based npon or roeaRured by the third moasnre; all to be redeemed by the standnrd of valne, becanse in commerco they are all means of exchange, and not measures of valne. _________