536 THE IMPENDING REVOLUTION. 



the constitution authorized the coinage of a public credit 

 into money. 'They smote the rock of public credit and 

 power and prosperity gushed forth.' They called into 

 existence the 'Rag Baby.' They said to every man that 

 would work, 'Here is your wages; this Rag Baby will pay 

 you. ' They said to the ship owners, ' Unfurl your rotting 

 sails and open your hatchway ; we have brought you grain 

 from the farm ; carry it abroad to buy us clothing and arms, 

 for our industries are stricken and we cannot provide cloth- 

 ing and arms for the army that is to sustain the Union. 

 The Rag Baby showered greenbacks upon them, and the 

 ships spread their sails and carried rich cargoes to foreign 

 lands, which were exchanged for clothing, arms and muni- 

 tions of war. Industry was rife throughout the land. The 

 farmers, who had been without an adequate or remunera- 

 tive market for years, were getting good prices for their 

 grain were paying their local merchant, .who in turn 

 paid his to those of the great cities. 



"A marvelous child was this Rag Baby. It lighted 

 the fires in every forge and furnace in the country. It 

 hired ships and bought others. It blockaded the whole 

 Southern coast. It rallied an army of 500,000 men. We 

 heard ringing through the streets the shout of well paid 

 and well fed and clothed soldiers, 'We're coming, Father 

 Abraham, three hundred thousand more. ' The Rag Baby 

 was welcomed by every commissary, quartermaster and 

 paymaster. It furnished transportation. It met all 

 demands. The American people were prosperous as they 

 never were before : I name it not the ' Rag Baby. ' I take 

 the derisive term from the door of the Presidential 

 mansion. ' ' 



Under the various acts from July 17, 1861, to March 

 3, 1866, the following amounts and kinds of money were 

 issued: 



