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Annual Report of the 
ruined- Witness Continental money,, the panics of 1837 and 
1857.” But some of you perhaps never saw one of those little 
“shin-plasters,” so called, though you have heard of the Continental 
money in this country. Was that paper money pure and simple? 
No, sir. It was paper money based on gold. Was it ever worth 
anything? No, sir. Here is a copy of one of those little bills. 
No. 182. Half Dollar. 
This bill of half a dollar shall entitle the holder thereof to receive gold or silver, 
at the rate of four shillings and six-pence sterling per dollar for the said bill accord¬ 
ing to the resolutiou of the convention of Maryland, held at Annapolis the 14th day 
of August, 1776. 
(Signed) -. 
Mr. Bascom. Did it cease to be money when it was based on gold, 
or when it slipped off from its basis? 
Mr. Field. It did not slip from the base, but the gold wasn’t in 
the hands of the Government, hence she couldn’t redeem. Our 
national currency to-day is sound, not because of the gold in the 
country with which to redeem it, but because of the faith, credit 
and stability of the Government. 
Now, Mr. President, why was not this coin obligation good? 
Why wasn’t it just exactly as good at that time as any greenback 
or Government bond in this country to-day? It was based on gold 
precisely as our money to-day is. If the President can say that it 
was not I wish him to answer that now. 
Mr. Bascom. It was not based on gold, and I don’t believe in 
a money based on gold. Neither of them were based on gold be¬ 
cause you could not get gold for them. To-day you cannot get 
gold for greenbacks. 
Mr. Field. I want money upon the faith and credit of the Gov¬ 
ernment, upon property. We want money to represent the prop¬ 
erty of this country and not based on the rich man’s property, gold, 
but based on all of the property of this country, which is lands 
and other property as well. We never had a currency in this, or in 
any other country that was based on the property, faith and 
« 
credit of the country. It is based on gold, and what is the result ? 
It is this, that just so long as the currency issued on that gold cir¬ 
culates, just so long as the farmer will take it, it goes. But the 
very moment that stagnation in business comes, or we mistrust the 
