State Convention—Dollars and Sense. 273 
presses to work. Now, there is something in faith and confidence, 
I recognize. I do not intend to discuss this financial question. I 
do not feel myself at all adequate to do it, because I do not think 
that I myself, or any private banker, by giving a printed promise 
to pay, which would sell at 88 cents on the dollar, make it of any 
value if we do not propose to redeem it until fifteen or twenty years, 
or until we take a notion. The paper money of the United States 
is now worth 88 cents on the dollar, because the people of this coun¬ 
try have faith and confidence in the government, and in my judg¬ 
ment, they will, within some reasonable time, when it can be done 
without too much disaster and evil conseqnences to the business of 
this country, redeem in coin or in some commodity which the hu¬ 
man family can use which is equivalent in intrinsic value with any 
coin. It is true, gold and silver is of itself a mere commodity. 
There is nothing of value except that which is wrought out by 
labor and which is fitted by human exertion for the uses of the 
human family, to wear, or eat, or drink, or to put to some use. It 
seems to me, Mr. President, that the greatest snare and illusion 
that sensible men ever indulged in is, that mere bits of paper, re¬ 
deemable in nothing, convertible into nothing, that is not of use to 
man, can, for any considerable leugth of time, be regarded as cur¬ 
rent money, or be regarded as possessing value which will give it 
any sort of currency in trade or in commerce. And it seems to 
me that this greenback theory is a sort of mental disease, and it 
would be exceedingly unfortunate for the State, if it should become 
epidemic throughout the State. I am not prepared to say that the 
government should resume specie-pa} 7 ment in 1879, or within per¬ 
haps five years of that period. I am not prepared to say what effect 
it might have upon the business and prosperity of this country, but 
I do think that we should keep steadily in view that we are coming 
back to specie-payment and resumption as soon as it is possible, with¬ 
out creating too great evil in this country, and I should regard in¬ 
flation and an increase of the currency one of the greatest calami¬ 
ties which could befall the people, because every million of dollars 
that is added to the currency in my judgment, would postpone that 
time when the value of the currency circulating among us should 
be really what it represents; a thing of value, real, intrinsic value, 
because it is convertible into some commodity or coin, that we can 
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