Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/176

 Resisting "contraction" of greenbacks, Democrats also opposed redemption of such notes, or any of the nation's debt, in gold. They likewise fought conversion of greenbacks into bonds. Led by George H. Pendleton and sustained by President Johnson, they 'wished to pay bonds and other debt paper in more greenbacks, especially printed for the purpose, then much below par. They also wished to tax government bonds despite a direct pledge of law that they should be tax free. Pendleton was defeated on these issues.

The policy of "repudiation" of the public debt by payment in depreciated currency, instead of in full-value gold, was hotly contested. Mr. Scott insisted that the government should pay its obligations in full in gold both principal and interest for thus only could the government keep faith; that the debt exchanged for notes, would not be paid, because the notes must still be paid; and that the notes could not be made as good as gold coin unless redeemable in gold coin. The young Editor had the satisfaction of seeing advocates of repudiation defeated in 1868-9.

It was no argument to the Editor that large part of the government debt was owing speculators who had bought the claims at discount. Against numerous schemes for scaling down the debt he used the vigor of his pen, with constant appeals to national honor. He cited that the same sophisms were then used against full payment of government obligations as after the Revolutionary War. "The scheme at that time was called 'scaling down the debt, he wrote December 6, 1867, "and though it was pressed with vigor and importunacy, it signally failed. Our fathers refused to sanction any such disreputable plan of virtual repudiation. Cannot the repudiators of today learn honesty as well as wisdom from the fathers of our government?" And again November 18, 1867: "The proposition to pay the national debt in greenbacks is simply a proposition to take away an interest-bearing security from those who purchased in good faith the bonds of the national government, and substitute for it a security that bears no interest. It would be equivalent to the act of a debtor taking