5 millions of grain ; the Pacific slope its immense treasures of gold and silver. The tide of popu lation would still sweep in in hundreds of thou- eanda, Our industry would still flourish, our people labor, and the country, in all its greatness and its glory still remain. Sir, we have already seen in our own brief history that which will serve as an illustration as to what inay be eeen again upon’ a larger scale. There are two memorable instances on record which are worth more than a passing thought for the splendid lessons that they teach. The western States, led on, by a spirit of enterprise far in advance of the actual development in material wealth and in population, contracted debts for their internal improvements. In a dark financial hour they failed to pay their interest, and their obligations declined from a premium of twenty per cent, down to eighty per «ent below par. The great State of Ohio trembled to her centre at the time for her apprehensions and fears. And powerful Pennsylvania with all her wealth saw her securities sixty per •ent. below par. Some years elapsed before the western States responded. But, sir, they did respond, nobly responded, paid every dollar, and so vindicated the judgment of the pioneers who marked out the system of internal improvements. They vindicated the judgment of the investors in their securities who bought as men now buy the funded debt of the United States on what they see and believe in the future of this country. Hence, I would urge upon the Secretary of the Treasury the great importance of acting with promptitude upon the clear and comprehensive language contained in his report; to borrow in the open money market, and at the market price, every dollar hereafter demanded by the wants of the Government. I would advise a sale of the funded debt to any extent necessary; and I would urge upon this House to exhaust its ingenuity in showing the magnitude of the security offered by the nation, and the gveat and growing power of the Republic, in order to facilitate the Secretary in the most effective manner in all his future negotiations. The States of Indiana and Illinois are worthy of especial mention as affording the evidence of the wonderful recuperation of our people within the State limits. It is within the recollection of many members of -this House, indeed all of them, how the realization of the financial disas ters that broke over those young States of the | West, and swept the sensibilities of both hemispheres. Europe was largely interested in these obligations, and very large amounts of them were held in this country. These Stites were •overed with ignominy and reproach, and they were compelled to endure the base charges of repudiation and bankruptcy. Sir, they were never for one moment bankrupt, nor did they even for one moment falter in the resolution to repair the disasters ol that fearful period by an early liquidation of all their indebtedness. Sir, the example of these States to their brethren of thia country will live in all coming time, and it stands out, and will ever stand out, as the most incontrovertible testimony that the nation o'f which they form-so magnificent, so illustrious and so distinguished a part, will pay every dollar, both principal and interest, be it funded debt or legal tender—every dollar expended to perpetuate the structure of this Government m ail its splendid proportions, in all its graceful outlines. The other instance to which I would refer is the railroad crisis. Railroad stocks and bonds passed in public estimation from a high premium almost to zero. Thirty-three thousand miles had been built, costing $1,300,000 000, or as amount equal to the present national debt; miles of railroad built by the enterprise of our people, and more than all Europe besides. Sir, when the hour came, and these securities were unsalable ; when these corporations did not pay their interest, and when men who held them seemed in despair, what did it accomplish for the system itself? It did not destroy the railways ; it did not diminish traffic; it did not stay the strong arm of the agriculturist; it did n<rt retard the growth of our population. No, sir, the system was bound to live; it belonged to this, the nineteenth century; it was conceived in great foresight and wisdom, and it survived through new economies and the introduction of wiser and more prudent counsels in its management. Who suffered by this remarkable crisis? Not the owners of the property, for they saved their money in the revival of the prices of both bonds and stocks; nor the country, for it remains teeming with prosperity, productiveness, and power, stimulated and strengthened by this gigantic system of internal improvements. “Now, sir, where is the difference between the funded debt of a great community and the funded debt of a smaller community, or the debt and obligations of ineorpor ted companies'! Show me the difference in the character of the calamity that would befall the Government if we should fail to pay interest for a single year, and the calamity that befell the State of Illinois under the like circumstances or the circumstances to which I have referred. The conclusion to be drawn from all this, Mr. Speaker, 1 take to be simply th at the only thing which the country has to fear is the continued depreciation of the $400,000,000 of legal tender, which the people sell at thirty three to forty per cent, discount under the influence of the marvelous fears generated and encouraged by those xyho are utterly ignorant of the power and resources of the nation. To my understanding bII our trouble lies with’the legal tender. It is a matter of no consequence to the people of the country as a nation, as to what the funded debt may sell at in the mutations of the future. The Government has only to look after the interest upon the debt and the principal at its maturity. With the vurreucy, which every man is bound by law to receive for his property, it is another affair. There is no time fixed for its final extinguishment, and our enemies seek to discredit and destroy it both at home and abroad. Peo-
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