I recommend that her Senators and
Representatives be promptly admitted to their seats, and that the State
be fully restored to its place in the family of States. Elections were
called in Mississippi and Texas, to commence on the 30th of November,
1869, and to last two days in Mississippi and four days in Texas. The
elections have taken place, but the result is not known. It is to be
hoped that the acts of the legislatures of these States, when they meet,
will be such as to receive your approval, and thus close the work of
reconstruction.
Among the evils growing out of the rebellion, and not yet referred to,
is that of an irredeemable currency. It is an evil which I hope will
receive your most earnest attention. It is a duty, and one of the
highest duties, of Government to secure to the citizen a medium of
exchange of fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a specie
basis, and no substitute for it can be devised. It should be commenced
now and reached at the earliest practicable moment consistent with a
fair regard to the interests of the debtor class. Immediate resumption,
if practicable, would not be desirable. It would compel the debtor class
to pay, beyond their contracts, the premium on gold at the date of their
purchase, and would bring bankruptcy and ruin to thousands.
Pages:
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65