The currency, being of fluctuating value, and therefore
unsafe to hold for legitimate transactions requiring money, became a
subject of speculation within itself. These two causes, however, have
involved us in a foreign indebtedness, contracted in good faith by
borrower and lender, which should be paid in coin, and according to the
bond agreed upon when the debt was contracted--gold or its equivalent.
The good faith of the Government can not be violated toward creditors
without national disgrace. But our commerce should be encouraged;
American shipbuilding and carrying capacity increased; foreign markets
sought for products of the soil and manufactories, to the end that
we may be able to pay these debts. Where a new market can be created
for the sale of our products, either of the soil, the mine, or the
manufactory, a new means is discovered of utilizing our idle capital and
labor to the advantage of the whole people. But, in my judgment, the
first step toward accomplishing this object is to secure a currency of
fixed, stable value; a currency good wherever civilization reigns; one
which, if it becomes superabundant with one people, will find a market
with some other; a currency which has as its basis the labor necessary
to produce it, which will give to it its value.
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