after repealed
and the greenbacks retained in circulation. I was not in favor of
the contraction of the greenbacks, and the very speech that she
quotes, in which I described the effects of contraction and the
difficulty of resuming, was made against the bill providing for
the reduction of the greenbacks.

"The next 'conspiracy' to which she refers was the first act of
General Grant's administration 'to strengthen the public credit.'
A controversy had existed whether the 5-20 bonds could be paid in
greenbacks. I maintained and still believe that by a fair construction
of the loan laws we had a right to pay the principal of the bonds
as they matured in greenbacks of the kind and character in existence
when the bonds were issued, but I insisted that it was the duty of
the government to define a time when the greenbacks should be either
redeemed or maintained at par in coin, that this was a plain
obligation of honor and duty which rested upon the United States,
and that it was not honorable or right to avail ourselves of our
own negligence in restoring these notes to the specie standard in
order to pay the bonds in the depreciated money. This idea is
embodied in the credit-strengthening act.

"The fifth 'conspiracy' of what she calls 'this infernal scheme'
was the refunding of the national debt. This operation of refunding
is regarded by all intelligent statesmen as of the highest value,
and was conducted with remarkable success. At the date of the
passage of the refunding act, July 14, 1870, we had outstanding
bonds bearing five and six per cent. interest for about $1,500,000,000.
By the wise providence of Congress, we had reserved the right of
redeeming a portion of this debt within five years, and a portion
of it within ten years, so that the debt was, in the main, then
redeemable at our pleasure. It was not possible to pay it in coin
and it was not honorable to pay it in greenbacks, especially as
that could only have been done by issuing new greenbacks far beyond
the volume existing during the war, and which would at once depreciate
in value and destroy the public credit and dishonor the country.
We, therefore, authorized the exchange, par for par, of bonds
bearing four, four and a half, and five per cent. interest for the
bonds bearing a higher rate of interest. The only contest in
Congress upon the subject was whether the new bonds should run
five, ten and fifteen years, or ten, fifteen and thirty years. I