The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12): Dresden Edition—InterviewsIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Interviews
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
Of course, I have no idea who will be the Democratic candidate,
but I suppose the South will be solid for the Democratic nominee,
unless the financial question divides that section of the country.
_Question_. With a solid South do you not think the Democratic
nominee will stand a good chance?
_Answer_. Certainly, he will stand the best chance if the Democracy
is right on the financial question; if it will cling to its old
idea of hard money, he will. If the Democrats will recognize that
the issues of the war are settled, then I think that party has the
best chance.
_Question_. But if it clings to soft money?
_Answer_. Then I think it will be beaten, if by soft money it
means the payment of one promise with another.
_Question_. You consider Greenbackers inflationists, do you not?
_Answer_. I suppose the Greenbackers to be the party of inflation.
I am in favor of inflation produced by industry. I am in favor of
the country being inflated with corn, with wheat, good houses,
books, pictures, and plenty of labor for everybody. I am in favor
of being inflated with gold and silver, but I do not believe in
the inflation of promise, expectation and speculation. I sympathize
with every man who is willing to work and cannot get it, and I
sympathize to that degree that I would like to see the fortunate
and prosperous taxed to support his unfortunate brother until labor
could be found.
The Greenback party seems to think credit is just as good as gold.
While the credit lasts this is so; but the trouble is, whenever it
is ascertained that the gold is gone or cannot be produced the
credit takes wings. The bill of a perfectly solvent bank may
circulate for years. Now, because nobody demands the gold on that
bill it doesn't follow that the bill would be just as good without
any gold behind it. The idea that you can have the gold whenever
you present the bill gives it its value. To illustrate: A poor
man buys soup tickets. He is not hungry at the time of purchase,
and will not be for some hours. During those hours the Greenback
gentlemen argue that there is no use of keeping any soup on hand
with which to redeem these tickets, and from this they further
argue that if they can be good for a few hours without soup, why
not forever? And they would be, only the holder gets hungry.
Until he is hungry, of course, he does not care whether any soup
is on hand or not, but when he presents his ticket he wants his
soup, and the idea that he can have the soup when he does present
the ticket gives it its value. And so I regard bank notes, without
gold and silver, as of the same value as tickets without soup.
--_The Post_, Washington, D. C., 1878.
THE PRE-MILLENNIAL CONFERENCE.
_Question_. What do you think of the Pre-Millennial Conference
that was held in New York City recently?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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