country in the world that sends his money here and invests it upon an honest mortgage, has ever lost a cent; and if he can get 8 or 10 per cent., it is twice as much as he could get in Germany or in any other country of the old world. I want the Senator to confine himself to that case, because I do not want the credit of my country destroyed by representations coming from a Senator so distinguished as the Senator from Missouri is, and so ably and so largely connected as he is in Europe.
Mr. Schurz. The Senator wants me to confine myself to that one case, and I should desire nothing better. Here is a man who asks me, “Can I, at the present moment, send over several hundred thousand dollars to be invested in mortgage securities in the United States, with safety as to the value of my capital, while you have a fluctuating, irredeemable paper money?” That gentleman wants to profit by the rates of interest here prevailing; but above all things he wants to have the value of his capital secured. He will not distrust the mortgage, but he wants to know whether, when the debt falls due, the same number of paper dollars returned to him will be worth in gold as much as they were when he made the loan or mortgage.
Mr. Cameron. The increase of real estate is always equal to any depreciation of the currency.
Mr. Schurz. But, sir, the increase of real estate in value does not increase the amount of the mortgage, as the Senator knows, just as well as every child in the country knows it. [Manifestations of applause in the galleries.]
The Presiding Officer (Mr. Ferry, of Michigan, in the chair). Order!
Mr. Schurz And, therefore, I say so long as the foreign investor cannot be sure that he will have returned to him the same amount of capital, he will not invest. It is useless for gentlemen to close their eyes to this fact.
