Newspapers / The Daily Review (Wilmington, … / Sept. 14, 1878, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Daily Review (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Daily Review. JOIU. T. JAMES. Ed. and Prop WILMINGTON. JT. C. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER H. 1878 FOR CONGRESS : T3. WADDELL Lor;a EWIH AXOYER. COL. WIDDILL'S 1DDEESS AT WIL- MCCCIOX, ItC 30, ISIS FrLLow-CmzEXS : I have never mora wllllnirlv obeved a call from my constituent than I uo to-nigni; not because I feel especially .pre pared to discuss the question you have asked me to discus, nor yet because of the strong obligations which bind me to respond at all time to your demands, hut because the Umo has arrived in the history at the Democratic Dart v when word of counsel and caution may most flttlnrlv be spoken by those who have been honored by the people with pOHltlonsof trust and respousi- uuuy. i nereis an ex pn-iuii ii . . - hi. f - . X hajs become a proverb in the mouths of our political enemies, and always uttered by them with a confident meer. that the Democratic party when on the very eve of success in variably commit some blunder which defeat it: that it will, when In tight of the promised land, be ure to wander back into the wiiuer nea. The absence of a Mow-s in our nartv is not to Ihj rcxrretted. I think. for many reasons. The Radicals have had exclusive experience with that character, and they are now esurerlv exnectlncr their Moses, who happens, about this time. I Indieve, to be In Kirvnt. to come back to them beforo 1SS0. When the Democratic party needs a Moca it will not le lit to ailminis tr the affairs of this government any moro than those who now long- M t. it 1 . t .. incir await ino arrival oi urain. But whilo tlds Is true, we know that there has lccn some basis for the maxim of our enemies In regard to our failure in past Presidential elec tlons. and we ought to profit by-ex perience. for that is what it is given to ua for, in politics, as iu everything els. 1 aay in past l'resiueuuai elec tion, because, althouzii me next one does not occur for two years yet, the real struggle is Immediately be fore us. The ltadlcals have no nope whatever of electing their candidate for the Presidency by the Electoral College, and they know perfectly I well that they will not be allowed .!. .1 .. ...Ill ..... 1 . .1 .,.., I to count In a defeated candidate again aa they did Mr. Hayes; but they are bending all their energies to get control of the next House of Representative. In the expectation - that there will be three or four can didates for President, and that the House of Representatives will have to elect as provided by the Constitu tion. Therefore, they are now at work in every Congressional District where the Democratic majority Is small enough to justify them in hoping, by creating a split In the party, to defeat the regular Deuio cratfc nominee, ami they will spend large amounts of inone3 send out their lst speakers, ami nso every means in jheir power to accomplish their purpose. That is really the meaning of t hone who came out here and started the Greenback party in North Carolina. They are only using a popular idea, which ha- long been advocated by Democrat, as a means of disorganizing the Democratic Jiarty anu defeating its candidates or Cngresei. These Radical mis sionaries having helied to steal every thing else, including the Presidency of the United States, h'ave llnally turned around and tried to steal the Democratic uniform in order that they may pass the sentinels and be tray the Democratic camp. If you want proof of this look around and see who it is iu each District that has undertaken to or ganize Greenback clubs, and who the Independent Greenback candi dates are. In nearly every case you will find them to be disappointed and. dissatisfied Radicals. 2Sow, bear In pilnd that I am attacking no man for being la favor of greenbacks, for I am In favor of greenbacks myself; but. I am attacking those Radical neaks who, having been foiled, ex- poMd and beaten in every fair con teat before the people, now come out dlsgulsea in stolen livery to aceom pliah their sinister purpose; and intend to continue attacking them as the exponents of a party that has committed every crime against lib erty, and after oppressing and plun dering the tjtx -payers of the country for years, now Impudently come forward as the champions of the la boring man, only in order that they may, by using the laitonng man. grasp again the reins of power and perpetuate their crimes. I speak warmly because I have a memory which will not permit me to forget th career of that party which, for th.s first time in the history of this country, has openly, continuously ana denantly trampled upon the Plainest nrindnles of the Constitu tion, and mocked at the calamities of the people. I have no quarrel with any of my feuow-ciuiens who honestly aud sincerely believe that they can best subserve tne nubile interests bv ioin ins a political party, based upon this one ides of greenbacks, however mistaken I may consider them to be. bat I have a spirit of hostility against the Radicalism that has so long dis graced and amicted this country which will live until my heart ceases to beat, or until my faculties shall utterly fail; and it is this spirit which moves me to speak now against the new and insidious form iu which this Radicalism is seeking to dis guise Itself in order that it may con tinue to afflict the people. It is very easy to say soft words, but it is better still to be honest anuVcaudid. Now, fellow-citizens, youiuvited ms to speak to-night, and I was proud to see the Invitation signed by men vf ail professions and trades in the city, about the financial question, la It 14 railed . nrst aim luremusi. Whvtlitl vou this? You did it be ranisi. thin . notion lias been forced Uon your attention uisagrt-vuuij u . the organization ff the Greenback nartv in certain Darts of the State, . - ! 11.. I .. ami K-ustf there is u feelinir of un irifs4 :it the tiiDSpect of a third nartv in our politics.! I tell you. very ' -c z . - that the disgraceful management of mini a a v - - - !ti man w in rniilil liOL KPe the national finances for years past. culminatinir in the na-ssace of itlie act demonetizing silver, and .the' act forcing the resumption of specie pay ments, would lnevitablyj produce trouble and organized resistance, must have been blind indeed. There fore, I sav. me organization uoe.s noi surprise me. It does not rrignten me at an, be cause l nave Jong been in lavor oi the cardinal principle advocated by it, and because I am satisfied that no well informed Democrat will aban don his own party in order to help the IladicaU carry an election on this Issue. When the candidates of his own party are as much in favor of it as he himself is. tft would bo hust reasonable to expect Demo- I . - . rcrats to abandon thcin party ana unito with Radicals on tl question of free trade, which has always been a Democratic doctrine. I And now. mv friends, what has been the financial history of the coudtry for the last fifteen j-ears which has caused the present distress, the outcry from the masses of the people and the organization oi a ureenback party? I do not wish to weary you, but as I i have been re quested to speak particularly uion tfic financial miestiou. and as it is ono or the nuestions whicn the masses of the eoplo have not thor oughly understood, it will be neces sary to go back to the beginning nmi ri-iMt I.-urls wliieli 1i:lvi out' been familiar to those who do un derstand the situation. ' i i- i ii. I ueii me war un uui ju mis country there were hree kimls of money in circulatio i gold, silver and .State bank notesJ Immediately uiou the opening of hostilities the gold and silver disappeared, and the bnk notes became dejreciated, but (except when banks failed) were gradually redeemed, the govern ment found itself in a great strait to raise the funds necessary to carry on the war, and got! Congress to pass an act authorizing the fcecretary of the Treasury to issue U. 8. notes (com monly called greenbacks), which notes were declared to be lawful money, and receivable; for all dues, ruLlic and private, excent Customs .'. . ... duties and interest on the public debt. Subsequently the act to es tablish . the National ' Ranks was passed, whereby a tax of 10 per cent. was imposed on the issue of all State banks thus wiping" out the State banks; and authority was given to . i -v-.ii i i r . i. uie aiionai oariKS io issue notes.io the extent of niue dollars out of every ten they deposited In the Treasury in the form of TJ. S. bonds beanug t per cent, interest. 1 he government then began to issue its bonds in very large amounts, which bonds were declared to tie payable ,in lawful money," and therefore, ot course, payable in greenbacks the greenbacks having been issued as "lawful irioneY' bv act of Congress previously. In, this way tbe pub lic debt swelled to an amount not far from $2, 1)o0,0O0,m0 in JSI5, and of course all that part nf it iut declared to be payable incoin was payable i i greenbacks or "law- fill monpy." Uut a ring wa f itmi-d, composed of the bondholder, many of whom had bought the bonds at forty cents on the dollar and ftartcd National , Hanks, the object being to pass au act of Congress to strengthen the public credit,'' or, in other words, to maite the bonds which they held and which were payable 'i'n lawful money," (or greenbacks.) payable in gold. They began (this game in 1SC5, and alter working for some years, and af ter trying to impeach Andrew Johnson for refusiug to help them, (for that was tbe real cause of that proceeding,) they helped to elect Gen. Grant President, go the law -'to strengthen the public credit" paused turougn Congress in 18C9, it be ing a Radical Congress in both branches, and Gen. Grant signal it ai the first law signed by him." In order to accomplish their purpose. these bankers and bondholders kept up the fires of sectional feclin2. and obscured their designs behind the calamities of the poor colored man, the kuklux and similar devices, ami while the people were thus being beguiled, these bankers and bond holders managed to make their bonds jump from forty cents (the price they gave) to ono hundred cents on tho dollar in gold, and thereby instead of reducing me puono ueot as tney pretended, ac tually i u creased it several hundred mil lions of dollars. This thing weut on though there was a continual protest against it until the people began to realize the situ ation. and in 1873, when the panic occur red, members of Congress were compelled to take no ice of it, and it occupied a large part ! the attention of Congress in tne winter of that year. Congress then passed an Act which was intended to relieve the people, but Grant vetoed it. In 1874 the Democrats carried the Congressional elections, and as the 43d Congress would expire ia three months and it was the last chance the bankers and bondholders h.J, their agent, John Sherman, who is now Secretary , of the Treasury, ani was then Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate,fixed np the Resumption Act whichwa3 passed the 14th of January! 1875,' (and against which I with my colleagues voted) re quiring the resumption of specks payments oa tbe first of January, 1849. The de monetization of silver had been fraudu lently slipped through Congress in 187G. and now tne people began to realize that rain stared them iu Iha face. Conse quently there was an immediate outcry against this system of legislation ia favor of banks and bondholders, and a general demand for the repeal of the Resumption Act. This fight has been kept up ever since, ana a most, earnest iruggie was made, during the last Congress, to repeal that act, but ia vain I Tne Republican 1 Senate defeated the action of the Demo cratic House, and the bill to repeal the Resumption Act failed. The issue low has been practically re-dui-til to a fight between the National lunks, repxesanUag privileged capital, and the great ooay oi the people. In order that this Issue raa-tj fairly understood let us s?q wnat too national banks are r .i I . .J o,v--' nanks, a i navo said, were wiped out be cause a tax of ten per cent, was imposed on thero circulation, and specie having disappeared, there were, therefore, left but twa kinds of paper enrrencv. viz: greenback (or Treasury notes) and Nat lonal bank notes. 1 here is no necessity for both kinds of paper money, and one must be witnorawn. Which ought it to be7 unquestionably the Nation ai banK no:es, icr the following rea sons : ' i In the nrst place these banks enjoy privileges which no other corporations and no other individuals enjoy, whereby thev make millions of dollars out of the people. They are the onlv people or in- stitutions that 1 evsr naard of who, instead of paying interest on their debts, actually receive interest on their debts. 1 oil may have forgotten how they are established, and how they work. Let me remind you. A number of persons aesinng toestab lish a National bank got together, buy 100.000 worth of United States 'bonds, bearing C per cent, interest in gold, 'take or send send them to the United States! Treasury, and deposit them there: where- upon they are allowed to issue $90,000 their own notes and out them in circula- tioa. These notes or promises to pay, issued to the neonle. aro of course like an individual note, the debt of the party is- suing them, and if any interest is involv- ed in the transaction of loaning them out, itouht to be due from the bank issuing them, but instead of this the bank is ai lowed to loan its notes as money to the people and charge interest on them. You know what rates have prevailed out. in this part of the country, and itherefore what profits the banks have been making. There are 2,000 of these banks, in the country and their circulation is $322,- 000 000. rutting the average interest on these t.t?s at 7 per cent, there will be over sinr.UUU.UUO wmcniney receive iiom tha r..t.t. nr. thnir nivn debt.' besides the r, npr cput interest thev receive on their per I'mtud Sutis Inrnds. deposited in the i . . Treasury as security for circulation This twenty odd millions of dollars is n.iid hv the tieotde for the privilege of l -j f x usinti National bauk notes, and these banks enjoy this-exclusive monopoly of issuing paper money. It is an unjust and outrageous monopoly and imposes a most oneroasand oppressive burthen upon the people. isow a greenback is certainly as goou as a National bank note, for while the Na tional bank note is only guaranteed by the Government, the greenback is issued di rectly by it. In other words, the green-. back is the Government's own note, while the National bank note is a note on which the Government is security. By issuing greenbacks in the place of National bank notes and withdrawing the latter from cir culation the people would escape the enor- mous tax tney now nave io pay. xne creenback of course bears no interest, and therefore the people, however a greenback is used to pay the expenses of the govern ment, save the interest on a bond to that amount. The amount of greenbacks now in circulation is about $J)47,000,t(H), ami therefore there is i nw saved thi interest on that amount, which, a'. 5 p.-r cent (which is theayera:; ; r ite) would b. atnut $17,000,000. NW, if in addition U this the $022,000,000 of National l:tnk notes shall be withdrawn and greenbacks sub stituted for them, there will be a saving at ihe saniM ratu of about $10,000,000, or alKut $:o,00u,0u0 in all saved by using greenbacks instead of National bank nots. There are several other reasons why the National hank circulation ought to-be abolished, and of course the National banks also. TJin shareholders ot these banks, fellow-citizens, have influenced the legislation of Congress, and will do it again whenever their interest requires it. - I don't . know that they aro auy moro criminal ior . uoir so, man auy other comuinauon oi capuai ists who seek to shape legislation, but they possess a verv dangerous power ot which they ought to be sliorn. I There are, 2,000 National banks, all having one common moneyed interest, and controlling a capita of $500,000 000. To pappose that they will be or have been powerless' iu directing tho financial policy of the Government would be little less than idiotic. 1 here , is always a large proportion of the members of Congress, who are directors ana - stock holders of these banks, and they could hardly be expected to be hostile to them. Now, let me read to you what 1 had to say ou this subject three years ago. I do so, not only to prove that I am not taking any new ground, aud that tins is an old and familiar subject to me, tut also ' to show that just what I anticipated and pre dicted has actually come, to pass. On the ISth of N'ovember, 1675, 1 delivered the address before the Cumberland County Agricultural Society at Fayetteville, and the larger portion of it was de voted to this subject, in the course o that address, I used the following lan- gua:e : 1 shall now attempt briefly to justify my assertion, by arraying some tacts and statistics to which I invite your attention. Iftheyarenot new to you, they are at least true, and are worth careful consider ation by the tax payers of the country Intoxicated by the results of the war. and reveling in the abundance of all material comfortsthe government and people of tho Northern States acted as If they had an eternity of uninterrupted prosperity betoro them. Tney owed aa enormous national debt, most of which was bearing lation as currency, paper money amounting to nearly one thou sand million of - dollars; which for all domestic purposes was as good as gold, and was, in fact, the only money of any kind in circulation, tney "waxed fat, and began at once,' regardless of the fact that the whole South was . prostrate and ruined, to anticipate the payment of the nublic deot.'not by providing for it when it fell due but by paying it in ad vance. The current expenses of the gov ernment were Immense, but to pay off one hundred millions of the publicdebt not then due; and, as if to establish be yond any doubt that everybody was cra zy, the Government, at the same time that it was thus taxing the people to pay debts which they did note we, commenced to contracthftcurrenciwith which the people pal them.! In this way more than five lindral miTlinnk nf the nnblie debt has teen paid, exdrLsivejof interest, has i i.auv wuuuer iuai wc uiiu m a m - I tne panic m 1873. and that it still con- I tinues, and may grow worse ? ' ma as all this was, it still might have been only an honest mistake iu manag ing the nuances, but tbef e was on act of Congress for which no such plea can be set up; that was the act of 18G9 La re gard to the o. 20 -bonds. By that act: Congress, at the instigation V the bond-; holders, violated the contract betweeu! them and the 'Government, mid shame fully wronged the peop!t.: Thu story -is familiar to many wlur-. have watched the financial legislation u- Cougreas. but the masses of the iooplo, particularly in the South, are not informed on the subject, although I recently tried to enlighten my I constituents on the stump about it. o..n" . .... . - a. i i. . i OU1UUC lb K) MY 1IOW lllll UiUM OOIUIS were issued during the.war, were bought with greenbacks when greenbacks" verj worth about GO cents on the dollar, ami -. -k . , i were payable iu greenbacks. 1 hat wag - 1 the contract which the people made with those who bought them. But iu 18C0 I nearly soveu vears after they were issued I and solu, the holder.- -t them gtjCou gre.s to pas a law di.-etiug them jto be paid in gold, dollar fur dollar t their oil lace vaiue, the Hiterest being also pay I able in "old, as all the interest on tha public debt is and thus the tax-payers of the country will have to pay millious oi money to the Donu-nouiers wmcn tuey never agreed to pay. This is- a part of the legislation to which 1 referred, as making the rich richer and the poor poorer ajl the time, by fostering a moneyed monopoly at the expense of tbo laboring classes. These same bond-holders were the men who got up the natioual bank system, which 1 regard as not only a vuryj- t uuiust one. but a most uau-rerous one to the interests of a? the American people, rorty years ago tne oui U. o. uauK wast suppressed by Jackson and his party as a huge monop oly which threatened the liberties of the people. Now. do you recollect what the peculiar features of that institution were, i- . . -.. and how guarded it was believed to be ? In the first place, it could establish only one branch in each btate;, its wnole capi tal was limited to $35,000,000, and the people owned only one-fifth of it; no foreign stockholder could vote for a rector: it was obliged to have in its vaults One gold dollar for every three paper dollars it put into circulation; and each branch of the bank was obliged to redeem the notes of every other branch in coin, which made the notes "good" everywhere throughout the country. This institution was destroyed, as 1 have lust said, as a terrible and dangerous monopoly. Now, how is it with the national banks ? There are more than two thousand of them in the country, with a capital of $500,000,000, not a dollar of which is gold or silver, but all of which is gov ernment bonds. They have the exclusive privilege of circulating bank notes in the United States, and the law does no pre vent foreigners livmc m other countries from holding stock and electing their own directors.1 The notes of these banks are not redeemable in coin. Practically they can charge any rate of interest, regardless of State usury laws, for the only penalty is ii forteiture of the interest under the national bank act, as was recently decided by the Supreme Court of the United btates. '1 hey draw six per cent gold in terest on the bonds which constitute their capital, and then loan out the notes which tno jrovernment lurnishes to mem, at heavy'" interest, thus i receiving interest not only on their credits but also on their i . . t . : t :: ti r t the men - who had nought, o-zus wun jrreenbacks at CO ceuts on the dollar, and then established national banks with the bonds, should have realized such enor mous profits some of them did. Dur- ihe one year in Philadelphia the dividends actually vaid bv national banks ranged from 63 td 213 jer cent b? Not only ou domestic but sour foreign . bond-holders are interested in the national banks, and they had to represent them 'in the last Congress1 of the: United-. States eighty stockholders and directors. If the -old U. S. BaaK with all its restrictions xwas an institution dangerous to American liberty, what shall we say of this Now, along with this payment of the debt before it was due, and this contrac tion of the circulating medium, and con centration of power in the national banks (or bond holders), a great cry has been raised about the "preservation of th nat.onal credit" and the "national honor' not by the men who fought to establish them, and who were paid for their ser vices in what is called "irredeemable rags, but by the same bond-holders wh6 have profited by all the financial legislation; and, in compliance with the clamor thus raised, the last Congress passed an act nrovidinff for the resumption the resumption of specie payments on the 1st of January, 1870. whereby the Secretary of the Treasury is I directed ? to immediately redeem SS2.000,- 000 of tho greenback currency, and from and after January 1st, 1879, to redeem j the balance ($300,000,000) of that cur- reacy. That act cannot be enforced without producing universal ruin, and conse-J quently its passage created, as might i have been expected, an indignant protest J everywhere throughout the country," ex cept in localities where capital is con- ing of an issue which the so-called n'bard money' men have misrepresented and be clouded in every conceivable way. It is very unfortunate that it should have been made a party question, as it was m some parts of the country; it is pre-eminently a jioiitical question, and ultimately par ties may be formed upon it, but it was un- wise at this juncture toTmako it a test of party fealty. Those who oppose the nolicV' of -xnh' acting ' the - currency" are denounced as inflationists and repudiatois of tbo public aith, while those who favor it claim for themselves, exclusively the title oi nam money men.-; mis is neitner right nor honest Every reasonable man desires to see a sound currency, based upon a certain ana permanent policy. -r o nrr nin anil T-iir a r At r 7 " established in the country. There are'ab solutely no repudiatorsand none who wish to see the country fl.Mided' with irre deemable paper currency; H And I concluded wh'atjl had to say on this subject; in these j words: . The only salvation that I can see for the people is to reverse the financial engine.and instead of multiplying 'nation al baikp, and withdrawing the green back jcirculatiou as: proposed, to abolish the national bank system, and make green backs a legal tender for all debts, includ ing custom duties. The only necessity that exists for gold is that which,.- re quires the government to-pay interest jon its bonds, and sold, for this purpose--can be purchased in open market, by the government just astit is by individuals. Of course t he go!d-amblers would object to this, but this government was not established for their especial beuefit, nor do the people intend to pay tribute to th?m, if they can help it. I The debt of the United States ..ur.82,200. P00,000of which over coio. $1,758,000,000, Tfie National loudcd debt. bear interest in Banks are 'based upon thi and of course it is to their interest that the debt shall continue, but it is not for the best interests .of the people. For these reasons, among others, 1 think they ouynt to ue aooiisneUj auu that green backs ought to be substituted fr their notes to their full amount. The j paper money now in active circulation docs not exceed 070,000,000, and that is pot too much; for the nces of business, if enought Neither I nor any pther man cau tell exactly how much m'aneyjs required in the caudtry, but we all know that wo havenJt got too much in circulation. Therefore the further contraction ot the currency is a crime against s jciety which is opposed by !all except the 'money eh tigers and bondholders - Fellow-citizens, the leaders of the liadi cal.pirty for years past have legislated in favor of that class of people, and against the' masses. They are responsible for the present distress of the country; they per petuated the 1 5 20 boad swindle; they changed the contract so as to make these bonds payable in. gold.. when the law of their creation mado them payable in green backs; they demonetized silver; they con tracted the enrrency; they, faror the re tirement of greenbacks instead of nation al bank notes, they passed the act forcing the resumption of specie payments next i January, and they refused persistently last winter to repeal this bad legislation, although the Democratic House of Rep resentatives insisted on it and the people demanded it. lou have them to thank for tne evils that now afllict you, as' you have had to thank them all these weary years for your; sorrow and misery. And now their missionaries have, the audacity to come among you denonnping the very legislation for which they are responsible and which has caused such j distress throughout tbe country,ahd inviting.you, ! Democrats, to abandon that party by which alone you to-day enjoy the rights and liberties left to you, and to unite with them-lwith them, the authors of all this j evil in order that the Radical party may again get into power and continue their ruinous rule. And the black, mau is again to bo beguiled with a now version of the "forty acres and a mule" story, by being made to balieve that he will get a basket full of reeubacks if ho will join the new party ! If it wasn't so serious to the tax I payers of tljo country it would be very ridiculous. what, 1 askr is auy Democrat to ram by abandoning bis own party, and help iug the Radicals to a new lease of power? Tho Democratic party iu this State aud throughout the entire South are now, and have been foryears, in favor of making greenbacks a legal tender, not only for all debts, but for Customs duties as (well they are in favor of substituting tliem for National Bank notes and wiping out the national LauKs tney nave always op r . IT i . l . i posed a contraction of" the currency. In a word,; they favor an adjustment of the debt anCl currency upon a stable and hon est basis which will be just alike to all I classes of the people. It this is so. and the record oi the Democratic liepresenta- tives proves that it is, why should any Democrat leave the party on the green back question, especially when he musi know that the only effect of i his conduat i Will be to weaken it to the extent of his vote, and to help the Radicals to tbe same extent? Mark this, fellow citizens, lou don't hear the Radicals complain pt any of their party for working at their new game. V hy? because they are getting all the benefit of it. ,So far as t am individually ..concerned no man can truthfully say that I am mak- ing any new departure on the financial question, nor can any one trutniuuy say that I have taken the key note sounded . 1 f I t by Judge Thurman in his clear and able speech delivered at Hamilton, Ohio, ou the 13th of this month, Irecause, as is known tn man v nf vnn and as I h.va showed by the extract I read just now j from my speech at rayettevilie three years azo. the views expressed m tbe Ohio nlat-1 form have been discussed bv mo lone am t u . ,i ; u j I have also been frequently voted for by me in Congress. And now I shall take leave Uu mo stuiuw auu in ucnguaycii. ttUU I of this subject, with the remark that here afur, so Icag-as I remain a representative, 1 shall, as heretofore, vote for what I be lieve to be the best interests of the whole public, without the least prejudice against capital or any other interest. I pity the ignorance oi tne man who supposes that tbe success ol the greenback party would start a mill at Washington to print money for free distribution among the people. Every Eensible man knows that' whether greenbacks shall be issued in larger quantities or not, they are cot going to be given away, and that for every dollar a man gets he will have to give something in Han"rp thr I Virr ' nr tht nrrv1nt I ut utuur. auu ndui, uj aiao, luab 1 1 have no sympathy with that communistic spirit which is trying to-get a hold iu the politics of this country, and which, if successful, would bverthrow'societyj ' and inaugurate a reign of , terror arid, blood shed, end'mgin the total wreck and Jriiin of our government. I want to see an honest payment of f the public debt s ac- cording to the contract tnd a 7 quantity of honest money in -'Q C81 to transact all the business of C,rC9 l' I I .-1 . . vyuipk uu x uuu b warn io see either i & v' tinuanceofthe favoritism exlindafl" the money power oa the one hand P wild inflatioa of thecurrency on tU,'ot& I stand midway between a moneved; tocracy and such pestilent dema0u ' shall have the same rights accorded ? every American citizen and no more "Ti protection to life, liberty and proiert with all the privileges guiranteid bt?' , .. . ' 7 "" fcO aco. V.. "to say that both parses art alike on t$ financial qu tion, and that therefore tK-f is no caoice between them. That it I iv cunning ass- Ttion of the Radical envy ries who ari trying to beat the DeroJ cratic party; but the man who! txyt th; is either ignorant of the facts Jr i know ingly telling a falaehood I 'know terr well that there hare been . and aro a til Democrats who have voted against mQ. backs, but what is the record? Iu jsg. when the bill to charte the national banks was offered, there were jonlj ij Democratic votes in each House iu, (irT of it. In 1864, when a supplemenui was offered, not one Democrat in either uouse votea ior u.wneo thebill to m Government bonds and securities 11J i,r these banks" was under consideratioct-r Democarl voted for it. In July, when John Sherman tried to i incrraJ'tht National Bank circulation at! thwi-xleLM of the greenback circulation there ere ouf four Democratic votes for it: iu June if the same year, Randall offered to LuUij. tute 800,000,000 in greenbacks! 'Mrftira Xational Bank notes and only five lem crats voted against it. - I On the same day Gen. Morgan of Ohio, offered a bill to repeal the Natlou; I hiui Act and providing for the issue of $400,. 000,000 greenbacks receivable! m Ugji tender for everything and to ' upcriev) National Bank notes, and only niue Dsai ocrat voted against it. In January, 1871, McXeely tried the same thing, and tbera were only- two Democratic votes. I In io the Rational democratic platform demanded the payment of the o.2d loDdi in greenbacks, and when tbo outr.zeou bill making them payable in l'oIJwu passed in I860 thero was only one Dam. ocratic oeuator, and tnree iKmocratic votes in the House iu its favor. ! Ju 1874 when the Resumption Act was up-trot single Democrat voted for it, wlitlo every Radical Senator, except three, aud ererj Radical member of the House 1 except twenty-four voted for it. j I I On the bill to remonetize 'silver then were but twenty-two Democrats' in tbe House and nine in the Senate who voted to sustainj Hayes' Veto, and on the Ust vote on repealing the Resumption Act there were the same twenty-two aud do moro,, out of . one hundred and fifty six Democratic members of tbe ' i louse of Representatives, and ten Senators. This concludes what I have to sav oa the financial question this evening, al though it is a subject about which any well informed person might talk Lr hours. There are a good many other topic which I would like to discuss, aud which ought to be discussed, in order to ro fresh your memories, and to present be fore you tho true situation of anir; but 1 don't know that I will be "able, ins reasonable length of time, to do-more than merely touch upon them. ' j One of these topics it is imponibla to approach without an overpowering sen sation of - disgust and indignation.! I moan the last Presidential election. ' It will alvVavs be a source of comfort io on that, although betrayed by false repre sentations into voting for the creation of the Electoral Commission, I was one of those who resisted its infamous and cor rupt decisions to the bitter end. I wai a "Gllibuster," and I glory iu it, bectow it was an attempt on my part to defood the American people from the greatftit crime ever perpetrated against their gof er n men t. In regard to tho1 history , of that amazing transaction I wjll merel . read you a few sentences written i by in ohl-fashioned, original abolitionist He pub lican, George W. Julian, of IndifctJa. -In a scathing article in the North American Jieview for last April, oa fTbe Deatb' Struggle of tho I Republican Party' says : f ' j . J o o ; ". The whole business is siekeuiDg soi . humiliating to every honest man- in tno country, and it would be. a cVime . in tb? American people ever to Jorget or furgiw it. It cannot be repeated, and those wjw perpetrated tho criine ought to remain forever damned in tbe estimation of lb civilized world! , , 1 ; Turning faot ti some of the question affecting tbs ; msterisl intaresUof tM country, and which of course are direT affected by the financial question; W tne ask your attention briefly to those is, aiosi ueepiy in teres tea. - r,. And let me say at tbe outset that I not one of those who, after all our bitter ". 1 1 experience, still Lug the puauu" State-Rights to their bosoms and dae sftff the resolutions of-Va I recognize, n1"' lensible man oueht . to do, accomi" fact. Why, the very thing I hie talklnc about. OTOAnhark: Wirt decurea ci -w o , - were f bU PC UlllXU9LUUI.iOUU, UUfa MJ acceptable money we have ever had In car- mention were also declared to be noconsu tudonal, bat they were done, and are recognized as esUblished preeeoew In pur legislation.' Donations of th11 lie? ;ands, ami loans of the pufclif fJ iq money or4 bonds commonly caboa sidles, were denounced as entirely dAnauxKed as snUreiF 7vr tfla tAIl nf Pitnmu.A ... Tlf , bUt sharp Yankees managed te fthle scruples on the subject,and to teoop o the Trearary manyiinilliotJS of Holly J tbe public money, and many nii"oi acres of the public lands for these wherever it would benefit their fuZ lha country, and langbed at the Cocsu ttn.&lipJrlAn fmm tK j4nntli.whe deCUl tUfi it iolrlara mm Ik. luwth 'vhe ut So i.ucit uu inkth ut ujo . pal fJA M HUWCUM wrXUWi- - .v. . way the Northern part; ol T j Union, bit received about 2 miUions of , Uan.ty from the melit, and tbe SotitLern States about teen millions. Tbe consequence i "J . - r i. : vatit: in .... r m mm mw tbey grew marvelously In ProflPe,u',jT are rich and ; populous, while ws lagjed In the race, and although U f ' -....'
The Daily Review (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 14, 1878, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75