Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1844-05-31
BLOOMINGTON, IOWA, FRIDAY, MAY 81, 1914.
From Kendall's Exposition.
HENRY CLAY and THE LABORlNG
MILLIONS.

MILLIONS.
The poor Settler and rufled Bankrupt-the work.
ing foreigners and foreign bankers-black Slaves
and white Slaves-Laborers debased to build up
Lords.
In our No. Z. we have shown tina. in
1888, when the bill to grant presumption
rights to settlers on the Public Lands was
Spder discussion, Henry Clay called those
rlawless rabble' and said they
might ass&ellseize our forts and arsenals,
ships at sea and moneyin !ke Treasury,
characteEising them as ~lkevcs, robbers.
and pirates, if he did not call them so.-
So outraged was his moral sense and law
abiding zeal, that he would have had
regular army employed TO pull down their
log cabins and drive them from their i'm
provements. at the point Of the bayonet.
At that time, there were at least ten
thousand Of these settlers in Iowa alone,
twenty thousand in Wisconsin, Illinois.
and Missouri. and probably ten thousand
more in Indiana. Michigan. and the other
new States, making about forty thousand
men. women, and children. Most Of these
people were very poor but instead Of beg
ging, or stealing, or living by their wits.
they had settled on unoccup;ed lands,
built log cabins, cut off the wood, plough
ed up the soil, enclosed fields, and with
their families were eating their bread in
the sweat Of their faces Moral, indus
'rious and punctual, enterprising. fearless
and faithful, all they had was the improve.
ments they had made with their own
hands, and all they wanted was the privi-
lege Of buying the soil they had improv.
ed, at the Land Office price. Such, with
some exceptions, were the men whom
that beggar on horseback the Mill Boy
of the Slashes,' denounced as thieves and
robbers. worth only of being driven from
their homes with their wives and chill
dren. pennyless and houseless, in drea.
ry wilderness, full of savage beasts and
savage men.
But what said the Mill Boy when
the ruffled bankrupt was in question, who
never put his hand to plough or plane,
type or trowel, awl or anvil: who ate the
bread by others made, raised money by
borrowing or gambling, lost at his game
10 vine out old scores 1uu org,sr
A par. of Mr.. Clay's grand Wing Sys-i
tenn at the Extra Session OF lSll, was
Law TO pay the debts OF these gentry,
and turn them loose TO try their luck at a
new race of speculation, idleness, dissiPa-
ton and luxury, at the expense OF the la
boring millions. The people OF Kentucky
did not like this mode ofpaying debts and
cheating honest men. through their Leg
isla,ure, demanded of their Senators ant
Representative in Congress. a repeal d
that law before it went into operation
What said Mr.. Clay, then one of Their
Senators, on whose vote the repeal de-
| pended! Hear his own words. as report
ed and revised under his own supervision
| in the National Intelligencer and thu
Globe, viz:
| "And when is it that we are called upon e
| retrace our steps. and to subvert the whole
system of beni6cent measures adopted at the
extra Session, by beginning with the repeal o
the Bankrupt law and ending with that of thu
law for the distribution of the proceeds OF thu
public lands Three days only before tn
commencement Of the operation OF the Bank
,nnt law"
"Their condition (the bankruptcy resemble
that of innccen: and unfortunate men. long an
uniusllv incarcerated in the dark walls OF
Jail. It's door is half open; they are rushio
towards it, pale, emaciated and exhausted
{ the LIGHT of heaven has once more beamed uPo
their haggard faces, and once more they oegl
. to breathe the cool and pure and uncontamins
ted atmosphere. At this instant OF time' ~
Senate 10 called upon to drive them back
: their gloomy and loathsome cells, and to Mn
3 back that door upon its grating hinges: Al
: I am invited TO unite in this work OF innoma
!. itv and cruelty! have not the heart to 90
!. | cannot, will not do it,"
Il And he did not do it. aud by his 70
y the law was saved, and thousands OF ho'
4 eat creditors cheated out Of their hone
h dues :, go.
d No, Henry Clay had not the heart
n the hand TO prevent the gentlemen in bro
: cloth. who live without work, the spec
,e lator. the gambler, and the rogue, irc
d paving their debts by bankrupt la
Is but he " ould have driven from their hon
at thousands of men in their hunting shls
=. who work for their living, and never C C
he tract debts which they do not pay! l
he idle bankrupt is an incarcerated innoce
&, the working settler is thief and r
ne Der!
is Such are the predictions and pre-
ences Of she Mill Boy Of the Slashes.
But Henry Clay's preference to.
me lord over the laborer is strikingIy exn
ice ted by another branch Of this subject
ate We have seen him vote thrice against
me tending pre-emption rights TO fore'g,,
~, not na,uralized. He not only voseo
, n.;rat them. but he spoke. On the =