Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-01-05
REN7oN ON THE CURRENCY.


Der currency, as reported in the St. Lou.
S Union:
The ex-senator dwelt largely upon
Bogus paper money. He said they had
ali heard Of Bogus pewter money, made
of tin and pewter, and whtened with
silver: it was very bad; but Bogus paper
money was worse than the pewter. II,
dccomposcd, and separated into its con.
stituent parts, the pewter dollar might
have still some value; the tin part,
where q man got a handful Of them,
might make q tin cup; and the pewter
part, in the like case, might make pew
ter spoon; and so have some Value
But the Bogus paper admitted ofno such
utility in its decomposition; for its scPar'
alton Of parts would show it to be COM
posed of nothing but lamp black and
rags, fit for nothing. 1t was worse than
Cairo, because it was SO far from home;
and worse than morus multicaulis, once
as much praised as Bogus money, and
then as worthless, but not quite, as the
cows could cat the leaves Of the morus,
but neither man nor beast could cat or
use the lamp black and rags Of which
the Bogus paper money was made.
He had understood that two Of the
largest property holders in St. Louis,
{ Colonel Brant and Col. O'Fallon,) re.
fused to touch this vagabond trash.
which like real vagrants showed from
parish to parish was now showered up.
on the people in Missouri. lfso, i: was
noble conduct on their part, and gave
an example which every farmer and la.
borer should follow. There was law
against it now; but the legislature
should make a new one; and in the
mean time every citizen should make a
law for himself, not to touch it.
The ex-senator gave description of
Bogus paper money, of which he said,
the quantity was now becoming alarm
ingly greatin the country, and of which
the catastrophe was soon to be dreaded.
1t was manufactured in Connecticut,
New York, and Other far distant places,
and imported into Missouri for distribu.
ton among the laboring people; and
some oft was manufactured a: St. Louis,
but made payable thousand miles off.
1t was all small-one dollar and up.
wards, but not far upwardsAand all in.
tended for the laborers and market peo-
pie. Ofcourse it was all cheat, and
intended to be worn out and lost in the
hands of the poor people. He said it
was the duty of all public men, and Of
all the newspapers, to sound the alarm,
and put the country on its guard against
the impending dangers; but he said the
Wings were in favor of paper money,
and the Antics also, at loost all that part
of them which were "softs" in the time
of Cairo and other Illinois notes. Oh
the newspapers most Of them were si-
lent, but there was one which "cricd a.
loud and spared not = it was the Ger.
man paper in St. Louis. the Anseiger
des Westens. 1t was doing its part in
this great impending danger.
He said elect the whole democratic
county ticket if you wish this vagabond
currency to be driven out Of our parish;
for the love Of paper money and hatred
Of gold and silver is Wing principle;
and the democracy alone to be relied
upon for protecting hard money against
lamp.black and rags.
The Scythian philosopher had said
that laws were like cob.webs, which
caught the weak flies and let the strong
ones go through. So of the law here
against small paper money. The milli.
onary breaks through it. A law is want
cd which will catch the big flies; and
the democracy, he repeated, were the on.
ly reliable dependence for that law.
The ex Senator said he was hard
money man, and had been so all his life
and was the restorer Of the gold curren
cy, and got ridicule enough from the
Wings and their cousins the "scfts,'
when he attempted it. He was called
the "goM Aun,5ug; and not only news
papers and small orators were employ
ed in ridiculing him, but the gold curren
cy itself was parodied in profuse ennis
sions Of copper and brass, made in imi
q tation Of gold coin, and covered with de
grading inscriptions. He exhibited on
of these limitations, dated in 1887, an
' inscribed, "Bentoniam curremcy;" 18th
better currency;" "Benton mint DROP;
!, with the figure ofthc whole hog on tn
:, reverse side. Such, he said, was the en-
y nifty ofthe U. S. Bank Wings, and thei
cousins the "scfts," to the gold currer
cy when he revived it, and to him for re
viving it. This enmity was still the same
!. though exhibited in different form