The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-07-05

city would show them how iniuriously the.
are affected bv our bloated banking and ere
dit system and would enable them to apply
the proper corrective
! 1t will be observed that Mr.. Buchanan il
saying that blessings would be produced by
the reduction of our nominal to the rea
standard prices, did not refer to prices of la
Dor, but was speaking of the advantages t
be derived from equalization by the New
England manufacturer.
He afterwards in the same speech, .eX
presses in a very clear and decided manner
our cotemporary also publish them entire
not single sentence thereof, and that in ;
garbled manner. What we desire they
should publish is the following
1--WE are also charged by the Senator from
Kentucky with a desire to reduce the wages
| of poor mans labor. We have been otter
/ termed Agrarians on our side of the house
1t is something new under the sun to hear
the Senator and his friends attribute to US a
desire to elevate the wealthy manufactures
at the expense Of the laboring man and the
]
ing man. Labor is the foundation of the
wealth of every country and the free Ia
borers of the North deserve respect both for
| their probity and their intelligence. Heare1
! forbid that I should do them ,crohg, OF al
the countries on the earth, we ought to have
! the most consideration for the laboring man
/ From the very nature Of our institutions,
! the wheel Of fortune is constantly revolving
/ and producing such mutations in property
/ that the wealthy man of today may become
, the poor labOrer Of Tomorrow. Truly
wealth often takes to itself wings and flies
away 4 large fortune rarely last beyond
the third generation, even if it endure so
long. We must all know instances of indi-
viduals obliged to labor for their daily bread
whose grandfathers were men Of fortune
The regular process Of society would almost
seem TO consist Of the efforts Of one class to
disSipate the fortunes which they have inhe-
rited, whilst another class, 10y their industry
and economy, are regularly rising to wealth.
We have all, therefore, a common interest,
as AZ as our common duty, Ia protect Tie
rights Of the ldJoring man and if believed
for moment that this bill would prove in
furious to him, 1t sho4tt meetm my atn4udlJfed
opposition.
Although the bill will not have as great
an influence as could desire, yet, as far as
it goes, it will benefit the laboring man as
much, and probably more, than any other
class of society. What is 1t he ought most
70 desire: Constant employment, regular
wages, and uniform, reasonable prices for
the necessaries and comforts Of life which he
requires. Now, sir, what has been his con-
dition under our system of expansions and
cOntractions: He has suffered more by
them than any other class Of society The
rate of his wages is fixed and known and
they are the last 10 rise with the increasing
expansion, and the first to fall when the cor
responding revulsion occurs. He still con-
tinues to receive his dollar per day, whilst
the price Of every article which he consumes
is rapidly rising. He is at length made to
feel that, although he nominaiy earns as
much, or even more than he did formerly,
yet, from the increased price of all the ne
cesSaric OF life, he cannot support his faini
". Hence, the strikes for higher wages.
and the uneasy and excited feelings which
hare at different periods existed among the
latorng classes. But the expansion. 8,
length reaches the exploding point, and what
does the laboring man now suffer: He is
for Z season thrown out of employment al
together. Our manufactures are suspend
cd !; our public works are stopped our pri-
vatc enterprises are abandoned and whilst
others are able to weather the storm, he can
scarcely procure the means Of bare subsist-
ence."
Again, Sir Who do you suppose held
the greatest part of the worthless paper OF
the one hundred and sixty-five broken banks
to which have referred Certainly it was
not the keen and wary speculator, who snutfs
danger from afar. If you were to make the
search, you will find more broken bank notes
in the cottages of the laboring poor than
anywhere else And these miserable shin
plasters, where are they: After the revolu-
ton of 1887, laborers We're glad to obtain
employment on any terms; and they often
received it upon the express condition that
they should accept this worthless trash in
payment. Sir, an entire suppression of all
bank notes of a lower denomination than the
value of one weeks wages of the laboring
man. is absolutely necessary for his protec-
ton. He ought always 10 receive his wages
in gold and silver. OF all men on the earth
the laborer is most interested in having
sound md stable currency"
THE SOUND STATE OF THE CUR
RENCY WILL HAVE ANOTHER MOST
HAPPY EFFECT UPON THE LABORING
MAN. HE " ILL RECEIVE HIS WAGES
IN GOLD AND SILVER; AND THIS
WILL INDUCE HIM TO LAY UP, FOR
FUTURE USE, SUCH 4 PORTION OF
THEM AS HE CAN SPARE, AFTER SA-
TISFYING HIS IMMEDIATE WANTS
This he will not do at present, because he
knows not whether the trash which he is
compelled 10 receive as money, will continue
to be of any value a week or a month here
after. A knowledge of this fact tends to
Danish economy from his dwelling, and H.
duces him to expend all his wages as rapid
ly as possible, lest they may become worth
less on his hands.
"Sir, the laboring classes understand this
subject perfectly. IT IS THE HARD
HANDED AND FIRM-FISTED MEN OF
THE COUNTRY ON WHOM WE MUST
RELY IN THE DAY OF DANGER, WHO
ARE THE MOST FRIENDLY TO THE
PASSAGE OF THIS BILL. Iris THEY WHO
ARE THE MOST ARDENTLy IN FAVOR OF ISrIsISG
INTO THE CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY VERY
LARGE AMOUNT OF TIE PRECIOUS METALS
Since the delivery If this speech the In
dependent Treasury Bill has been in pract-
cal operation for ten years, and worked so
admirably that no party at this day, and no
considerable body of men anywhere object
to its provisions or profess desire to repeal
or change it. 1t has saved thousands OF
business men from ruin, and protected hun
dreds of thousands of laboring men from
the effects Of revulsicns which would other
wise have thrown them out of employment.
Mr.. BUCHANAN could have given no better
evidence Of the possession of great political
sagacity, than his earnest advocacy of this
great measure at that early day. The sound
ness of his views ana the wisdom of his con-
clusions have been clearly proven by the I'M
erring tests of time and experience, and the
deeper all that appertans to his course upon