Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1858-01-07
The True View OF the Florence Question.
One Of the most palpsble proofs Of

the weakness oil the wiz cat cause IN
the pertinacious efforts OF its advocates
to lead the public min! from the true
point Of dispute. In all the articles
which the "bank" has lately contribu-
ted TO the columns of the Gazette, in
stead of explaining why Cock d Sar-
gent are not willing to redeem their
shinplastnrs in Illinois and Wisconsin,
the changes have been rung on the
super excellence OF Florence and the
lamentable defects Of secured currcn-
cy. The "bank" seems to regard an
irredeemable currency as the sine qua
non to healthy business. 1t proposes
to itself the question, why is Daven-
port more prosperous than any of her
sister cities, and answers itself by say
ing, because she enjoys the benefits of
an unlimited quantity Of wild cat--be-
cause Cook & Sargent refuse to redeem
their shinpastcrs in Illinois money.
When we first heard the prosperity of
Davenport attributed to the Florence
swindlc, We supposed it was done jcs-
tlngly and treated it accordingly, but
after so many repetations it would
seem to be seriously spoken. aud some
may have been induced to believe it.
We have often heard OF notorious liars
repeating their falschoods so often that
they came to believe them themselves,
and it may bc that the wild caters
have actually persuaded themselves of
the truth of what they assert. Now,
these fellows start with begging the
question; they assume, at first, that
Davenport is more prosperous than her
neighbors, and then that that prosper
itv is owing to Florence. a few weeks
ago, our newspapers and our citizens
ascribed the healthy condition Of affairs
in this city to its excellent location,
the enterprise of its citizens, the large
emigration, the fine back country, and
the other advantages, natural and arti-
fetal of which Davenport has so large
a share. If Davenport is prosperous,
which, in the name of common sense,
is the most reasonable cause for it
the location, the enterprise and tho
other advantages which it enjoys, or
this irrcdecmablc wild cat money?
How long is it since the Gazette dis
covered that Davenport has been built
up, not by its position and its enter
prise, but by Cook Il Sargcnt's issues
What absurdity, what ctirontery
what contempt for the intelligence
of this community the other editors of
the Gazette must have to utter such
nonsense as a defence for these shin
plasters Muscatine once enjoyed the
precious blessings of this Florence wild
cat, and was it more prosperous then
than it is now ! Burlington merchants
do not complain, the Dubuque papers
speak encouragingly of their town, and
they are all at this moment quite as
prosperous AS this city, considering the
superiority of our advantages. If the
astute business men of those cities be-
heved wild cat to be any benefit to
their respective localities, isn't it easy
enough for them to get "cords" of it!
But, enough until within the last two
weeks, the idea that the prosperity of
Davenport was owing to wild cat
money was never heard of; it is weak
invention of coynercd wild caters, and
ridiculous enough to raise laugh un-
der the ribs of death. They would
have us believe that Cook e. Sargent's
shlnplastcrs are Davenport! But, ad-
hitting, for the sake Of the argument,
that Florence is the fount of all the
blessings this city enjoys, would it de-
crease those blessings to redeem it in
Illinois money Suppose Florence has
been the patent medicine, the Town
sends sarsaparilla, which has kept our
sickly village in health, what can be
the objection to placing it on footing
with Illinois and Wisconsin Let these
gentlemen answer our question-we
challenge them to accept the issue we
otfer-what reason have they for re-
fusing to redeem in Illinois or Wiscon-
sin! Will they dare say they cannot
redeem? That would be false. They
can redeem they have means enough
OF their own 1fJohn T, Cook told the
board Of trade the truth, and there is but
$4,000 Of Florence in circulation, is
it not plain that Cook & Sargent with
their hackers could easily redeem 2
But the fact is they would be called on
to redeem but very small portion of
their circulation. Let them raise Flor
ence to par, and it will circulate among
our business men the same as Illinois.
and but few calls will be male on them
to redeem. Let them raise their is
sues to par, and We will no longer be
called on to pay 10 or Is per cent ad-
ditiona1 C,r tho rnods VIC bur ,,;.l