The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-10-12

congressional districts OF Massachusetts and
New Hampshire were 2,167,
In Illinois they ,oo4
In Indiana they were.... S,z4o
In Wisconsin they were ..........''" 81
In Michigan they were..-.".................. 3,04I
We ask the people of New England if it
is not time for them to stop the stupid NAL
ice of their senators to put stop to the
teaching that New England senatorial pow
er is in violation of natural rights, We suf'
fer in New York by the present constitu-
tioual law. but we seek peace. We wish to
uphold the constitutional powers of all the
states. We remember the glorious part they
bore in the revolutionary contest. If time
has changed their comparative population.
we do not wish to strip them of any political
power. We implore them not to teach doc
trines wioh must, in their ends, be destruc
tive to them and hu:tfuf to the peace of the
country. - e-r--
What is the social condition Of the coun-
try? | shall speak only of the situation Of
the north 1t is not, possible to fasten the
republican party to any standpoint as to the
condition of the southern people. They are
in or ont of the Union, as partisan purposes
demand. They must carry constitutional
amendments, but they are punished if they
VOTE They must do their political duties,
but are held to be criminal if they take part
in public affairs. The southern people have
to deal with political problems more bewil-
dering than the theological dogmas which
are set forth in the verse:
tYou can and you can't
You win and You won't:
You'll be damned il, You do,
And you'll be damned if you don't"
The social state of our country is alarm
ing. The public is startled with unusual
violence and murder throughout our land
Men, and women, too, kin those who have
done them no wrong. Life and property
have become unsafe. Our people learned
to do these things from those who should
have taught reverence for the laws. The
seeds which were sown when men were i'm.
prisoned, mobbed, or murdered because they
honestly differed from the party in power,
are now springing up in an abundant har-
vest of crime, which plaques and curses
those who we're actors In violence or con
senting witnesses to outrage upon their
neighbors.
If, when an unworthy secretary of state
boosted to the representatives of kingly
power that American liberty was a sham
and that he could do what Britain's monarch
dare not,-imprison without warrant and
punish without trial,-weak aud wicked van
ity had been fittingly whipped by justice,
the foodgates of violence would not have
been opened. But he was upheld, and a
horde of robbers and brutal men, drunk
| with unusual power, were organized rs spies
| and detectives, and let loose upon the pub
| lie.
| The spirit of cowardly and criminal VIC.
| lence that was sent out from the department
! of state in time stalked back into the cham
| Der of the secretary in the foul form of the
| assassin. Murder, robbery, and arson afflict
| the people who did not care what wrongs
were done to their neighbors. If we would
avert Gods just judgment, let US all now
| try to bring back reverence for the laws
| which our fathers left us as heritage, and
which we have wasted.
| 1t was not courage, but cowardice, which
| made the administration trample upon laws,
courts, and home rights, and made judges
| trail their ernines in the dust. But / will
pass by the question growing out of admin
istrative crimes and follies, to speak OF that
| which is uppermost in mems minds,-our
| financial condition. Upon this we should
| be outspoken and true. 1t burthens and
harnesses labor. it binders and perplexes
business. 1t carries taxation and curse into
every home. We owe vast debt, made by
| tuSz&OIoCht vi hAC pCOPiO Va shAo SodANAN
| In the details of heaping it up, there was
much of fraud and more of folly. But at the
time and since its creation, the citizens OF
the United States have, in their elections, ap-
| proved of these acts of their representatives
| The fabric of our government has been al
ready fearfully shaken by the violation OF
personal and political rights; we must not
add Reputation to the list of crimes which
| destroy confidence in republican govern
ments. The FIRST step to uphold the public
faith is to put forth an honest statement Of
| our affairs. The credit of our government
is lower in the markets of the world than
| that of any christian nation in Europe. 1t
has sunk to the level of that of the Turk
| the "sick man of the east When you look
| at the list of prices of national stock, you
will find that our bonds, taking into account
the great interest we pay, are selling for less
| than half the price given for those of Grea
| Britain. When we lay them side by side up
on the counter of the capitalist, he takes the
| British bond at a rate which will give him
back in the course of twenty years only 81
| 700, while we pay him $1,000 during the
1 same time. That is to say, when the United
States borrows s 900 in gold, it pays the
lender, principal and interest, in twenty years
| $4,000; England pays only $1,000. When
we borrow 81 900, 900, we pay on q twenty
year loans2, 7o0,O 900; England pays only 81,
100000. But, leaving the markets of the
world, and coming to our own shores, we
| find that our citizens will not trust our gov
! eminent upon the same terms which they
give to their neighbors. The bonds of the
| United States pay an interest to those who
buy them of about eight per cent. They al
so give an exemption from taxation worth
one or two per cent, more. Yet men eagerly
| seek safe securities which, with the draw
back of taxation, pay but about half the in
terests given by our government. Every
days report from Europe that flashes along
the electric line tells that the nations credit
is lower than that of the bonds put forth by
a corporation of its creation. Our shame
Is proclaimed in the markets of the world
once IN twenty-four hours. This is position
of danger and disgrace. At any moment
/ foreign war or civil commotion may topple
over this feeble credit, and leave us helpless
despite. all our resources and our sboastful
| sense Of national power.
Why does the world-why do our citizens