The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1867-09-11
Radical Meeting Saturday Evening.

no NC tuvugn lucy Wouiu, tha' ~ iu
tended moving to that section ; and who
is now Chairman Of the Radical Central
Committee, made a speech at the Town
Hall on Saturday evetipg4 We expect'
ed to bear the vital issues that are now
dividing the two great parties Of this
country, raudidly discussed, but we were
mistaken, The usual slang Of traitor
"rebel," "dislOyab2 &C., was the burden
Of his speech. He had but very little to
say en- the financial condition Of the coun'
try nothipg about the b~urdensome tax
alton that is grinding the toilirg millions
to the 'earth. He charged The Democra-
icy with being in favor Of Republication be
cause they advocated the payment ofthe
public debt in g~reenbacks, thereby stop
lpirg Sl7l0OO, 900 interest, which is paid
annually to the boudholders, who donotI
pay one cent Of. tax, He claimed that
the Government was bound, by the most
tsacred contract, to Redeem. its. bonds in
gold. This j. not true. None Of tho
bonds, save the small issue Of lQr40's, are
to be paid In! gold. They specify that the
Interest is payable ia gold, blu! arc silent
as to the principal. At the, time they
were issued ~greenbacks were the money
Of the country, Now, what would be a
fair construction Of this "most sacred con.
tractf' Plainly, that the inteses, should
be paid ID, gold aud tho principal in
such money as mightbe q legal tender at
the time Ofits payment. The bondhold.
efs paid for their bonds in ~greenbpcks,
worth on an average Of fifty cents on the
dollar, Is it Just, then. tfntthey should
be paid in gold 2 'TurLY says they were
induced by their byahy to lend the gov.
eminent aid in time Of need, Grated.
Tken they should be content to get then
money back with interest. But the gov.
eminent was in a severe strait to sell its
bonds for half price, and il the holders
now ask the face in gold, We fail 10 see
where the lcyalty comes in. The man
who finds q aueighbor "hard up" and dis.
counts his paper, well secured, at fifty per
cent aud draws interest at seven or nine
per cent on the fnll amount, would not
claim that any friendship SO di,interested
rs to hurt, had prompted the accommods
ton. But the National faith stands 10
the way. TOa plain man, who lives in the
country and practices honesty, and who
has been an observer Of the actions Of the
Government for the past six years, the
"National faith" is somewhat Of a myth.
But to the bondholders it ought to be
perfectly apparent, that it is 10 greater
violation of faith for o government to pay
off its debt in greenbacks, contracted in
greoubacks, than for a man to pay of iu
greenbacks, q debt contracted 10 coin, by
a law made by tho government. All this
twaddla about "RepudIation " "NationaI
faith,' sacred contract" &c, is mere
moonsbine, and will be no inducement fol
the Farmer, the Merchant, the Mechanic
and the Laboring mar to vote with TIT
party that has created a privileged clasl
} -a bondholding-aristocracy.
After some hesitation, sputtering ant
, stammering, he avowed himself SQUARED,
c and u~nequiyOcally in favor Of Negro Suf
4 frage, We were not surprised that hi,
tongue almost clcaVed 10 the roof of hi
Q mouth when he touched upon this que,
h ton. Only one short year ago, iu aspect
delivered 10 the same Hall, in reply to th,
9 charge thatfhe and bis party we're in ia
7 vor of Negro suffrage, Mr.. BUSHNELL
most empbatically denied it. he stood
U up in "holy horror at the idea, and call
n To- o.