Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-10-02

congressman pOlicy. wrong marks every
step, and when the people get the power, !
say to these bondholders, they will correct
that wrong as well as good many others.
1t was simply a. law ofiCongress. They
bought these bonds with that law Of Con-
gress before them, knowing that any other
Congress that came afterward could repeal
that law as well as any other law. Talk
about the faith of the nation. The faith of
the nation was no more pledged by
the idea of these men talking about the
faith of the nation! The audacity they
have to talk about the faith of the nation J
Why, they have broken their own plighted
faith a thousand times over since the war.
i have shown YOU that not one pledge have
they kept. The ,Crittenden resolutions
they broke; their laws in every form recog-
nfzipg these Southern States as States, they
have broken. They have repudiated prin-
ciple; they have repudiated theirown rec
ord made during the war; they have re-
pudiated their promises made to the SOL
dier. Reputation has been their daily
work, aud by it they have blasted and
withered the fruits which this war should
have brought to this people. Let them
stop their talk to me about their plighted
faith. These men knew that the law might
be repealed. am for its repeal; am for
repeating that law which protects two
Thousand millions of property from taxa
tion. It will take all our property to pay
our taxes. am not for making the poor
poorer and the rich richer. 1 am against
this privileged class that has been built up
bY,this Congressional policy. am in favor
OF sending the taX-gatherers to their
hearth -stOnes as well as to yours, and II
they won't submit to that, have no words
with which to denounce them for their in
Justice to the people. '-.i-.9 y,
If they viii not submit to taxation. what
then am / forp am then for doing what
ali nations have had to do before, that is,
to reduce the rate of interest. Our debt
bears an average interest now of six per
cent. am for reducing it to three per
cent, If no further. One-half of your in
terest- shall go, you bond holders, If you
won't pay taxes. If you won't pay taxes
we won't pay interest. We will send you
only half of what you send for instead of
all OF it. What do you think of that, then?
That is way of lessening this burden just
one half. If they won't submit to tnat and
keep the power, there comes another meth
cd by which this thing can be done. Let
us commence paying their bonds as they
fall due, in the same kind of money that
they make you take for whatever you own
side .track."l Yes, we have the inside
track. my old friend. 1 am a young man
vet, but feel it all over me, because feel
that my feet are upon the eternal rock OF
truth and right in behalf of the people of
this Government, against moneyed aristo-
Gratis, against a favored few, pampered in
their wealth by the most infamous legisia-
tion found. in my judgment, in a civilized
country. 1 feel that am on the rock of
truth i'm behalf of thepeople.
But to come back to the point. If they
will neither pay taxes nor allow the re-
duction of interest, then let US talk to Them
about legal tender. What does legal ten
der mean? I WAS there when they dis
cussed legal tender. They said that by law
paper could be made legal tender for debts,
and many an old Democrat, and many an
old hard-working Republican throughout
the country knows how this thing has
worked in his own experience. Let me
take one instance. Within the circle ofmy
acquaintance was au. old man who had
worked hard and economical, and had laid
aside two Thousand dollars in gold. Those
gold pieces were very dear to him. He had
great confidence in neighbor who had
lived by him for forty years. and he loaned
his money to this nighbor, at six per cent,
interest to be paid in gold at a certain time.
The war came on, and the neighbor who
had borrowed the money turned Radical.
[ laughter 1t don't necessarily follow
that he turned mean, because there are a
good many good men who are Radicals,
but nevertheless, when this man turned
Radical, be turned mean also, When the
old man wanted his two thousand dollars
in gold this Radical neighbor, who be-
lieved that this loyal Congress could do no
wrong, said to the old man They have
made paper money now as good ss gold"
Not to me-" says the old man. "Yes, but
they have; it is legal tender, aud here
is your two thousand dollars in legal ten
money, when gold was about
$50 premium. "Why," said the old man,
that don't even half pay me; that is not
worth thousand dollars in my yellow
money that let you have" "Neverthe-
less" says his neighbor, sit is legal tender,
and if YOU don't want to take it, why sue
me, and / will plead in court that L tender,
ed it to your The old Democrat could
not for moment suppose that such an in-
tolerable piece of villainy had been enact
ed into the form of law, and sued his
Radical neighbor. The neighbor pleaded
legal tender, and the court held that it was
legal tender, and the old fashioned Demo-
crat had to pay the costs of the suit and
take legal tender worth about 500 or $500
at that time for his $4,000 in gold; and
then his neighbor went home and said that
he was loyal and the other was disloyal.
Now havn't you great deal of sympathy
for these bond-holders? But if these men
will not pay taxes nor reduce the rate OF
interest then as fast as the bonds fall due
say 'legal tender" to them. We will pay
YOU off in greenbacks that bear no interest,
and thusswe will wipe out this debt. In so
doing you will violate no faith. no honor.
for men who refuse to bear their equal
burdens in government put themselves
outside of the pale where men can claim
and exact good faith.
Here is my financial platform. 1t Is easy
and simple I have not discussed your five
twenties and your seven-thirties aud your
ten -forties. have given you my plan by
which / would have the people relieved.
-, THE TARIFF. q III syf- yr-tq
There are other questions concerning the
policy of Congress that might dwell upon.
This same Congress has .legislated for the
manufacturer so that he can charge you
four prices, at least, for everything you
wear. allude to the tariff, great West
ern interest, and it will always be great
interest to an agricultural people every
where. The tariff is simple system OF
rObbing the many for the ebenefit OF the few;
the laboring agriculturalistfo the wealthy
manufacturer. The tariff is simply alaw
which says to the manufacturer of England
or France that they shall not come here
and sell you their linen cloths without first
paying enormous duty at the CUSTOM
house, so enormous that it amounts almost
to prohibition. That is done because
thereby it protects home manufacturers.
Protects them in what? Protects them in
charging price up to the standard of this
tariff, which keeps the foreign manufac-
turer away. Who pays thatP Why, you
pay it. The man who buys the yard OF
cloth pays the tariff. This money pours
into the pockets of, those favored manufae-
turers Of New England. They get rich
while you remain poor / am for each in
terest in this country standing up for itself
or falling down for itself. You farmers
don't go to Congress and ask for law to
protect you, but they go there and ask for
a law to protect them. If they can't make
goods as cheapas the foreign manufacturer,
let the foreign manufacturer come. You
want to buy where your money will buy
most. What do you want with tariff to