The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-10-14

en- our debt nd onlS would re eive vatlsA|
10 the bondholders aud relief = ske tAxtYeE
but we should le6 fke cost Of Ill th1 but
country buys. MFouM 60 into s1arke nth
. better credit. Ne could then COM eAnA
the specs pc the ealds wseo1ld gaiait y
exchange for our secursties, as the &overni
ments of Europe do Now, they are ps1
died all over Europe at half price, in ex-
change forldry goods and groceries. They
are taken cautiously and slowly, although
the European buyer gets an interest of about
8 per cent in coin, while the rate of interest
paid for money in London to-day is barely 2
per- csnt. 3Aoas mot every mAns see and
know that this .mpnstrous disgrace would not
stain the honor 81 0ur country II there was a
wise, honest and patriotic administration of
its affaifsf Do not the reports Of the score.
tary OF tie treasury show that Me could
swiftly wipe out our debt # our income was
not perverted to partisan purposes Do
not the columns Of tise press TEEN with stateSs
ments Of official pfunder and frauds in every
quarter of our iand, while public virtue rots
under this tasteful expenditure of public
funds? It IS said that It ia reputation to
force our legal tenders upon the bondholders.
What makes It so !? The low credit of the
country. Build that up, make your paper as
good as gold, and this question cannot come
up.T Then the boadholdAr wlll>pot care
which you give him. ia This: controversy
grows, out of the fact that men do not be-
feve that our legal tenders are, or ever will
be as good as gold. If It is repud iatiop to
pay such money, a was repudiaticn 70 make
it, and it is Reputation toe keep it debased
by waste and by partisan plans to- keep our
country in disorder and danger. ass =
/ Let me say few words to bondholders.
IL is a hard ching for taxpayers to pay the
national debt, tbs bard thing to pay in',
terest running from eight to fifteen per cent,
according to the prices you gave for these
bonds. @ 1t is still harder to stand by and
see thsk you bear no part Of the cost Of the,
laws which protect your persons and proper
ty and educate your children It is hard
for the farmers, with falling prices for their
produce, to stand up under these things It
is hard for the mechanic to labor ten
on twelve hours each day, when eight hours
would support him but for the increased cost
of living growing out of taxation, We are
struggling to keep the public faith with you.
VIII you add three-fold to these burdens by
upholding a,policy which distracts our7coun-
try, endangers society, eorrupts cur govern.
Ineht, and Expresses labor p Our rulers are
as untrue to you as they are to constitution
al law aud civil liberty. ! heard, !, many
years ago, at the. outset of the agitation
which plunged us into civil war, the men
who claim the honor of that result declare
in public assemblages that slavery was n
crime, and that property was slavery /
hear tcsday me hike Of that cry from senate
rial lips. You can, if you will, put an end
to disorder, corraption, and revolution. .'e
But the reports of the treasury do not
show the full volume of money drawn from
our people by taxation. / do not speak OF
the heavy burdens of state, county, or mum
ieipal taxation. These are all marked with
the spirit of cost and corruption eugenaered
at the national capital But wish to call
yanr attention to the sums drawn from the
people which are never reported or accounted
for Take, for I'M stance, the tax upon alcohol,
and / might instance many other items of
illicit traffic, where the consumer pays, but
the treasury does not receive, the duties
levied. The amount of alcohol used in this
country is about one hundred millions of
gallons the duties should be about $500,
00e, goo each year. The amount paid into
the treasury is less than $50, 800, 08e. Who
gets the $l50, 900, oe0,-a sum nearly three
times as great as the yearly cost Of the gov.
eminent before the party ofagreat moral ide-
So IlLO pO"SE 1Ac SAEl ~ pdIa ny
the consumer in the arts, Or for the gratif-
enormous amount is divided in some way
sometimes fairly and sometimes corruptly,
between the officers of the law and the VIOLA
tors of the law. -. ~, 80. ..-
I This tax began with a fraud in congress.
In the darkest DAYS of the REBEL
inon, when the national credit was at its
lewestsebb, foul speculation was eontrived
by bnying up the alcohol in, our country,
then putting a tax of two dollars per gallon
ON all that should be thereafter made, but
no tax upon the amount thus held By these
conspiraters. Millions were thus swept from
the treasury into ''loyai pockets" Those
who made this law knew from the experience
Of all nations that this tax could not be col.
lected, but it answered their purpose, and
when she occasion had gone by, perchance
from shame or from partisan purpose, it stlll
stands upon the statute book and under its
provisions hosts of officials are made and
corrupted. And all over our land men are
bribed to become criminals. bFA rewards O
hundredsf fold greater than are offered by
honest labor. One hundred and fifty mil.
lion each year--foursfold more than is given
our schools, or churches, for education, or re.
ligion-is spent to cherish crime and cor.
ruption. And every man who shares in this
plumber, whether officers of the law or often.
ders against the law, has a vital interest In
keeping those in power who thus legislate
against all experience, if not against homes.
ty. "a When you add the frauds in other de.
partments and in regard to other articles, we
see how the ranks of the grand army OF
rogues and office holders is recruited Not
by those who fell wounded upon the battle
field, but, by those who have fallen from vir-
tue net BY those who have won glory in
the contest of arms, but by those who get
great gains by assaults upon the treasury.
The people of Europe. when we ask them to
buy our bonds, look at these things, and see
that they foster waste, corruption, and de.
cay. ANS asa ts5yas $50 hsi85.ta ga5zs SIS -.
- Another measure is needed to restore our
credit and our honor. Give rs back our
commerce. A few years years since we
were q great maritime power our ships
whitened every ocean. Where are they now
Official reports show that the carrying trade,
once q source of wealth and power, has been
nearly lost. The ships which bear our pro-
duce abroad, or bring the immigrant to our
shore, SSH under foreign flags. Our CON-
uerce was swept from the sea, not by south.
ern corsairs, but by northern congressman.
Britain will pay for the few vessels burned
by priyateers fitted out in her ports, net from
sense of justice, but from a feeling of graf.
itude toward an administration that has
done SO much to build up her power and
greatness. f
i She has reaped all the fruits of our civil
war. She is now indeed the mistress of the