Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-12-07
TILE PURIIC nEaT

| To the Editors of the Union and Dispatch.
Politicians and demagogues are begin
ming to hear the storm of complaint from
an over-taxed people, and are trying al
ready to make the payment of the national
debt in greenbacks party hobby. Itwont
do, gentlemen. The people are determ-
ined not to let this question be lugged into
your squabbles for office; they have had
enough of class legislation and quackery.
"Five-t wenties," "ten-forties," "seven-
thirties, " /" compound interest notes" gold
certificates" government vouchers" Ger
| tifcates of indebtedness" have all been
rung in their ears SO much during the last
four years, they are tired of them all. The
mystery and confusion thrown around
these high sounding names have been
gradually dawning on their perception,
until they have got to know the plain
English of them means taxation. While
the war was going on they did not stop to
investigate; they were willing to be taxed,
and they were taxed with a vengeance !;
but they now want to know the necessity
of an army of ta1-gatherers with
big salaries in every county and toys,
taxing and stamping and branding
every trade man makes, everything he
eats or drinks or wears. They are asking
what is done with all the money thus OBJ
tanned, and when informed that it goes to
buy gold with which to pay interest on
United States bonds, they very naturally
ask why the bonds cannot be paid and stop
the interest? This is the very thing that
can bedone and which will be done. Congress
has declared greenbacks to be a legal ten
der " for all debts, public and private, exa
cept duties on imports and interest on the
public debt" In the face of this Law, we
have a teir men occupying high places in
the government who contend that there
must be one kind of money for the bond
holder and another kind for the people
and this doctrine is promulgated in a
country where all men are declared to be
" free and equal" where equal privileges,
taxation and rights are presumed to be-
long TO all. The advocates of the danger
Gus doctrine that the untaxed bondholder
must be paid in gold, while the heavily
taxed laboring man must take his hard
earned dollar in paper, seem to forget that
patient and long suffering people have the
powerto hurlthem from the high places they
havebeen elevated to, andthey seem to forget
there is day OF reckoning coming. Some
of these wiseaeres contend for speedy re-
sumption of speciepaymenis; some of them
harp on the beauties of the national bank
ing system, and some of them, who have
heretofore been champions of free trade,
propose large European loan as the
panacea for our troubles. All these schemes
intended to hide the great issue now before
the country, are in their details impossible,
unfair and impraeticable Republication of
the debt is not to be thought of The pre-
sent load of taxation on the country can
not be borne; The people cannot pay II. The
only remedy is an honest and immediate
payment of the debt in greenbacks issued
by the government. They will pass every
where as money. Our rulers would do
well to pause before it il too late. The
fat has gone forth, and the people of this
great republic snai be obsyed.
NINDEK.