The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1868-12-04

Consult your maps and see if this is
not t'ue.-Davenport Gazette.
The Bond Question I'm a Sec
tlOn0l point Of vievv..
Western Interests.
! The destruction Of negro slavery,
which some superficial observers
supposed was our only sectional
question. has, by no means ended
that unfortunate feature in our in
stitutions. On the contrary, in de-
stroying negro slavery in the south,
We built up sectional issue in the
North Of almost equal magnitude.
One Of the great objections to sla-
very was that 200, 900 or 800, 600
owners of $3, 900. 900. 600 worth Of
slave property possessed peculiar ad-
vantages over the owners Of all other
property. They. therefore, consti-
tuted distinct, exclusive and ar
istocratic class. Well. in Destroy
ing $3, 900. O0O.0 900 worth of prop
erty in the South, We have reared
up, curiously enough, almost the
same amount Of exclusive and aris.
tocratic property in the North. We
had %, 900, 900, 600 in negro slaves.
and when al the claims are audited
we shall have that amonnt in Gov
ernment bonds. In many respects
the owners of slaves had less privi-
leges than the owners of the bonds.
They were subject to state aud local
taxation. The owners of the bonds
are not. They took. and were glad
to get, the same currency az the
people. The bondholders are paid
in currency forty per cent better
than the people arc paid in.
The bondholder, az We have said,
is almost equally sectional with the
Southern STAKEHOLDER. Ofthe $2,-
2OO. 900, 600 now audited into =
funded debt. probably 81, 700. .O00,.
600 Of 81, 500. 900. 900 are held in
the states east Of the Allegheny
Mountains. or across the Atlantic.
As general thing, the great North
west, which now embraces, exclu-
sive of tho South, more than half
the population of the country, only
knows tho bondholder as q person
age to whom it pays = heavy and
exbausting interest. While not
having one-fourth of the bonds, the
west pays more than one-halfthe in
terest upon them, which is about
$50, ,O0O,O 900 in gold or $s5, 1000
in legal tenders. annually. This
vast amount, which is almost equal
to all our northwestern State and
local taxes, is skinned off the hard
earnings Of our industrial population
If it was paid to persons living
among US, who paid it for their ne
cessities and pleasures to our me-
chanics and business men, the evil
would not b. SO great. But the
misfortune is, that We in the west,
III this matter, arc afflicted with the
giant evil which has SO long impov-
erished and desolated Ireland
There the landlord, whose exactions
grind the tenent to penury and star
vation. is an absentee, and spends
both his money and his time either
in England or on the Continent.
Here, also, he is an absentee. living
in luxury, either in New York, New
England, or in Europe.
Every year some 800, 900, 600 or
$40, 900, 900 arc thus abstractcd,
under false and rotton system.
from what ought to be western cap
ital. and added to the capital Of the
East. The West, wo admit, is rich
in natural wealth and in tho gifts Of
nature. We car stand great deal
Of hostile Intervention against us
upon the part Of tho Federal Gov
ernment. We are new country,
with . virgin soil. with vigorous
and productive people. But there
is limit even to the greatest re-
sources. This bond system contin-
ued AD TIN1rUM for years, IS the
Radicals propose under their funding
system, would wear out and destroy
tho most splendid National wealth
upon which the sun over shone. In
getting rid Of this burden, which.
under our Government, is shouldered
upon the West, We labor under Pc
culiar disadvantages Of . sectional
character, which have their origin
| in the Constitution itself. Ohio, a
bond interest paying State, Of the
FIRST magnitude, now has popula.
ton about equal to all New Eng
land, which Is 3 bond interest re-
ceiving section. The latter has
twelve United States Senators to
! represent the bond interest receiving
class, while We, with an equal pop
ulatiou, havo only two Senators to
vote for the Western bond interest
paying class. We therefore, have
an uphill business in contending
against the exactions of monetary
interest which is 50 strongly forti-
fed in the Constitution itself. Bat
the battle must be fought, and sue
eessfully fought. It is necessary to
the prosperity Of tho west-yea,
not only its prosperity, but even its
wcll-heing depends upon it. The
west cannot stand the triple bond
exactions, the tariff robberies, and
the railroad monopolies Of the east.
United they are enough to break
down tho wealth Of the globe.
There are threa things which the