The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1868-03-31

Ao'o Nao tt1eee Sos'sSt sS'A 10y "uArSs |
with whom they are mingled, and into
their sooty hands ballots are placed to en-
able them to neutralize the votes of In
telligent whites at the North.
The foundations are9laid, deep and
strong, for an aristocraey in this country,
with privileges beyond those Of any other
|aristocracy on earth. This favored class
has no heavier labor to perform from the
rising of, the sun to- the going down
thereof than to clip coupons from bonds,
carry them to the treasury, and carry
home gold The. common people have
not only to support this aristocracy in
idleness and luxury, but they alone must
| pay the Government for protecting this
class in its exclusive privileges.
1t is the history Of every aristocracy
which ever existed that it has managed
to hedge itself about with privileges and
prerogatives, constantly widening the gulf
which separates it from the common peo.
pie, until an impossible barrier was erec-
ted between the lords in their luxury and
the peasants in. their poverty. If they
cannot accomplish this by building them.
selves up they will accomplish it By
grinding the common people down. They
have already attempted to grind the peo-
pie down to level with the Negroes
even to Negroes in q state Of slavery.
The very essence of slavery is, that it is
q system by which one class constantly
lakes from another class the proceeds of
this is precisely the relation which the
Itax.payers sustain to the bondholders. =.
4 But they intend to build up as we'll as
grind down. In less than one year from
this day, if they are not defeated, the
twenty-five hundred million dollars in
bonds, will Suddenly become virtually
. twenty-eight hundred millions in bonds.
This they intend to accomplish by little
lljugglery with the four letters which spell
gold. This additional six hundred mil.
lion dollars they would just as honestly
obtain if they should meet the tax payers
on the highway and at the mouth Of .
; loaded pistol demand their money or theil
: lives. s.ss,, -
The road to exclusive power for such
t an aristocracy is short and simple. The
: Caucus has only to. s
Fl WHEREAS the national debt is sacred
: obligation, and the national faith must b
. untarnished, and
aI WHEREAS. certain individuals thrcater
reputation, therefore, to prevent the pos
/. sibility Of such calamity: -
. Be It enacted By the Senate and Hous
oI of Representatives IN Congress assembled
ell SECTION /. No one shall hereafter bl
! eligible to a seat in Congress unless b,
E be owner and holder in his own right o
{ at least one hundred thousand dollars ii
q government bonds. - 8 -
ell SECTION 2. Any attempt to veto thi.
. act is hereby declared a high crime ant
q misdemeanor, to be punished by iimpeach
b ment. - ;,Ss,sgs = =. ~
ell SECTION 8. This act is political in it
J. character, and therefore, not within tn
e jurisdiction of the. Supreme Court, !,
1 If the Caucus choose to pass such al
t act as this, / ask in what department o
! the government can the people find relief
: Let him name it who can.ss,ss s,.s
Ell But what is the resultsof. this Radica
n Isystem upon our prosperity? Our manu-
n factories, many of them, have. close,
-Itheir doors. There are more laborefsou
niof employment in our, country now thai
,-lwere ever before known in our history
> Our Agriculture d6h't pay its own taxes
;ol The cotton crop, which few. years ag
vel brought us in hundreds Of millions, ha
wi bankrupted every man who!has engage
eel in its cultivation during the last tw
e ;ei geearsi Ourcomnnerceis gasping its las
IS There is not eo-day a line of steamer
j carrying the American flag across th
/ ocean. Days together pass without. a
81 American vessel clearing from New Yor
/ for foreign port; a few Years since . doz
y en- iE an hour was no unusual event
III Every branch Of industry is bligAted a
o with a curse.
3 Compilers of statistics estimate the az
el gregate proceeds of labor in this countr
lat two thousand million dollars per an
/ mum, upon which the net profit is said I
J be about two hundred millions. In th
e same length of time the expenditure
/ of the Radical Government is Eve hur
e dred millions of dollars; thus absort
n ing all the profit of labor, and thre
1t hundred millions of capital annually
Il There is no installing where this foa
( leads to; it is fnger-board which ever
/ }man can read. 1t means eat less, wea
u less, sleep less and toll more. pE & q
o We do not feel the full force of thi
!, system yet, because we still have some {
% the capital accumulated in better times
II though we can already begin to feel j
lgrlnd. twill not require half the teri
re- of Senator Sherman's forty-year fundin
b bill to grind the tax payer low enough I
is satisfy the most exacting aristocrat. I
le less than ten years from now, if the pres
D ent system continue, the bondholder
W will be disputing with US for the brea
5. between our hands and our mouths.
Il This, Mr.. President, is our cenditio
1t tafter seven years of the rule of a minorit
, lover the majority years whic
L have been more disastrous to us than wer
. the plaques to the Egyptians. They wer
y cursed by having vermin and reptiles an
IS insects infest their country, as the worth
less Negroes infest ours. Swarms of ID
IF Gusts overran their country, deyouringth
b substance Of theirpeople, as swarms Of ia
l. -Igatherers and spies overrun ours, and dc
a your the substance Of our people. Thei
Isl waters were turned into blood: surel
n this has been terribly paralleled liz all ou
J? streams from the Potomac to the Ri
ltI Grande.
lel Five hundred thousand lives have bee