The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1870-02-04


private debt Of the citizen may 20 unpaid
and his wife and children may suffer tho
pinchiDgs and privations Of cold and
hunger, but the interest on the bonds
must be paid; the Government officials
must have their proportion; Mr.. and
Mrs. Shoddy must have their carriage,
and their jewclry, and their luxufies, dcS
spite the suffcrIngs Of tho masses.
Again, the expense ia 80 cnormousj
and comes entirely off Of labor, while those
bondholdcrs arc exempt from taxes, that,
to use the language of the London Times
Of February II, 1868. when speaking 81
. similar state Of things in Englands
everywhere Is tho weak ground to The
dust with taxation 70 supply.the wsats Of
the strong"
Again, " the blessings Of Government
liko the dcws OF heaven, should descend
on all aIike-high and low, rich and
poor" They do not so descend now;
nor will they ever as long as the bonds
remain extant. Tho bondholdcrs pay no
tax. The poor and lowly, the producing
and toiling masses, pay all. The blcss-
ings are, under this banking and bond
system, reserved for the rich; the curses
and bitterness and drudgcry for the
labOrcr.
As another reason for Reputation, lot
me quote an English writer's remarks on
the stock spcculator:
ale is in everything, save dcconcy Of appear
ancc on q par with the hauntcr Of the Caeinos
lie may, II he 30 plcases, designate himself an
inYestcr, but in reality be is common gamestert
This may be a bard iFuth, but IT il wholeAons
one"
Eow, the man who after his country
has been forced by such war AZ the last
one to sell him lis bond for 81 900, with
all its benefits and exemptions, for S4OO,
and 'stake the chances" docs it exactly
on tho principle that the gambler invests
his money on any game of chance. There
is no loyalty in such man. He made
the investmcn. for speculation ; nor should
he complain, if, after having received
more than he invested, with interest, tho
Government should refuse to pay; nor
does the change and transfer OF fiye-twen-
ties into tcn-forties alter the principle or
cover up the fraud.
1t is Justly and truly said @that all
property and wealth is the product OF
physical or intellectual labor If this
bonded debt be paid, then property" or
its equivalent, which viii command prop
erty. must be handed over to the bondhol<
der in exchange for his bonds. The
foregoing axiom being true. the result IS
that labor-fnally pays the debt over and
over. This is what object to. Capital
pays nothing. Labor pays tribute year
after year to capital, until capital has re-
ceivcd far more than its origional invest
ment with the interest thereon and then
the payment of the face Of the bonds ex-
torts two hundred and fifty per cent.
more, in addition to the capital from Ia
Dor and hands it over to the bondholders.
In other words, after having more than
paid the investment with interest, labor
must in addition pay 81 600 to the bond
holder for each s400 he invested. This
Is outrageous and the bonded debt should
be at once repudiatcd on every principle
of justice.
But favor the reputation of this debt
because our Government, controlled as It
has been for the last eight years and AZ i
now is nearly entirely by the moneyed ar
istocracy of the country, is paying more
and greater interest on money than any
individual can afford to pay for its use N
any legitimate trade or business Six
per cent. in gold has averaged fully nine
per cent. in currency ever since the
bonds were issued. This, too, is without
taking into consideration the amount, say
one and a half per cent. per month, or, as
it was in New York year ago, one half
of one per cent. per day, which the na-
tional banks charged through brokers.
They would not discount to their best
customers or depositors, but loaned them
money nominally, perhaps, but freely
through the President, or cashier, o.
some one else connected with their instiu~
tions, as his or their private funds to bro
kers, who for consideration loaned .
out on call, as above stated, % men who
were forced to borrow to save them from
bankruptcy. 1 wish to do away With this
swindling arrangement. Ropndlation OF
this debt would do away with tho swindie.
favor the reputation of this bonded
debt, because when it is or shall have
been wiped out, when the Government
shall have ceased to pay the enormous IN
tercst and profit which it does on money,
and oil at the expense of labor, it will
drive capital into legitm: to channels;
will force it into investments which will
develop the resources of our country,
build up our shipping and commercial
interests, our mining and mineral inter-
ests, develop and improve the vast water
powers of the nation, erect mills and
manufactures, furnaces, foundries, and
machine shops, complete unfinished rail-
roads, build up new ones, add new bull
dings and Improvements to our towns and
cities. break up tho western praries, clear
off the dense forests of our new States,
and, literally speaking, make the wilder
ness blossom as the rose, and the western
prairies rival and surpass the faF-famed
fertility of the valley of the Nile in the
proudest days Of the proudest Pharaohs.
Wipe out his oppressive debt and tho
eqilibrium of trade and business viii be
restored. Iappeal to every man to say
who if not the money power, tho bond-
holders, aud the national bankers, control
the business interests of the country2
Such men as Fisk, Vanderbilt, Astor,
Stewart, and other men Of known wealth
are nero bagatellos in and of themselves.
ITO be coaeladed nert peek.
Six months ago the. town Of Gaivents
Texas, existed chiefly on paper, contain