The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1873-10-24
TIE PARTY AND TIE PANIC.
VIEWS OF SENATOR SHEEMAN-GREESBACI
lNn Corn

- want to show you now that the
Republican party, which has been SO
successful in all the measures it has
adopted, has been able todo youa service
which you can never estimate, by any
mode OF estimating among men. 1t has
furnished you currency which has en-
abled you, during the panic of the last
week or two, to prefer your money to
anything else that can be offered to you,
either of houses, lands, or stocks.
Here you are. Have you got green
back in your pocket? Have you got
national bank note in your pocket? Are
you afraid that either of them will break?
Cries of NO" My countl ymeu, |
have got very little currency on hand,
but | will redeem every dollar Of bank
notes that you can show have been dis
honored. We have now q currency so
good that people do not want to give it
away, do not want to deposit it, but
keep it in the safest place they have got,
with perfect certainty that it is good for
the last cent it promises to pay. Why,
my colntrymen, there are old men
around me who remember back to those
times III 1897, 1917, and 1S57-perhaps
some can go back to lSl6-when panic
came i'll those old Democratic times,
what was the result? Every dollar of
money III the pockets OF the people was
worse than useless rags. The money
was the first thing to go, and it was not
worth anything. Then, under Demo-
cratic policy, the loss fell upon the peo-
pie, fell upon the money III their pock-
cts. Now, with thus Republican currency,
no man can possibly lose a dollar. Jay
Cooke may fail, Clews may fail, every
national bank III the whole land may fail,
and yet the greenback and the bank
note are secured by bonds III the Treas
ury OF the United States. They are
secured by the peoples money and the
peoples property, and all the wealth OF
the country must be exhausted before
a man can lose dollar on his green
backs or dollar on his bank notes.
That is Republican money. Now, my
fellow-citizens, what was the cause OF
that panic? No more patriotic and no
better men ever lived than Jay Cooke Il
Co., take them either morally, socially,
or III any other way You choose. They
were high-mindcd, patriotic men. They
did service 20 their country IN the time
of war. Bat they were too sangline.
They thought the Northern Pacific
railroad was a kind of railroad to heaven,
guasS laughter, aud they wanted to
build it through. Well, my friends, it
was bad investment, and the whole
panic through which we have gone in the
last week or two has grown ont OF the
enterprise of bankers and business men
III investing large sums OF capital III I'M
productive railroad property. That Is
the whole secret of it. And yet during
all this time these banks have not failed
because they were insolycnt. They
failed because they could not realize
currency upon their property and now,
when their staten cntS are beng cXhlb-
tied, it is shown that all these
banks have assets to pay every dol
lar OF their indebtedness. Well, now my
friends, when q paAic comes-and pan
les will come at all times, they come III
seasons OF prosperity, they come IN
seasons OF adversely, they come as the
thief comes at uight-stlll, quiet; the
most sagaciuus man cannot tell when
panic comes If he could it would be a
great fortune to him. When panic
comes, it comes all at once, and the
people are alarmed; everybody sus-
poets everybody else, and III those times
there is no way whatever except opause
a while, reflect, consider, be patient,
careful, husband your resources, and
then go on again. And that Is precisely
what is being done now. L entirely and
heartily approve of the course that has
been adopted by the national balks III
the city of Cincinnati, and III other
cities, in which they have made kind
OF quasi suspension, refusing to pay out
the great mass of their money to their
depositors. That is all well enough.
Public opinion will sustain the banks i'll
doing this thing ; but they must remem-
Der that they have corresponding duties
to perform to the people. A bank may,
/ for its own protection, and to advance
the best interests OF the public at large,
/ for time decline to meet their full OBJ
/ legations, but they do they must be
careful to do all their inst duty to the
public. They must see that no payroll
is stopped for want of money to pay.
! They must see that no man who has
| money due him for labor shall go hungry
to bed. They must supply currency,
and the very moment the panic subsidies
they must resume payment, dollar for
dollar, and pay every check that is hon
estly presented if it is properly due. j
thank God / can see, although not "A
prophet, that the sky Is clearing. The
panic is over, l trust. No doubt it is
| iniuring some here and there, intiicting
some damage, but, my countrymen, we
must be prepared to meet these period
ical panics. The beauty of this panic,
after all, is that it has not hurt the peo-
pie. the laboring masses. The old
panics did. Now, the men who suffer
are the high bankers, the wealthy men.
The peoples money is i'll their currency,
the measure of their daily toll, and as
long as that is good they can laugh and
grow fat. l say, then, that the Repub-
lican party, in the management of your
financial affairs, in gradually reducing
the public debt, il gradually reducing
taxes, III furnishing you with national
banks instead of the old State banks, i'll
giving you greenbacks-for these rea-
sons. as well as for abolishing slavery,
and saving your country, and putting
all men on an equal footing, has de-
served your gratitude.
"Feilow-citizens there are some de-
fects in our banking system that l will
mention. The first Is, that n green
back, although mighty good, is not
quite SO good as gold. Now ! never will
be content myself until the Republican
party makes every dollar of greenbacks
in the pockets OF laboring men as good
as the best gold coin that was ever
coined. know the people and bankt rs
sometimes say it is going to contract the
currency, but that is all humbug. 1t If
| S,aanhnS Nv