The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-05-16
PUBLIC OPINION.


And a similar phenomenon Is sometimes
visible in the people IN nation. 4 senti
ment, passion or a thought takes posses
sion of them, all al once, and dominates
them with pitiless power The circum
stan ces and the times 81 this new birth
are when the moral sense is offended 10y
some wrong, the denial of some right, ~
the imposition II some injustice. The
mind Of the people Of this country al
present one IT those rare phases. on the
farm. in the workshop, in the mime aud III
the counting house, every where, Ne ind
men Who have come to the same conclu-
sions. and rold the same opinions, respect
ing the financial conditions and necessities
81 the country. ana the methods of issue
out Of them. People deriving their opin-
ions almost exclusively frcin newspapers,
edited in the interest Of monopoly, people
of all varieties of party faith, are advu-
eating the same or kindred ideas upon the
question Of money.
There is, perhaps, an obvious reason for
this community " sentiment in regard u
monetary matters among the people. The
var taught them what money Is. that it
Is not in the material Of which It is com
posed, but rests soily il the act ~ the
lawgiver, constituting money. There was
not gold enough coined or III bullion, t.
equip and maintain the armies needed t.
defend the country and II was seen that
a Treasury note or gre1,bdck, endowed by
an act II Congress. with all the power Of
money, made 1t the equal of coined gold.
The war also opened the eyes Of the peo-
PIE to the dangerous monopoly of money,
which the Lankers had, and to the un-
scrupulous use which they never failed to
make Of their power, whenever they could
benefit themselves. 1t is matter If his
toy. and within the recollection of almost
every one that the most serious assault
which the government received at the
commencement of the rebellion was not
directed from Charleston, but from Wall
street, was not against S'mPter, but the
United States Treasury
When the Government asked for a loan
Of ~, OOO, 900 to suppress the rebel upris-
ing in the South, its bonds were at the
premium Of twenty dollars on the hundred,
selling 100 But the bankers saw their
opportunity, and most remurselessly did
they avail themselves Of It at the time
when the people offered their services t.
the Government, beyond its power or its
need to employ them when the popular
Just displayed its intensity, and gave evi-
dences of the sacrifices II would and did
cheerfully make during the progress of the
war, the bankers decried the credit of the
Government, offered to take its loans al
eighty cents on the dollar-a reduction Of
only forty cents on the dollar of the mark ct
value Of the United States securities few
weeks before the war Ana they con
tinued the war upon the Government until
they had reduced the value Of its bonds to
sixty cents on the dollar OF one-half OF
their value before the commencement Of
the war Such was their patriotism { D
their indication OF the sacrifices they were
willing to make for their country; and il
must be confessed that during the war, and
since its termination, they have manifested
remarkable consistency in preserving the
character of the sacrifice they made al
first. It's, perhaps, the memory Of these
things which has aided the people to the
conclusions to which they have come
These conclusions contemplate the abolI
ton Of the monopoly Of money in the
hands OF the bankers. They contemplate
the abandonment Of the specie basis
system. They propose that the Govern.
ment shall furnish the money to the people,
and that the people-every man foI him
self, and not few bankers-shall have the
power to decide the quantity or amount Of
money needed for business. They propose
to effect all this by the issue Of Treasury
notes as the only currency Of the nation
They intend too pay the public debt il
these Treasury notes notwithstanding al
action to the contrary and when they be
come to abundant for the wants of com
merce, they will allow them to be con
verified into public bonds at low rate Of
interest. They are willing TO fix that rate
Of interest at 1865 per cent, but if the
bankers and bondholders are not willing t.
accept these terms, they even indicate q
purpose to reduce this rate Of interest.
The visits Of the assessor and collector
are wonderfully instructive. Taxpayine
creates q. political opinion, confirms q
theory Of finance as well as depletes q
pocketbook. 1t is only by these means We
can account for the prevalence Of the popu.
lar opposition 10 the National Banking
Law, for the popular demand for green.
backs, as tbs exclusive currency Of the
nation, for the liability of the United States
securities 10 taxation, for The reduction d
the rate Of interest upon the public debt
and a. a consequence of this, for the
abolition Of oppressive monopoly and ths
removal Of the chief part of the taxation
which now weighs 20 heavily upon pro
! ductive labor.