The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-12-04
MYERS AMONG THE MIaERs
Underground Toilsrs Listcn 10 -
speech mn th~ Currency, and Organ
Ina a 0R~omhAok Club

l
portsnt mining towns in Illinois. On
being introduced in fatterlng terms by the
Mayor, Mr.. NJ. dIsclalmed any superior
knowledge Of the subject, though doubt
less there were some facts which he had
superior opportunities for OBJ
tanning, and 20 this he presumed he owed |
the invitation anu the pleasure Of address
ing the large and intelligent audience au-
sembled. He said he had learned much |
VI finance since lac lad come 60 Braid wood
a few hours ago; for the first time he had
been down in a coal niue, and there found
a perfect system Of hnance, commencing
far down in the bowels Of the earth, and
far out IN the underground railroads, re-
mote from the shafts ard sunlight he
found three ''buttIes @orklng together
in partnership in each Of the one hundred
''rOoms; found that these three men
mined the coal ia common, and delivered
it TO the companys agent-represented by
boy with a mule-trustlng the company
for their pay for thirty days, until they
could send the coal to consumers IN Chi
cage and get returns. Each butte gang
settle their own accounts, showing the
result Of their llabors at the monthly pay
day, like other intelligent business men,
having confidence In each other, which is
the basis Of all commerce, and without
which commerce Is impossible and society
barbaric. As each little carload was
showed from the room" a wooden ''to-
ken, four inches long ana two inches WIDE,
was placed IN the car with the number u
the room branded into it, Tins token
would not be any more useful If 1t we're
made Of gold and studded with precious
gems These tokens" constituted the
underground currency " the mine Mr.
| NJ traced the carload If coal and the
token accompanying Il 10 the shaft, and to
4 the Bank House where the coal aud the
/ token parted company. The coal, after
/ resting a moment On the scales, WAS dump
ed into the shuts, thus commencing It's
! journey to Chicago, even before reaching
the coal car Of the Chicago and Alton Rail
read waiting to receive IL. The speaker
did not follow the coal further, but fol-
lowed what was equally valuable to the
butte companies In the room belOw-the
token, into the hands Of the bank man, .
who, by its number, learned to what room
he was to credit the coal Just weighed. At
ter making the proper entry the bank
man" deposits the token, now become a
check, In a proper pigeon hole, to rest
there until the monthly pay day, when the
three butte men would use them on Joint
account, 70 draw from the company their
portion Of the outside and upper world
tokens, which the company had receiv.
ed from those who had taken the coal fol
use in Their engine rooms or kitchens He
said he had received a gcO0 lesson III
finance that day, and he thought that q
day was as much lost day In which moth
ing was learned as when nothing was
earned. He wished that some Of the inan
cleTs who had been mixing up things al
Washington would godown IN a coal mine
and stay there until they had learned sucl
a lesson In finance as the miners could teaci
them, when they exhibited a wooden cur
rency never deficient, never redundant
not liable to be cornered, not costly in tn,
way Of material, or rent, called interest
Socrates, on being told that the Delphi,
Oracle had designated him as the wIses
man III Greece, replied, IF this be true
it is only true because being unwise,
know that | am unwIse, while some, bein.
iUtwise, know 1t not. | wonder il Their
) Is a Socrates Ia the Treasury OF Ia the Con
gress Of the United States who knows tina
he IS unwise
Mr.. Myers went on for an hour and
half with like illustrations, CHANGING AT an,
comparing with our present and futur
systems Of finance those IF other countries
He exhibited - greenback He said
, was a bond; that all holders Il greenback
were boudholdrrs that The gree nbac (
nere the people bonds. ami, As they Dor
) no interest. acre worth less than gold
while those bonds, , POS. 10 4O's. and lie,
rs bearing interest IN gold. were wort
more than gold; that they were mostl
, owned abroad; that they we're sent abroa
r through that colony ~ foreign agent
D called the City az New York; that thos
a agents would like to have the government
exchange them all for gold on an. l, 1875
I In the meantime, these foreign agent
: would own all these greenback non intel
est-bearIng bonds, and would prompt
Q call upon Uncle Sam "a redeem its promis
Of specie resumption and give them golC
. the produce Of other mines. not coal.
T that that they could ship them to the
= masters, A. they need all the gold they ca
: get to keep Ip the ncuOn Of specie r,
/ demption 50 often found to be lmpracti,
= able He described the new German syl
N ~
! the English system as a saw -dust-fed b.,
Z into which Palgrave, Seyd. Bagehot, an
: other ''ycung Engiishmen" had recent
. bored, and shown the stufing He sal
: there were tao classes VI Engllshmen-th
class who consist # about 10000 peopl
who owned England, ami a. OO0, 90 otht
J EnglIshmen who were the slaves, that th
} "a. 900, 900 EnghshInen ~ere dIssatlsfe
with the saw-dust baby system. that co
lapsed habItually evrry eight or trn wear
and allowed the O.UOO a. buy IN whs
property had slipped through their finger,
at sheriff sale. They 1.-THE 80, 900 woul
like t. have more sheriff sales here
: When We had specie redemption, we ha
crisis whenever they had; but since "
had possessed greenbacks the machine di,
not work So acr,,ss the Atlantic As does tn
telegraph cable ~hich Kegs US posted an
tells as that England u not the FINANCES
Canaan-hAPpy land that our bulIionls
friends think It Is-or pretend a. think /
10. We think-we n rag babyists - tina
government bonds wI.l ans or our PURPOSE
for tokens lust as well as gold tokens. 0
saw dust tokens. All we want is to max
the non-interest Gearing boDds convertibl,
| -. Al IL l..
bearing bonds equal to British consols
being per cent. interest, payable in golC
or in paper, at the option Of the holder