The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1875-08-19
[For the News.
The Ohio Democratic Plat
form VS.. OId-FaShioned
DemocracY.
"The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The mans the gowd, for a'that.".

The mans the gowd, for a'that."
The above couplet from Burns ha
always been admired, not only o.
highly poetical and beautiful, but a
noble sentiment, descriptive Off
9 manhood.
Q Whilst rank may give position ant
r confer privileges, yet it is intellectu
, al abilities and moral qualities, which
alone stamp the noble and worth,
E character, and fix and determine the
value of real manhood. Rankisnoth
ing without nobility of character
t When rank is conferred upon a wor
thy man, he can be more useful, bu
when conferred upon low, base man
} he is, and will continue to be, low
base man, with greater power to dc
, mischief.
One of the Roman Emperors con
) ferred upon his favorite horse, the
rank of First Consul.-The horse
could not take the rank of course
but the act of conferring the office
on him has contributed more perhaps
: than anything else to perpetuate the
debasement and infamy of the EN-
peror himself.
I do not suppose that Burns was
much of a fnancier, or ever troubled
himself about currency or money
questions. His thoughts were high
and elevated, far above mere matters
ofbarter and exchange. His thoughts
were on the value of humanity and
the worth of manhood. His descrip-
ton of manhood is powerful state
ment of the difference between real
and fictitious things, and making
that application of his couplet above
quoted, he had much better idea OF
money and finance than the trainers
of the present platform of the Ohio
Democracy had, if the Interpretation
of it by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Sam
Gary and Ewing, is the true one.
What is their Interpretation of the
platform? 1t is this: that ''green-
backs" are better than gold and sill
yer; that they cost nothing; that they
are wanted in greater abundance;
and that Congress should issue just
SO many of them as the friends of the
party that happens to be in power
may desire; that gold and silver shall
no longer be considered money, or
thought of as currency, or even as
the basis of currency. Becausethese
gentlemen say, there is no real value
in gold; that it's value as money is
made by the stamp of public author
ity put upon it; that it has no intrin-
sic value, in and of itself; that Bank
notes should be banished and all the
circulation of what we call money
should be "greenbacks." That is, in
plain and unambiguous words, the
Government of the United States
should, in the plenitude of its pow
er, Danish from circulation and use
by the people, every kind and descrip-
ton of what has heretofore been call
ed money, and in its stead make use
of the debts of the Government it
self. That is, that the Government
shall convert ats o,on debts into a
great Bank, to supply the people with
money!
When the debts of individuals be-
come large, and the debtors are una
BILE to meet them, by our present law
they are thrown into Bankruptcy
By the new financial notions, now
being taught our people, instead of
throwing debtors into Bankruptcy,
they ought to be allowed to set up
banks, and have for their capital their
debts! Ihave heard men, who were
somewhat embarrassed financially,
often say, by way of badinage, that
they were ''living on the interest of
their debts" That kind of banter
and badinage is milo, and tame, COM
pared with the extravaganza of the
notions which Allen, Cary and Ew-
ing are now urging a great party in
our great State to adopt: That is,
that they will know no money but
"greenbacks, i. c., Governmentdebts.
All else is trash. Away with it!
And not only Government debts, but
debts which are never to be paid!
The whole scheme is 80 utterly RI
diculous and preposterous, that it is
difficult to speak seriously about it.
The whole scheme is based upon
falsehood, and the supposed preju-
dice of the poor against the rich, the
non capitalist against the capitalist.
There can be no such thing as
money, unless the thing or article,
which may be used for money, has an
intrinsic value in itself.
Debasing the coin has been tried
q thousand times, and in almost all
countries, and always without success.
We have ourselves, as much as twice,
if not oftener, changed the value of
our gold coin, or rather the amount
of alloy that might be put into it, and
that which was stamped an Eagle af-
terward had no more real value than
the actual pure metal it contained.
Paper money is convenient, and in
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