New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-05-14
-HE MONEY POWER.

HE MONEY POWER.
Hon. Mr. Beck has communicated 70
our friends OF the Bulletin the original
idea that I'VE have been the slaves OF the
bondholGers long enough IL the West,
and that this money power and bond
monopoly Of the East must be broken
up" Then there follows diatribe which,
if put into the mouth of Mr. Jacob Null
Ter, might convict him OF design on the
-four stores or safety chests OF our richest
and best:
For ten years the bondholders have got
| the benefit of the toll Of & great MANY
! millions OF the people Of this country They
have got this benefit without returning an
equivalent. They have pocketed the in
terest on national debt now ahouttwenty-
| three hundred millions Of dollars, which
has been somewhat larger. They have
| pocketed the interest on State bonds OF a
| still larger amount. They have poc1eted
the dividends on a great many hundreds of
| millions of dollars worth of railroad and
| other stocks and shares. These Ftltotrs, rho
| hurr Go,te no lcorh, have put into their
| purses by crooked, mysterious and round
about ways, without service and without
| equivalent, under the shadow ard pr0tec
| ton Of the federal government, sums SO
| vast that III the aggregate they amount to
many thousands Of millions Of dollars.
| II one nedf, gets rich from, he lGoor OF Il
hnndred men 'rho remain poor, then It fol
| tors that The idbOrers ore. to {. certain extent
| aud IN e certain StitSe. slGres. The Radical
| rule OF fourteen years il America is marked
! with this result: That the laboring, and
notably the farming classes have grown
poor. and that the managing, fnanciering,
| Specializing, political, hondholding classes
have grown very rich. Thus the strong ez-
preston is justified, and the bondhclders
| may, with the strictest proprety, he al
| trmed to be the masters OF those who pay
| their coupons and dividends. lOur italics
We agree with oracle Beck and his dis
ciple. Perhaps the same idea expressed
in speech and editorial was compressed
into much fewer words il q treatise which
We hope has come within the range O.
reading OF the essayist The rich rlleth
over the poor, and the borrower is the
slave Of the lender"
i Now ''the breaking up Of tie bond
| holders is the simplest Of propositions.
It is to refuse payment o. the principal
and interest Of these loans. This viii
''cure them of sucking eggs" very etiectual
| ", and they can do no further mischief
by their insidious lendingof money. Let
them be punished for their oppressive
| purchase of our obligations, whether for
building railroads or levees. The llnayes
When our commissi oners have gone among
| them asking to exchange the bonds of our
State and city for money, did they not helm
olsly pu. their hands in their pockets and
launch out almost the face Of our obliga-
tons ? Did they not wickedly confde in
| our assurances that not only our faith but
property would be always bound for the
payment of what we borrowed
The Bulletin and Mr. Beck have not az
rived at the true cause Of complaint. /.
IS against ourselves. The school of poll
ticlans to which these authorities belong
has never advocated any mode Ct employ
ing labor, save in agriculture. They have
| extended their opposition to tariff into
| g hostility to manufactures and shipping
| Is a result, while the South made cc.ton,
sugar, tobacco and rice, it expended the
value in carriages, jewc.s.ry, furniture and
clothing IN ce.Ined fruits and vegeta-
bles-ln Goshen butter and New England
i, .uil,. The effect Of this exchange Of aSri-
cultural values for perishabe commodities
was to capitalize Southern earnings in
the hands Of Northern manufacturers.
When the war began the North
had ships, manufactures, capital and
foreign credits, The South transferred
its exports to European ports, and eZ-
changed its cotton agains. articles o.
military and social necessity. The North
| and West, having lost It's Southern mar
l3et, made a marhe. 81 the army. |. fur
| nished food, clothes and arms, horses,
ships and steamboats,. It received pay in
currency or bonds at deprecated rate.
| These We're rendered valuable by the re-
suit Of the war, and by the expectation Of
| Southern staples since the war. The ten
dency Of the Southern system was, and IS,
to the expectation and expenditure Of its
whole revenues. The policy OF the North
was 70 the production Of values to be ez-
changed against Southern productions,
the results of which it carried to capital
That capital it has loaned to the South,
and good deal more TO the West, and
taken bonds for the loan. We repeat that
''the b1e,ss,ling up Of these bondholders"
is q process taught by the assessment Of
orr Common Council.
| Whatever tie hostility TO the Republican
administration, or to the republican form
OF government, we do not think that it
Will improve the matter to attack the
'bloated bondholder" or the iron heeled
oppressor. The borrower is still the slave
Of the lender. It might be, perhaps, bet
ter to transfer our colonial allegiance to
some royal government, but then we
should have to borrow money and be
slaves Of the lender all the same. Already