Middletown transcript., 1875-10-16

Congress what would be the result I
Would he not be arrested. fined and
imprisoned, and his business broken up I
for no man would deal with him be-
cause of his dishonesty. Now l Vsk
you, in ell fairness, suppose you pur-
chased Eve pounds Of tea, for which the
owner asked and you promised one dol
lar per pound, and when he weighed
you the full weight how can it be right
that you should tender him q paper
note worth but eighty or eighty-6ve on
the dollar; which is the more danger
Gus offense against the community
the false and Auctuating measure Of
value or the false measure Of quantity :?
Is not either equally fatal to honest
dealing Is not the standard measure
Of each equally necessary? Is it polite
or right. or just in Congress to omit or
forsake its duty in fixing standard Of
value for the money of the people just
as much as for the weights and mea-
sures Of the commodities they buy and
sell ? Why should not . dealer justly
reply to your complaint Of his short
weight or measure that your money
was equally short in value? Why
should one offense bc punished more
than the other? Is not the false and
fuctuating measure Of moneys value
juat as dangerous and destructive to
fair dealing between man and man as
the short measure and the light weight :
Insist therefore upon having this stand
ard of value restored to you; demand
of any party in the name Of the Consti-
tuition Of your party that this measure
of value shall be restored; point ont to
any Senator or member of Congress his
oath to support the Constitution Of the
United States, and bid him keep it.
Let your text be short and plain from
this time forth until yeur demands are
acceded to. If not granted in your
day. teach it to your children
HARD MONEY FOB HARD LABoR-HoNEs1
Z MONEY YoR HeBHsT MEN.
If our forefathers thought they need
cd it in 1776 how much more do We 10
1876? One hundred years ago Europe
was q distant and unknown country,
Africa, Asia and South America known
to us only by the traditions Of travellers
and geographers. and now thanks to
steam and electricity, all are at our
very doors. The oceans are almost
bridged by fleets of steamships, and a
message to China is given and answer
ed in as little time as it takes to write
it out.
This wonderfully-a -altered condition
calls upon us to be in dccord with them,
The importance Of . Nation in the
family Of Nations consists mainly in its
share in the commercial transactions Of
the world. live are to have our just
place and our share in all this We must
deal in the money of the mercantile
porld. Now. bring the currency which
4 Republican Administration have fore
ed upon rs into contact with the money
of the rest of the commercial world, and
it shriyels like, dead leaves. It is no
measure Of value Ii is discarded and
worthless in the worlds commerce.
Have you reflected that every pound Of
cotton, Of tobacco, every bushel Of
wheat Or corn, and every other product
which we export, has its price fixed for
purchase Of us in the money Of the COM
mercial world, that is: gold and silver.
and yet our people, who own and pro-
duce all this real wealth. are paid in
paper, whose fluctuations are altogether
at their risk and cost p
How long shall this state Of things
continue? Ought not our Legislation
to set with steady current in favor of
restoration of specie paymentsf Can
it be doubted that sound economy de-
mands this / am not unmindful, my
fellow citizens, that . vast amount Of
securities created in the speculative
period, fostered by the false financial
system Of the past fourteen years, are
now held BY honest and worthy men
who dread the effect Of anything like
contraction 10 the volume of the cur
rency in which they are puichasable.
do not propose haste or violence in
the restoration of specie standard into
which our currency shall be made con-
vertible. All great reforms to be
wholesome and bene6cent must be
gradual, but must be- commenced, and
being SO commenced the business of the
country will gradually and without dis
tress accommodate itself to the result
desired. Now, I say, in all sincerity
and interest in the welfare Of every
citizen of this country, and especially
to those who believe that imitation. ex-
pansion of the present volume of our
paper currency. would be a measure Of
permanent or real relief in their trans
actions; that if in any way any party,
no matter which. having control Of the
legislative power of the Government.
shall begin the policy Of relief through
imitation. that not only will the possi-
bility of any accession of foreign capi-
tai be rendered hopeless, but all invest
monts held in this country for foreign
account which can be paid and dis
charged in such currency, will be anx-
iously and rapidly recalled, and in the
pressure upon the market caused by
such sales a crash in values will be seen
to which our present sufferings are not
comparable. What We want to-day to
relieve the terrible depression in trade
is not currency. but wamt of confidence
Men will not embark in operations so
uncertain in their results and eras Of
wild and reckless speculation are always
succeeded by timorous distrust. A
very wealthy man was reported to me
the other day as declaring that his
chief want now was q FIRE and burglar
proof safe, in which his wealth could be
locked. What we want is the conf
dence Of capitalists. domestic and for
g. =