Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1875-10-07
From the Christian Union

When so intelligent body OF meu a, met To-
/ geihcr In the Massachusetts, Dcnoc rsIic Con
Yeuion can listen quietly 10 speaker who
makes a distinction between the "bOnlholder ;,
/ dollar and the ''workingman'- dollar and can
with one accord refrain from anulhilating such
iim-y distinction, IL becomes painfully cyilcn
/ that neither reiprmcrs. nor opposition, nor
/ haTd-inoney men have Vet clear understand
/ ing Of the uniform level upon which both bond
holders and work ingmcn stand.
The actual truth l. This: Bondholders and
workingmcn cannot he separate, into two d--
/ tlnct classes. Among farmers. mechanics and
| trustees Of heirs and estate. there are at ra.,
\ ten bondholdcrs for every one that can be- found
! among rich men. When the first war loan As
| put upon the market II was exactly this elias.
/ OF pcople-thosc of limited iucomcs-~ho too K
/ the bonds. The demand for bond. Of the small
/ er denominaiions-Sj0 800 and SoOo-wn,
enormous. When the oft-,ieierred pay tlay
/ came IN the army, and soldier. were Offer ed
| the option OF greenbacks or bonds many thou
sands of the lsttoi were tskcn by the .olIlci :.
| who .cnt them home TO their families 1t
should DE- remembers q that al this time these
/ bonds did not command premium nor were
| they quite Mt par. TO place such inyc,ter.-
! modest INDIVIDUALLY, but collectively the men
/ aud " omen " Au saved the nation-among the
ranks Of "bloated bondhollers" /. To oder an
| insult too great u Be wiped out by lis ridicu-
| lou-ness. We'll may Mr.. Mccullough. cx- sec
/ retary Of the Treasury. say:
Il recoliect the time when the subscribers
/ rot>, and happen TO know to what class the V
/ belonged. With rare exceptions they were not
capitalists, for the capitalists ~ 4 class permit
ted prudence TO take the lead ofpatrioti-m. and
hesitaled 10 become the purchaser. Of VIVA;
| then were regarded doubtful securities. Ihey
| were not violent partisans, who's oppo-itio TO
| the Administration was stronger than their
! love Of the Union. They were not thu.e whn
weer in sympathy with The South. tor Southern
! SYM athiZer, knew that the proceeds Of every
Z a - Id a.
| erai soldiers aud sailors, or were Used in other
/ way. Tor the Prosecution OF the war. The pur-
| chasets Of our bonds were the patriotic men Of
| all IarGies, chiefly men OF moderate means
| who were resolved that the Union should he
saved. no matter at what cost Of money or
| blood"
| II is argued that this particular elias. ot iu-
| yeSor- have had their bond, called in, that
bosd, are now purchased By ricn men, who
! ihs, hide capital which should be employed in
| ai,Ang the business Interest," OF the country
\ itatement more mi ,eading could hardly be
| uttered. Amoung cautious people whose saw
/ ins, are small, the bond- OF the United States
AT. still the fayorIte security in these DAYS OF
| falling banks and Of railways which cannot de-
| cltr., dividends. Among rich men the bond,
| are held, not final depository for surplu,
funl-, but a, the best security upon which 10
| bJrrOur money at any moment IL may be need
| Fl for Investment elSetrhere. Every bank
| With money Ia lend prefers National bonds To
/ ,
! comfort OF knowing that the security itself is
| drawing interest Does any workingmen sup
| pose for an instant that the interest paid upon
bond. is the best income that the rich man can
get for hi, money; Happy is the workingma N
| who. when he has tried 10 borrow money on
| first mortgage, has not had TO pay u vastly
larger percentage through some one Of the
many methods devised 10 eyade the usury laws.
| Large Manufacturers and railway corporations
connot get other than cali loans-that is,
] L.. l..f lt...t
at any moment-without paving 4 great deal
7 higher rate of interest than the boudholder re-
/ cei,es.
| The attempt 10 make distinction between
| the gold received by the bOndholder and the
| paper in which The workingman Is paid Is also
| a foolish as it is dishonest. No one ever saw
a bondhOlder spending gold coin; he sells it ut
once, and with the paper money he gets for ii
| he buys his bread and meat at the same prices
which are paid by his shoemaker, his carpenter
| and his gardner. The possession OF thousands
OF dollars in gold does not enable any man to
| buy pound of sugar for less money than is
| paid by his neighbor who has only currency
| enough TO pay for single pound. That both
| humble laborer and heavy capitalists use the
| same currency and are subject to the results Of
| its faults is proved by the like uncertainty Of
| the laborer in obtaining steady work, and OF
| the employer in looking for money to carry on
his operations and cover his pay roll. The two
| classes have been arrayed against each other
| many times by real or fancied grievances. but
| never by so groundless a pretence is now
being fabricated by cliques Of both the hard
money party and the infiationists. II is true
that the continuance of baseless paper curren-
cy gives the capitalist an advantage over other
men by enabling him to profit by those fuctu-
atoms which must take place in trade 80 long
as our currency has no stable foundation. On
the other hand, his transactions are performed
under greater risk than would exist did the
currency consist of specie, and fortunes are
now lost more rapidly than in the good old
times when every one carried gold and silver.
For persons claiming the designation of'wOrk-
ing men" to allow themselves to be misled, by
meaningless catchwords, as to the real inan-
cial issues before the country will be to divest
themselves Of the credit which they have here
tofore enjoyed for sense and thoughtfulness.