The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-06-10


menmarched out, who were prisoners OF
war, and shot down: men who were not
guilty Of crime themselves.
l allude to these melancholy fac of
history, not for the purpose Of fin0lng.
fault or to wound the feeling Of any one, Z
but for the purpose of supporting my arg
ument on the question Of power.
1t is, therefore, the military arm OF the
sovereign power that must he relied upon
to enforce the laws.
When the King Of England declares :--
This shall be sovereign that declara-
ton, and nothing else, makes IL sover-
eign. When the sovereign people Of the
United States, through their Congress, has
enacted Law that declares This token
of sovereign power shall be legal tender
throughout the realm then II Is a legal
tender; and the facts | have stated, show
where the power resides to enforce the
laws of Congress.
The legal token ~ sovereign power does
not, therefore, rest upon any commercial
commodity. The sovereign is not bound
to exchange commodities for It. 1t does
not rest on the property OF wealth Of the
sovereign, or that Of the individual citi-
zen neither own property nor wealth
that can be taken or made tangible By the
owner Of the token after II has left the
treasury, 10 redeem that token or exchange
it for property. unless the owner Of the
property, chooses to make an exchange !;
nor is the token founded on the honor,
integrity and good faith u the nation.
These are figures Of sp ,ech, as have said
before, that have no meaning, or at least
no force outside the statute book.
Having disposed If the question OF
power, We will turn to the Cther question.
The question nov III hand Is, how has the
sovereign power been used, or abused, by
the agents of the sovereign IN regard to
supplying the treasury with sufficient
amount Of the legal tender token of sove-
reiGuty To carry ON the government and
to hquldate all demands against the gov
eminent Not forgetting, however, that
the treasurer is forbidden by the 9th sec.
of the Constitution IRON allowing any
money to be withdrawn from the treasury
unless "a meet appropriations made by
Law
Then comes the question How can
Congress supply the wants OF the treasury
If | am right on the question Of power,
I
80 as to defy criticism.
After the war commenced, our states
men, 1t would appear, for the FIRST time,
discovered that the necessities Of a nation
begat its attributes.
The Law authorizing the issue Of the
greenbacks, made them legal tender, and
the bonds To be issued after the passage Of
that law, were, by operation OF the law,
payable IN greenbaeks. The government
stopped issuing greenbacks and issued
oonds-a fatal mistake. If a sufficient
amount of paper tokens Of the sovereign
power had been ordered by Congress to
supply the treasury. one thousand million
of dollars would have been ample for the
purpose, and not one dollar III public
debt would now exist
The Congress had power and authority
70 sdpply the wants of the treasury with
the token Of sovereignty, and make it a
legal tender, but Congress had no power
OF authority TO supply that want with
bonds or promises to Jay. and levy tax
upon the people e. pay interest on bonds
not taxed. They had no authority under
the Constitution for pursuing that policy.
Notwithstanding the loss of the govern
ment IN the sale ~ bonds It Was gain 70
the purchaser. ami the bonds being pay
able at our own treasury, III American
money, keeping It a home debt, there
could be no loss to the nation. The in
terest also payable al our treasury, the ma
ton had the benefit III the TAI or necessary
to pay the interest. But II the debt and
interest be transferred to a foreign nation,
the labor expended III paying the principal
and interest would be for the benefit Of
that nation.
To let the bonds stand under the law
and contract for which they were issued
kept the debt home debt, within the Ju-
risdIctIon and control Of our government.
And 50 long as that debt remained home
debt, the nation could control the money
power-a power says Macaulay, that rules
the world.
If the proposition was made by any for
eign government, that We, as a nation, alb
dictate our political sovereignty and again
become colonies, it would be considered
beneath contempt. But when We transfer
TO foreign nation the control Of our mo-
ney power, and become the debtor Of for
elgn nation, We put ourselves III worse
condition than to be colonies.
English statesmen were well satisfied,
after the close Of our war, that our gov
vernment cannot be broken up, and that
they have no power TO interfere in our
political affairs. But English statesmen
and England's money brokers saw that if
they could obtain control Of America 5
money power, they could control American
commerce and manufactures, and there
fore a scheme vas invented for getting
control BY England Of our money power.
ITO b. c0Htinued)