Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-03-31
tho people But lot US look at tho pretended facts

upon which II s based.
THE COUNTRY THE DEpToR TO POOR MEN.
fe 10 true then, tho poor men are the debtorp of
the oeuntryI TO oOntrnot debt renuires credit.
ana credit u based unon means with which to paw.
men ot ,very small means ere seldom IN debt be
We We nnd tne statistcs OF private Indebtedness in
the United States before ns they would unques-
OF ts owing by men commanding
comparatively large mems, and that
the iaborers for wages the least indebted class
OF society, even in proportion 10 their earplnrs
and savings, and next to them the farmers aud
tine small business men. But the IaborinR people
are, 20 q very heavy amount, nmoua the ereditors
OF the country. Il venture 20 say that there is
neither manufacturer, nor a merchant nor n
professional man OF means in this assembly who
| is not debtor, aud among hia creditors are I'm
ninety-nine cases Of a hundred his gorkmen or
MS servants, TO whom he owes wages for part of a
week or month. IL has been calculated by good
suthorliy that the wages thus constantly owing
Tor an average or half a months service or work
amount IN the whole country to $40, 900 900 And
who is IL that owns the deposits in the savings
Danks, amounting to about $3.50 0OoO,000l Not the
rich, but the labOring people and persons of small
means, who put their surplus earnings there for
safe Keeping: 1t Is estimated that the same class
has, IN National and private banks aud in trust
coinpanies, another 00O0O,0OO, and that nearly
Sl8OOd0OO0 Is owing them in other kinds of debts
There Is, then SUN Of about 81, 400 100000 owing
10 the laboring people and men OF small MEANS
class are creditors. And you pretend that for
lnelr benefit you VIII expand tho currency. Gold
havo value OF ii O2O 900 600 in gold. Expand tbe
currency until the gold premium Is thirty, and
you nave foobed those people OF S1S0,000, 600 of
their savings; expand II. until the gold premium
H. hfy and you nave stripped them of s420,0O0 900
Of hardfarned money. There are the pensioners
OF the United States the disabled soldiers Of the
war and the widows and orphans OF those who
died for oil of us, They receive thirty millions
year. at present representing gold value of S25,
100000. Expand the currency until the gold pre-
MUM Is thirty, and you have fiched away 81 100000
year from what the Republic considers debt
OF honor, and robbed the wounded and the widows
and orphans Of so much Of their sustenauee. Pre-
oious friends Of tho people those are who, under
the debtor against
itor, rob the lahorers OF hundreds of millions OF
their hard-earned savings. and despoil even those
who have suffered for their country.
INFLATIoN FOR THE RELIEF OF sPEoULAToRs
But ia not o large portion of the mid
die class small business and farmers.
IN debt, and would they not be relieved
by an expansion aud deprceiatiOn OF the cnrreney3
NO doubt there are many OF that class buTdened
with liabilities, although the number of mort
gagged farms Ia mnch smaller than generally sup
posed. ind that here In Ohio scarcely one farm
out OF ten has any incumbranee. But however
that may be. would that expansion Of the curren-
oy benett those debtorsi I saw, MOI for a very
simple reaann. No sooner will expansion become
the declared policy of the Government than can't
telists, money lenders and business men having
money due them Will be upon their guard. Know
ing that the expansion OF tho currency will sub
1cef their Outstandng5 to progressive depreeia-
ton, they Will at once seek to anticipate that
event. They Will use every means in their power
10 get hold Of their money, or without mercy,
clutch the property that secures it, and fore
order OF the day. The creditor, TO save himself,
wiz appear il hts most relentless temper, and IN
his indebedness together with Ms ptGpertS, in the
manner most disastrous to him. will have reason
to curse those who pretended TO relieve him by
" making and keeping the volume of the ourTen-
cy eqnal ~ the wants OF trade"
But anu sure that it is not from that class OF
honest debtors that the cry for initiation comes. 1t
Is another set OF men Of different character. I
know them, for ] have seen them haunting the
lObbies OF Congress and the avenues of the Capital
when the financial question was under discussion,
and am sure you have seen them here among the
most clamOrous advocates OF imitation. do not
point 10 the political demagogue alone, who seeks
to make some capital for himself by Joining what
pointed speculators who, instead of following the
path OF frugal and steady industry, tried quickly
to get rich on their wits, by getting up large
financial operations a small capital of their
own OF on borrowed money, and who finding
themselves bafiied by an unfavorable turn of
things, aud involved IN heavy liabilities, ow want
"the peoples money" to help them out of the
lurch and TO pay their bills Here 1t is a specula-
mouth or a railroad Junction; then again large
operation in coal lands, or silver mines, or fancy
large expansion OF the currency TO plunge The
country once more into the fever of wild specula-
palm of their elephants upon other people and
then, when they themselves have secured their
prIze, leL the oeVli take me nindmost. AND
men on this class are the most vociferous apostles
OF the peoples money"
THE COST WOULD BE PAID BY LABOR.
Suppose they succeed in their scheme; suppose,
they not only get rid OF their liabilities, but make
millions OF profit on their gambling enterprises,
the cost Not the victims alone who are foolish
enough to take the speculating enterprises off
their hands, and then are caught by the I'm al
crash inevitably TO come. such victims would,
perhaps deserve their fate. No. the cost would
be paid by the laboring men of the country whom
the depreciation or the currency would plunder OF
the difference between the rise OF the prices OF
necessaries aud tho rise OF wages The cost would
be paid by the industrious and frugal. whose de-
posted savings wOnld be robbed of their value;
by the pensioners the disabled soldiers. the
widows and orphans of the slain, whose slender
incomes would be despoied of their power to buy
bread; by every honest man in the land who
the inflated currency would bring with It. 1t is
the peoples money" they call IT.
snScaad SSs tell ,nIr the sPssenat0rF s they win not
ing very serious mistake in their oalcu-
latIon: They believe If We now, initiate the
currency things will go on rs swimminRIy as they
did when, during the war, the legal-tenders were
first issued and gradually augmented. They Will
the legal tenders were first issued our people had
to gain their first experiences with an frredeema-
INSTANTANEOUS DEPRECIATION AND PUBLIC Ca
LAhITr.
The Rreenbaok appeared. not as trick OF
scheminR nananclers, but as the creature of pub
lie necessity. The people had full confidence in
the integrity and good faith OF as TO
the tulhlment of its promises. When the events
Of the war went disastrously against u.s. doubts
arose as 70 the ability of the Government to re-
intentions. Those doubts affected the value OF the
paper money. But when the chances OF war
uincu III OuI iANOIt anu at ldsJ Jue arms OF the
Union triumphed, there scarcely q man in
the land who did not believe that what tue Gov
ernment had promised would, as a sacred oblga-
ton, be faithfully performed. And the same con
ndence which the legal-tender commanded at
home was commanded by our bonds abroad
But If you initiate the currency under
present circumstances, what Will be the
condition of things thenl The addition
al green6aek will not appear as the
creature OF an imperative public necessity, TO
save the life of the Republic in the extremity of
peril IL Will appear as the product of a scheme
the purposes OF which are dark. The world Will
begin 70 suspect that when Government, in the
face OF the disastrous experiences OF mankind, re-
sorts TO 80 extraordinary and dangerous a meas
nre without necessity, It's integrity not longer
be depended upon. Doubts Will arise, and very
serious doubts, not TO the ability,
but as 20 the honest Intentions of the
Government TO redeem its promises. And those
doubts VIII fall upon our business life like dead
ening blight. The last remnant of confidence will
be paralyzed.i The world will see the speeter OF
Repatriation looming up behind so reckless inan-
cial policy. The faith of mankind in the integ-
rity Of our Government giving way, our credit
Will be shaken to its very foundations,
and, as you sometimes see the depositors of a
bank excited by the rumOr that the cashier is max
ing away with the cash, instinetively unite in a
feverish run upon the counter, SO you must not
DO surprised H. IN the general alarm about threat
en1ng dishonesty, yOu see the securities not only
Low