Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-10-11
AN INITIATION IDEA.
Carl Schurx on the Pet Three
Sixty-Five Scheme.
from his Terre Haute Speech. ]


Now the question occurs, What is
to be done? There are a great many
financial philosophers around you
who invent all sorts of financial
schemes. Most of these new inven-
tons are really old. They have been
tried over and over again, under cir
cumstances similar to those in which
we now find ourselves, and they have
always been exploded by the expert
ence of mankind.
There is one, however, which has
the appearance of novelty, and, mas
much as learn that here among my
audience, and in this neighborhood,
there are great many believers in
the scheme, allow me to say few
words about it. 1t is the so-called
1855 bond scheme, the plan to put into
I circulation the so-called interchange
able bonds, according to which plan
a man, when he has money, may go
to the Treasury Of the United States
and put it there, receiving therefor o
bond bearing interest at the rate Of
3.Gj of one per cent, or one cent day
on the hundred dollars, and when the
! man wants his money back for use, he
can go to tho treasury and present his
bonds there and get his greenbacks.
| A bloated money-bag, to use a
phrase of our opponents, may have
money, but may not at the time be
liable profitably to use it. What does
he do? He goes with his money to
the treasury of the United States and
puts it in there. and gets interest up
X nj fn <,c2 &c
cent. Who is it that pays interest to
him? 1t is the government of the
United States. What does the gov
eminent of the United States do with
that money? Does it probably en-.
ploy it so that it will yield revenue
, Not at all. The money remains there
with the government of the United
, States, and it lies there idle.
n Now, my fellow citizens, while the
bloated money bag, who has put that
| money into the treasury, got out hit
1866 bonds, and gets the interest day
+ after day, who is it that pays that in.
: terest to the bloated money bag
!, Why, of course, it is the tax payers Of
!, the country who furnish the govern.
ment with those funds that the gov.
| that mean? 1t means that when 9
, capitalist has money that lie does MOI
, know what to do with, he can put
that money into the treasury of ths
United States, so long as he cannot
employ it probably TO himself, ani
then you are all invited to pay inter.
est to that bloated money bag for thu
' privilege of having his money lie
, there Idle. Now l ask my fellow-cit
liens if that is not a gross absurdity
A good thing for the bloated money
, bag, indeed.
If the capitalist, money, the money.
f bag, can put his money when he can.
profitably employ it into the treasury
of the Unithd States-and You al
contribute your mite to have interest
paid him, by what rule should not the
farmer, when he has grain, corn, oats
or wheat that he cannot sell proflta.
bly,, put them into the treasury also
and have interest paid on them?
J think the rule that is good for the
money lender, the capitalist for the
bloated money-bag, ought to be good
T for the hard-fisted farmer also. Ap-
plause.l My friends do you like this
scheme as well as you did fifteen
minutes ago? Laughter
Tho speaker, in the further course
of his remarks, said there is but one
way out of this trouble and confusion
allow me to express it with q straight
E forward woodland that is return
to specie payments. Applause. ]
There is but one way to remove un-
certainty, flucluation of values, fever
ish excitement-but one way to re-
! store confidence. to render the revival
Of business possible-and that is to
make the paper money we have now,
exchangeable for coin, thus to give il
a fixed value, and thus to put the bus
mess of the country on the firm
ground of metallic basis. There is
no other way; no other solution is
possible,