The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1877-11-29
How Bland Took Down the New York Bankers.


The following is the speech of Mr..
Bland regarding the silver bill made
before the Senate Committee Oh FL
nance in reply to the New York bank
ers-who were present-and about
which SO much has been said:
did not come here with the expec-
tation of making any remarks what
ever; more as "A listener; but. as a
matter Of course, when the gentleman
was figuring there while ago, took
this position-and think il a teuable
one-that, admitting, as he did in his
figures, that our debt abroad and at
home, under the law, is payable in sill
yer, and that a bushel of wheat is
worth a dollar aud eight cents in sill
yer and dollar in gold; that the
farmer in the West. and he made
some allusion TO the East, that paws
his eastern debt in wheat, as he has to
do it if it is measured in silver, he
will gain eight cents over that meas
ured in gold. His debt was contract
ed when you had al inflai ed currency !;
he never borrowed of you one solitary
cent of gold. nor even of silver, but
" hat YOU call Il deprecated currency
"a fraud--when il was inflated; and
to day the farmer of the West that
with hundred bushels of wheat five
or six wears ago, in your inflated cur
rency, could pay $500 of that dept, to-
day can pay but $z5. That is why;
that is what he complains of. 1t is IA
plain proposition. His debt stands
him so many dollars. His debt never
/ n h.t 10
ured i'm units, in dollars, in mortgages
calling for dolars-he got greenback
dollars when they were way below
gold. You now undertake TO make
him pay you IN gold by contracting
and doing away with the money that
he borrowed of you, and you claim
now that you are not satisfied even
with silver that has been the money
| of this country ever since this was a
Government, "a money that is incorpo-
rated i'll your constitution by your
fathers as the coin of your country,
and was 80 until the act of 1873 thai
dropped it from the coins; the money
OF the constitution, the money con
tract deuomlnated in your bonds that
was TO be payable in coin at its pres
ent weight and tineuess, which is the
silver dollar OF 4l25. Then, if you
recolect, it is the producers of this
country that pay all your debts; you
gentlemen in Wall Street do not pay
one dollar of il; it is the great pro-
ducing element of this country that
pays YOU aud pays these debts; debts.
| say. that were contracted i'll paper
aud now you want to compel them, by
doing away with that paper, with
drawing il, contracting the currency
reducing the value of the commodi,
ties IN which you are to be paid; that
is the complaint they make, and il
does seem to me it is u very just one
Ii was III debL five years ago 800
my iabor-the wages were worth one
dollar day, 500 paid that debt. To-
day, after the reduction of the volume
OF the circulating medium, you have
reduced the prices 50 that this labor
Is worth only iiity cents, and instead
of paying i'll $500 it takes $500; that IL
plain. These are plain propositions
that the people want to understand
and they cannot be satisfied by any
such propositions as that you can
borrow little money a little cheaper
some W here when you have gold
standard than when future commodi
Ties are measured by gold and silver
| These commodities will pay so much
more than when measured by gold
alone; and, having contracted debts
IL paper basis or inflated prices, yon
now ask them 10 pay you on contract
ed price. You take two bushels oi
wheat, whereas you give them bul
one, and | want TO say now, with all
due Difference here, you had better &c.
cept the proposition. Ii L know the
people that | represent, and | think
do, throughout all the West and South
and we had little experiment of il
last summer, when there was an up
rising OF il throughout the Union, aud
promises were made that this finan-
cial matter would be attended to, that
these people would have some relief
and these men went home and art
looking TO Congress to-day. But
tell you if YOU put on the screw much
further, and reduce these people much
further TO necessity, when the upris-
ing comes again there Is no power IL
this Government to put il down; and
The interests of your bonds being paid
in gold, they will be wiped out a.
with sponge; and stand here as d
conservative man when | say SO. | am
willing to pay it as demanded i'll the
bond, and tor what the contract calls
| but unless this measure is adopted
YOU will see men in The next Congress
that will place you back where you
were in 1869, making your debt pay
ale in paper. | speak to you as a
friend and not as an enemy, as afriend
to my country. aud [ warn you now,
sincerely and honestly; and take care
OF that warning; you had better not
oppose this bill.