The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1877-12-12
PHESIDEyT's MESSAGE,

.
raised by friend or foe Except the
fraudulent means by which he gained
his high office since his Inauguration.
His views upon the subject of Civil
Service Reform needed no elaboration
in this, his first public document. lie
has shown 10 the country that he be-
lieves in rewarding his friends aud pun
ishing his enemies, Ike other common
mortals. His exposition of his ideas
Iuuchiu: icnuro-oi-o tiicc does not place
/ him above the rest of us in purity of
motives. Ii indicates that he Is tarred
with the same stick that has painted
all partisan Presidents black from the
/ beginning of our National history. 1t
makes clear to the most casual observ-
err that he who has made an altar for
himself upon which to worship the dis
interested patriotism Of Hayes, must
shatter his idol and come down to the
level of ordinary people. There is no
virtue in Ruthelfo that is not at
tended with the self-same vices com
mon TO all men of mark that have
ever made a career since creation
dawned 1t may fairly be said of him,
We suppose, that he is no worse than
his predecessors in this respect. His
ideas of civil service reform are 10
worse than those of Tilden, and not
greatly different from those that have
been put in practice by every politi-
elan who has held office in this country
since it took It's place in the list of ma
tons,
We come now to his views upon the
money question. If he were a really
great statesman We should naturally
look to his treatment of this subject
upon the high plane of craftsmanship.
He begins his message with declara-
ton OF his entire ignorance of this one
great subject, when he thanks a kind
Providence that the country enjoys,
among other blessings, th't of wealth.
This is pious and proper if it is true.
But the statement is absolutely false.
The country WAS never so poor as il is
to-day, Notwithstanding abundant har-
vests and the widespread practice of
economy in living. Men work harder
with less returns for their industry
than they have ever enjoyed. Power
ty walks the highways and clusters
around street corners. immortality
and vice boldly assert them ewes. Re
ligious precepts are laughed to scorn.
Faith is stricken with paral ysis.-
Men believe nothing that they have
not in their hands. Property of all
kinds is daily decreasing in value. The
whole drift of general prosperity, is
towards the center of the maelstrom
of bankruptcy and ruin that is sweep
ing everything into its resistless cur
rent. All business is conducted upon
the basis Of sham, and all shams are
daily developing into open and shame
less frauds. Neighbors that have lived
side by side for a quarter of century,
begin 10 distrust each other. The
Sheriif's hammer makes more noise
than all the manufactures combined.
The earth grOans with the rich
fruits of mans industry and yet the
people suffer for the necessities of life.
There is nothing so cheap as human
labor; nothing so dear as human hap
piness. This state of affairs has been
brought about by legislation in the in
terests of the few against the many.
The medium by which exchanges have
been effected, have been stolen from
the channels of trade on the plea that
the national honor demanded the rob-
berry of the people. The government
bonds held abroad and bought with
gold at the rate of thirty to forty cents
ON the dollar, must be appreciated to
par If every home in the land shall be
dcsOlated. ShylOck must have his
pound OF flesh though his debtor bleed
10 death. The honor of the nation is
pledged only TO the bondholder who
speculated on the necessities of the
nation during the civil war. The
people have no rights to assert and
no wrongs to redress. They have
given a mortgage on their livos and
must pay the debt. They ought to
have known, when they took up arms
in defense of the Union, that they
would have to pay for the dance of
death. They ought to be ashamed to
cry for mercy at TIE hands of the bond
holders; they who fought on every
battlefield of the South in defense of
the Union, ought to esteem it high
privilege TO pay the bondholdcr hun
dred cents for every thirty he lent to
the paymasters and commissaries while
the people were at the front.
These, in brief. are Mr.. Hayes views
on The money question. The people
are only to consider the services rem
dered the government by the money
mongers while the nation was strug
Cling for existence. If it be neces-
sary, the people must add to the sac
ri6ces they have made in blood, the
cOnfiscation of their estates, that the
mOney-mongers may he paid three
times the principal of their loan. Of
course the message means that Hayes
will veto the silver bill and the re-
peal bill. There is no hope for the
greenback cause during his admins
tration, unless the greenbackers shall
procure two-lhirds majority in both
branches of Congress. 1t is all tile
more important, therefore, that no one
should be elected to Congress or the
Legislature, who docs not, in advance
of nomination, preclaim his fealty to
the cause Of the people.