Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-06-26
IlaiIu Atnnrbct sOurnaI
The Poor Mans Capital and Par
ty.
AUG q - a,
Wednesday Morning. June 20, 1878.

The currency of the country is the poor
mans capitalize capital OF labor. The
poor and generally those who work on
wages have no other capital says an able
writer on financial matters. The rich man
has his bonds, houses, lands, ships, and
so forth; the merchant has banks and
credit; the manufacturer has machinery
as his capital but the laboring man has
only the money that he earns daily; and
so with sll working people who live by
wages-the only capital they ever get hold
of is the share of currency to which they
become entitled by their labor. The cur
rency is the capital of the spade, the
plough, the anvil. the tool bench, the type
case, the needle, and in fact OF every em-
ployment that is carried on by the great
mass of the people, who have no other
capital, and who never get aty other.
To the poor man then it is ol the great
est importance that the currency OF the
country, that in which he receives his wa
yes, III WHICH 10 ail wv Nhlf'N0i Nv l. 'ooNa1-
es, should be sound and good as gold. 1t
he gets his pay in paper notes, green
backs or any other, which on their face
promise to pay one dollar each and yet
are only worth seveniy.iive cents IN the
market in exchange for groceries or other
commodities, he is actually getting but
Goo mt a Hta No Ia.
which he is paid is lie. 1t is cheat. 1t
is not what it purports to be. 1t is not
dollar nor the representative Of dollar.
But the moment it is made convertible in
to coin, then it becomes the representa-
tive of an honest dollar, and it will bring
to the poor man Just as many groceries,
as much cloth, as much OF anything pur-
chasable as the best gold or silver dollar
in this country or any other on The face OF
the globe.
Now the greenbackers with Il ! their
wordy pretensions about helping the poor
and the unemployed, are embarked in a
scheme to make the currency poor-to re-
duce the poor mans capital to nothing
to cheat him in wages--tD make him think
that every note he holds is good at its face
value, when in fact it is only good for
fraction of what it pretends to be. This
scheme is not new one or doubtful as to
its effects 1t has been tried repeatedly
in our own and other countries aud it al
ways ends 10 failure and ruin aud III, tress
wherever tried This is the kind OF cur
rency that the greenbackers advocate
Those who are opposed to the green
hackers favor an honest. sound paper cur.
rency, convertible into gold or silver il the
holder desires it. They want currency
as good for the poor man as for the rich,
as good as bonds, worth al that ii claims
TO be on its face. We were driven by the
stress of war to adopt the greenback sys
tenn, but after thirteen years of peace we
ought to have paper currency that is
good for all il promises, and we are al
most at that point and hope to be quite
there by January next, in spite OF the
greenback demagogues and their mad
schemes.
Never was there greater lie than to
call the greenback party the poor
mans party. The poor mans par
ty should be the party that will
guarantee him gold or silver for his
greenbacks or bank bills. 1t is not par
ty that believes in shaving the poor mans
note twenty-five or fifty per cent when be
goes to market with it, as the greenback-
ers do, but in giving him full value for the
face of the bill.