Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1878-09-03

receivable. l have been the advocate
of stable currency, and your plat
form demands stability. / have con-
tended that the precious metals ought
not to be demOnelized, and the plat
form asserts the same doctrine. / have
spoken and voted against an increase
of our bonded debt. | have advocated,
to the best of my ability, strict econ
omy, reduction of expenditures and a
revenue tariff. My course, therefore,
has been perfectly consistent with the
platform of our Convention. as the
Journals and de ates of the Senate Will
show. And / beg leave to add that /
have never given a vote in the nine
years I have sat in the Senate to
which exception was taken by the
democracy of Ohio, so far as 1 know
or have ever heard.
Fellow-citiZens, / trust [ have not
offended propriety or good taste by
making these few remarks about my
self. You are portion of my con-
stituents and | have right to know
whether | have represented you cor
rectly or otherwise. If have a repu-
tation worth preserving. it is for your
| interest as well as mine that it shall
not be uniustly tar n ished. But
I enough upon this theme.
When the currency part Of the plat
! form is carefully scrutiniZed it will be
found that its principal feature is the
proposed substitution of greenba
! for national bank notes. think that
do them no injustice when say that
the leaders of the republican party are
in favor of directly the opposite course
that is To say, they would retire all
! the greenbacks in order that their
! places might be filled with natiOnasl
bank notes. Let either course be TAX
en-, and the metallic money of the
country remains the same. Use eth
er kind of paper, and the amount of
coin in actual circulation, apart from
the small coins used for change, will
be paratively small, so long as one
aud two and five dollar notes are free
ly issued, for such notes always drive
coin out of circulation, and whenever
conversion into coin is practicable and
desirable it will be just as easy TO con-
vert greenbaCks as To convert hank
notes The question, then, is narrow
ed down to this-shsll our paper mon
ey lie national bank notes or green
backs ? For several reasons that
will briefly state | think that the lat
ter are preferable.
NATIONAK BANK CURRENCY MEANS PERPETFA-
TIoN OF THE NATIONAL DIRT.
/. In the first place a national bank |
currency means the indefinite pcrpet- |
uation of the national debt. The ma !
tiOnal banks. so far az their circulation !
~ concerned. are founded on that debt |
II is the security for their notes and |
l.. 4 4 l., l..
must retire their circulation and cease |
To issue notes. III order, therefore, TO |
perpetuate their privilege Of issuing |
notes. they must strive to peri etuaIe |
the national debt. And you may rest |
assured that they will DO SO, and the |
influence of more than two thousand |
such institutions, spread all over the |
country will be very powerful indeed |
Now, I am not one of those who be-
lieve that a a Z Ona debt is
q national blessing. | believe that the |
reverse of this is true, and that such a
debt is a national curse. To say moth
ing of its cOrrupUing influences. its
drain of the resources of the people to
pay interest is fearfully oppressive, es-
peCially when q large portion of the
debt is held abroad In compare
lively brief period the amount of in
terest paid exceeds the principal of the
debt, while the drain continues in I'M
diminished force. Heavy taxation is
the necessary result, and every one
who has studied the subject knows
that oppressive taxation is one of the
worst foes to the industry aud pros
perity of country. 1t is true that
the national debt cannot he speedily
IL, -, !
sary obstacles in the way of its pay
ment. The ma i0nal bank notes are
such an obstacle, and for that reason
are obj ctionable. Your platform
wisely advocates 1.-The gradual extinc-
ton of the public debt" 1t thus IA
vOrs its honest payment and opposes
its indefinite perpetuation. And in
strict harmony with this principle it
condemns bank note system that
tends to perpetuate it.
2, A second objection to the nation
al bank system is that it tends to com.
hine, concentrate aud intensity the
money power. / shall indulge in no
defamation against the money power.
/ seek to excite no passion, no prtju-
dice. l wish to reason fairly and
v ish to judge fairly. And / do re-sOn
fairly wnen l say that, in view of the
uDdOubt d fact that during the whole
period of the unlimited sway of the
republican party, the legislation of
of Congress steadily favored the mon.
eyed interest and thereby greatly ad-
ded to the burdens Of the people !; that
the purchasing power of money has
immensely increased. while the eX-
changeable or purchasing power of
NV !, fr,rr IL no. /
AIRY or has diminishen and in view of
the further fact that the national bank
system cOnfers special privileges upon
the banks that no other institutions
and no individuals enjoy that it COM
hines more than two thousand institu-
lions now, and, if perpetuated, may
combine thousands more. in COM
mon purpose and with common in
terest TO maintain their power and
prolong their privileges; that these in
stitutions are scattered all over the
Republic and, acting openly or in ne
cret, are able to influence legislatures,
and thousands of voters
it is not Injustice, but. on the contra
ry, il is the expression of q wise anx-
lie v to suggest that such system is
fraught with danger to the prosperity
of the people and to the purity of their
If, in the time of An
drew Jackson. the existence of a ma
tional hank, with a capital of only
S35, 900, 600, and a few branches here
and there, was considered dangerous
to the welfare and the institutions CT
the country. what shall we say of
widespread combination of 1000 ma
tiOnal banks now welding nearly
$500, 600, 900 of capital. and destined, if
perpetuated, to vastly multiply in
number and to control thousands of
millions.
5. a third objection to the national
bank circulation is that it is a special
privilege that puts many millions of