The daily gazette., 1878-01-17
Dan Voorhees,, ESQ on i Finance an &c

THE MAIDEN SPEECH THAT
BROUGHT DOWN THE SEN
ATE GALLERIES. !
1f MaH5 iai.l rIl .
WHAT THE TALL sYcAMoBE OF THE
WABASH DEMANDS, AND WHAT HR
SAYS WILL HAPPEN IF THE EAST SAYS
No-sILvkR As LEGAL TENDER. n
NH. PRESIDENT The agitation of the
question of finance has continued with>
out . moment's iinternission from the !
commencement of our present system |
until this hour. II will never cease until |
the people are satisfied that our vast debt !
10 IN process Of extinction upon principles |
Of Justice TO taxpaying labor, or until, on
the other hand. they are subjugated Into
silent submission, and the Government |
Itself becomes changed In spirit and
form into Inoneyed aristocracy. 1t |
overtake US. There are dark and plenti-
ful omens In our recent history indi-
eating conclusion, and there IL nume-
rous and powerful class In our midst who
believe, as Alexander Hamilton declared,
that the British Government, on this as
well as on the other points. is the best
ever devised by the wisdom Of man. -.
Those entertaining this opinion have
thus far triumphed in the financial legis-
lation Of the United States, and the time
has now arrived when- their victories
must be reversed, or soon this Govern>
ment will cease 10 be Republican and
the people no longer be free. The policy,
OF this victorious interest In this country
as in all others, has been yigilant for
opportunities Of greed aud gain, aud ag-
gresslve In appropriating them to its own
advantages. In It's tenacious persuit of
this policy IL has during the last sixteen
years pressed its cruel and unjust de-
mands upon the American people In q
variety ofshapes. Jast now 1t assumes
q mannerswollen with arrogance, naughty
defiant, and filed with insolence toward
all opponents. Those who are ranged
on the side Of grasping wealth affect a
high disdain for such as choose to remem-
Der that labor has rights which this Gov
ernment Is called upon TO protect. There
seems TO be an immense sneer on the
face Of sordid, inactive capital, as If its
pretensions were beyond the criticism of
side of Congress do not condescend, as q
general thing, to argument at all. De-
nnnciaiion is now their principal weA-
pom. There is no epthet, however base,
no insinuation, however infamous, that
is not OF daily use against all who dare
to differ In opinion with them. A curious
spectacle is presented on this subject by
large portion Of the Eastern press, here
and there aided by newspaper In the
West. Their columns 'reek from day to
day with clamorous abuse of all who
venture TO believe,as do, that to q great
lextent our whole financial system Is an
organized crime against the laboring,
taxpaying men and women Of the United
States. Those who think, as do, that
great work of financial reform Is de-
manded In order to secure the people
from slavery in fact, If not in name, are
denounced In the same spirit and in the
exact language with which every old
Criminal abuse In Government, through
out all history, has sought to paralyze
the work Of reformation, and beat back
the tide OF human progress. H NWoi
. Those who, finding monstrous evil
Embedded In the laws of their country,
wish TO eradicate it by peaceful legisla-
tion, are derided, and with the utmost
fury assahltsd as violators of the public
faith, enemies of the national honor ,and
worse, If possible, than common swind-
lers. II matters not how deep and burn
Ing the outrage may be, or how fraudu,
lently 1t may have crept into our statutes;
Igood faith, in the estimation of those
who profit by the outrage, requires 1t to
, i satx 10 Oh
and, day by day, the ghastly work of ruin
that now pervades the land. This plea,
80 loud now In our ears, has been invok>
ed in behalf OF every wickedness that
ever cursed the world. 1t is my purpose
! on this occasion to show what the obli-
cations Of good faith require of us on
: the great question of our fiuances, and
to arraign those who have systematically
broken 1t whenever their interest
prompted them to do so. 1t is my pur,
lpose, also, to show that while it is of the
highest Importance to maintain our fl
nancial credit, it can only be done by
!, the Government keeping all Its contract.
and obligations with, It's own citizens.
This issue has been presented of late Id
a manner SO persistent and offensive
especially to western men and Western
Interests, that 1t shall nov be met as fal
as my humble capacity enables me to
meet it.. Nnf o. NV p'utii "'I "nt.
The act Of Feb. 25, 1862, is the begin.
ming of our bonded debt. The preciou:
metals were found TO be unequal TO the
emergency Of war. Specie payment,
I were abandoned as soon as the hour ol
trial came, and gold and silver covered
Id the rear while the legal tender went
10 the front with the flag, and stayed
there. was aroong those who doubted
our right TO issue il, but experience has
shown IL to be the best money, all things
/, considered, that ever circulated on
lAmerican soil. By this act of February,
1852, and by similar legislation at sub
sequent periods, every bond issued by
1.-THE Government which did not on its
face stipulate for payment In coin, was
made payable, in the express words Of
the law, in legal>tender notes. The
simple, explicit, aud at the same time
comprehensive enactment guaranteed to
the American psople the right TO pay
Three -toarths of their national debt in
national currency. 1t was the law Of
the contract when all the five-twenty
hands. amounting to over fifteen hundred