The Osceola times., 1878-02-02
JUSTICE.

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Senator VOORHEES,, of Indi.
ana, Makes a Demand
aa. for it.
Justice for tho People as Well as fol
the Bondholders.
An Exhaustive Review of the
Whole Subject.
In the senate, a few days since, Mr.
Matthews gave way 10 Senator Veorhees
in order that he might address that body
on resolution submitted by him before
the holidays, declaring 1t of the highest
Importance that the financial credit ol
the government be maintained. In or.
der to do no, the government itself, In
all its departments, should, in good faith,
keep all its contracts and obligations
entered into with its own citizens. 'l
Mr.. VOORHEES, said the agitation of the
question of finance will never cease un.
til the people are satisfied that the vast
debt is in process of extinction on prin-
cirles of justice to tax x-paying labor, or
until, on the other hand, they are subju-
gated into silent submission, and The
government itself becomes a moneyed
aristocracy. Denuncixtion is now the
principal weapon used by those who are
ranged ON the side OF grasping wealth.
There Is no epithet, however base, that
Is net In daily use against all who ven
ture to believe, as do, that to q great
extent our whole financial system Is or.
ganized crime against the laboring, tax
paying men and women Of the United
States. The great plea Of the present
hour for the continuation OF wrong and
injustice is that good faith requires it.
Those who, finding monstrous evil i'm.
bedded in the laws Of their country,
seek to eradicate IL by peaceful lcgisla.
ton, are at once, and with the utmost
fury, assaulted as violators of public
faith, enemies of the national honor,
and worse, ii possible, than common
swindlers. This plea, SO loud now in
our ears, has been invoked in behalf OF
every wickedness that has ever cursed
the world. The usurper invokes it to
protect the throne he has stolen az eoon
as he is seated. The tyrant invokes it to
shelter his prerogative, and his nobility
in turn invoke 1t in order to live In ease
and splendor off the labor of others.
Mr.. Voorhees, reviewed the financial
legislation since 1862, and said expert
ence had shown the legal tender to be the
best money that ever circulated. Every
government bond which did not on its
face stipulate payment in coin was made
payable by the express words Of the law
in legal tender notes. This enactment
guaranteed to the American people the
right to pay three .fourths of the national
debt in national currency. II was the
law of contract when all the 8 20 bonds,
amounting TO over 81. 500, ,000, 900, were
purchased from the government by bond
holders and paid for in this currency at
par. when 1t was quoted at from 40 TO so
per cent. below par in coin. Every one
understood the law to be as have stated
it at the time OF its passage in fact, the
great struggle then was whether even the
interest on the bonds have mentioned
should be paid in coin. No one
in debate made the slightest pre-
tense or iutimation that the princi-
pal Of the bonds was payable in
coin. During the full term of seven
eventful yeare that followed there is not
platform Of either political party in any
state in the union which makes such an
assertion. r'fal
Mr.. voorhees, alluded to Secretary
Sherman's letter of 1868, favoring the
payment of bonds in the same kind oil
money as bought them, and his subse-
quent action in procuring the passage OF
an act for the payment OF bonds in coin,
which he said was open repudiation a. q
solemn contract, and fastened an extor-
tion of not less than $500, ,000, 900 on the
staggering industries of the country AZ
the speculative profits of the operation.
In the whole financial history OF the civ
ilized world no parallel oan be found To
this audacious deed Of broken faith,
deliberate treachery 10 the people, and
national dishonesty. 1t stands out BY
iteelf, towering high above ali common
frauds, and dwar6ng them Ia comparison
with its own vast, proportions. It will
DSdT luc udutSo w DAAupC WIZ CiAACtCQ IL
to distant generations amidst the gfoans,
curses, and Lamentations Of those whe
toll on land and sea, aud more deeply
engrayen than any other name will be
forever found that OF the secretary Of the
treasury, rs the author If what he him.
sef said constituted the twolold crime ol
reputation and extortfoh.
Mr.. Voorhees,, 10 support Of his posi-.
ton, quoted the language of Senator
Morton in 1859, ~ follows: "a comb
nation Of k-jobbers, as destitute o.
conscience as pirases, and inspired alon<
By greed for money, successfully thun
dered at these doors, and finally drove
this government into the most stupen
dous act of bad faith and legalized rob
berry ever practiced upon any people
1 since the dawn Of history"
He next took up the funding act 0
1870, charging it was the Offspring of nj
apprehension that the work Of repudis
| ting the contract for the payment OF tn
SO bonds smleht s10ehs qaite eomnlete
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