Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-02-02

parentage, and linked together for the
, destruction Of all money save gold. He
wildly portrayed the effect of such leg
station upon business and labor. He
spoke of the impossibility OF resuming
January, 1879, and attributed the vast
shriukage in the value Of property and
universal distress to the policy OF con-
traction, and said during the four years
when the volume Of currency averaged
81 ,000,O00 coo the business failures of
the entire country reached only =, l67,
less in number than occurred in any
three months Of the year Just closed.
During the period which is now sigma-
tized as one Of initiation, the windows of
business houses were not darkencd, and
business men did not 90 as mOurnefs
about the streets The laborer did not 20
home without bread to his wife and chill.
dren. Helpless millions did not cover
and tremblc at the approach Of winter
for lack OF food and shelter. The public
peace was not broken by riots in resist
ance to starvation wages. The courts
were not principally, occupied in en-.
forcing collections, torcclosing mort.
cages, ordering sheriff sales, or in pun.
ishing the destitute Outcast.
The speaker next turned his attention
to the nationa! banks, and said the sys.
TEN OF national banking now in use is the
most elaborate and complete scheme for
making people pay tribute 70 wealth,
in order to obtain a circulating medium,
ever known IN the financial history of the
world There is not a dollar in the
hands of the people on which they have
not paid a tax for the privilege OF having
it put in circulation by the government.
The national bank is the middla.man be
tween the government and the people,
and is enormously paid for doing what
the government ought directly to do
itself, On Oct. /, 1877, there were 2,080
national banks, with rcs ,urces of ST.
74l 900, 900, and on these resources the
interest paid by the people was $780,.
OOO,O00 per annum,
Mr. Voorhees, said he represented those
who demanded
!. The restoration Of the silver dollar
exactly as it stood before it was touched
by the act 0! February, 1873, They
desire that it shall have unlimited c1iu-
age, not fearing that it VIII become too
plenty for their wants, and that it be
made full legal tender, believing that
it is as good now with which to pay all
debts, public and private, as it was dur
ring eighty-one years of American his
tory.
2 The repeal Internationally OF the
act Of Jan. II, 1875, compelling the re-
sumption of specie payments on Jan. t.
1879, holding that the question Of a re.
turn 10 n specie basis for our currency
should be controlled entirely by tie busi.
ness interests Of the country. They do
not believe that the country should be
dragged through the depths OF ruin,
wretchedness, and degradation in order
to reach a gold standard for the benefit
alone of the income classes.
3, That the national ba king system
be removed, and circulating medium
provided by the government Tor the
people without taxing them for the priv
iIege of obtaining it, and they ask that
the amount thus placed III circulation
shall bear a reasonable and iudiciOus
proportion 10 the business transactions
aud population OF the United States.
4. That the currency authorized and
circulated on the authority OF the gov.
ernment shall be made legal tender in
payment OF all debts, public or private,
including all dues to the government,
well knowing that it will be at par with
gold, or more likely at premium over
ii; and,
3. That hereafter the financial policy
of the country be framed permanently
in their interest, that they shall not be
Disseminated against in future legisla.
ton, as in the past, and that their pros.
perity and not the mere growth of in
come 10 retired. capitalists, shall be the
primary duty of the government
III conclusion, Mr.. voorhees, quoted
from articles be had noticed in certain
eastern newspapers in regard to the rights
Of the bondhoders, the duty OF the
laboring classes, and the policy that
should be pursued by capitalists to coun.
teract the effects of anticipated legisla.
tiOn on the silver question, and said Sir,
have no word OF menace to utter on
this floor, but, in behalf OF every iaborer
and every owner of soil whom | repre-.
sent, warn all such as value their in
vestments that when these doctrines of
despolism are sought to be enforced, this
fair land will again be convulsed inagony,
aud the fires of liberty will blaze forth
again as they did 100 years ago in the
defense of the natural rights of man.
May the wisdom of our fathers and be.
nigaity OF our God avert such an issue
but, il it shall come, il iniatuation has
seized cur councils, the result will only
add one more instance to the long cata'
logue Of human crime and folly, where
ayarice, like ambition, overleaps itself
and in its unholy attempt to rob others
of their possessions loses its own