The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1878-01-03
THE GREAT QUESTION OF THE HOUR.
SHALL TIE PEOPLE BE THE RULERS OF. Oh
SLAVES 70, THE MONEY POWER.
A Few Reflections and Suggestions Touching
Silver and Geld.

The EAGLE stood in the front ranks |
with such papers of The west as de
manded of Congress the why's and the
whereiores of the uuholy work which
destroyed The bi-metalic measure OF
the nations money. From time TO
time our readers have been furnished
such reasons as presented themselves,
for our course. The constitution,
good faith, usage, law, contracts, and
expcdiency, all seem to cry cut against
the act that attempted to destroy the
oldest and best known money of civil
izaiion. Upon the same subject, sew
eral exceedingly valuable arguments
from the pen of one Of our eminent
and experienced citizens have been
published. Still, so many new rea-
sons come up daily and almost honrly
that, SO long as there seems any dan
ger of President Hayes vetoing the
reconciliation bill. we feel it a duty
to present them, disconnected and in-
dependent though they may prove.
The great and immortal Lincoln, al
Ter having successfully established the
fact of national unity, and just be-
fore his tragic death, said but one
thing troubled him, and that was the
vast amount of our national debt
But" said the grand, far-seeing states
man, "the same Providence that per-
mitted it 10 be created iii abolishing
slavery and saving the nation, had pro-
yided, in the vast silver mines of Ne
yada and the west, the means for its
payment The demonetizers of sill
vcr would utterly destroy, if they
could, these magnificent mines of ma
tional wealth that few bondholders
might be benefited. Wise statesman
ship that, which would destroy or de-
preciate values already possessed, in
stead of utilizing them. To refuse to
coin these vast deposits of an intrin-
sically valuable metal and use the same
10 pay debts would be az absurd as for
a farmer who had contracted to deliv-
CT ten thousand bushels of corn and
oats to refuse TO pay in corn because
his oat crop had been eaten up by the
grasshoppers. The Dutch money loan
ers for the same reason persuaded the
Holland government TO demonetize
gold in lS53-because of the Austral-
ian and California mines. 1t ruined
the business men of Holland but made
nabobs of its creditor class.
The business men of this country are
not demanding the demonctization
The demand is exclusively confined 10
the money ioauers, the bond-selliDg
syndicate and the rings connected
with it, and TO such as are controlled
by prejudice or ignorance or both.
Last week the New York Herald in
teryiewed the bankers and brokers of
New York and, in summing up, con-
fesses that the great opposition comes
from the treasury monopoly known as
the Syndicate, and not from banks and
firms doing domestic business. The
Uerdid's article startled all New York.
But fer the fraudulent action of de-
stroying the money-value of silver,re-
sumption of specie payments within
the next year would have been a GER
tainty, even had the resumption act
been repealed, and now should Con-
gross pass the Bland bill. so there could
be unlimited coinage of silver, the
Treasury wonld soon be in condition
10 redeem every note presented, in
coin.
Silver, four years ago, was higher
than gold. To-day treasury notes are
higher than silver Make silver again
money, and treasury notes good for
duties on imports, then these notes
will quote higher than gold or silver,
either which will force ont Of the
bank-vaults in Wall street the untold
millions of gold, boarded up for spec
ulative purposes, aud into circulation
with its standard as low or lower than
either treasury notes or silver. When
we have free coinage of silver, our
treasury notes viii naturally go above
par for the reason that they will be
good for coin when presented. Being
a better and handler medium of ex-
change, then, they viii command a
slight premium. That being the case,
by making il receivable for all dues,
the government can issue up to the
full demands of trade, and keep it at
par without any reserves or any such
nonsense.
These usurers ard shylocks, through
the papers that they have bought up,
raise the cry fer 'honest money tor
honest debts" Now, honest payment
must be just what the agreement ex-
pressed. When the bonds were first
issued they, nor their interest, were
made payable in gold, but in lega! cur
rency. The act Of 1869, to strengthen
the public credit, provided that the
bonds should be paid in "coia or its
equivalent" Previous to that time
the bonds were payable in any lawful
money. Now againin 1S70,in response
to these same rings, Congress went
still step farther and provided that
all bonds thereafter issued should be
paid in coin of the then standard val
We of The government, including the
silver dollar. Every bond issued since
that time bears the above upon its
foce. When the hondholders pur-
chased these bonds, then they agreed
that they would demand the standard
of coin of 1870 when they returned
them. If Congress should make the
coined dollar worth only half as much
or twice as much, it would not effect
the contract, SO long as we did what
we agreed.
These European bankers who pur-
chased our securities did not pay coin
for them alone, but treasury notes,
when the latter were greatly depre-
ciated. By such operations they made
fortunes and took no risks. Now,
through cunning legislation, they are
for destroying half the money we orig
iualy got of them, thereby doubling
lolt