The Leavenworth weekly times., 1878-02-21

lave emanated from Plymouth Rock |
ieilght to own Vermont rs my native state
and TO acknowledge that | learned my al
phapet IN Massachusetts; and ! am also
proud that learned KepGblicanism and !
love OF liberty and Tree institutions in Kan
cas IN the trouolous day of 90 and ';,6.
among these same men whom NV friend
ierounces as the "braUiing communists Of The
,sair:ss.n Ii was these same "brawIirg
whose brawny arms swung
The sledses OF free speech" and equal
rights" on the anvil OF public conscience
and wrought and fashioned out OF the iron
Of popular sentiment, with dextrOus blows,
the grand republican party which my /
friend delights to honor and to point to as
,he power that preserved the integrity Of
the Union.
Now, my friend, in my opinion you are 7
wrong and most unwise. When we stand 1
here anu urge You TO accept in payment OF .
the debt We owe you that commodity which /
the tdu governing our contracts expressly |
stated We ntIgst pay you in If We chose, and I
when We tender you the exact number of /
grains OF pure silver which We agreed tn
tender YOU upon the maturity OF our obli.a- I
tions, how and wherein do We resemble
higwaymen and communists? When We
have passed the pending measure, which
insures to Us only justice, if We find our si.-
yer dollar worth as much As the gold one,
We shall not complain but We shall COM
plain, and most bitterly, II We are compelled
to pay in dollars worth one hundred and
ten or one undred and twenty cents.
Now, my friend, your good people OF
Keene did not lend US that Sl50,O0O,GOU
iroGl pure philanthrophy, not so much from
love OF brethren and sons, as from love OF
10 per cent. interest, not so much from
desire to improve our farms as a wish TO re-
shingle your barns We have not quad
rupled our property by the Use OF your
loans-nOt much, my friend, not mnch.
The name of Your keene sometimes very
keen constituent in many cases graces the
taxrolls and appraisement-iIsts where thv
hardy pioneer FIRST wrote MS the pioneer Is
out on the frontier now, "hOmesteaClnS
place, that by and by, with Gods blessing,
he hopes 10 make his own; and your keene
friend now has the privilege OF quadrup-
ling his property III he cam by borrowing
money at 10 per cent. of another constituent
of yours, and paving for it with corn at iii
teen cents per bushei in gold. All this Is
not to the point, however whether We have
protited or not by your loan does not affect
the contract; what is your due, that you
shall have, but We cannot afford to pay YOU
more, and it has only been a good natured
warning which We have given you, not to
.reach too far, lest in the strain you lei fall
that you now have a firm hold upon
| One word as to the concluding sentences
of this quotation. Whether the western
representatives upon this floor are dema-
gogues or not do not know, but the charge
OF misrepresenting our people indignantly
deny, and desire to STATE that OF the forty
or fifty newspapers published in my district,
which has voting population OF about for
| ty thousand, there is not one, believe, that
does not advocate the silver dollar OF 4l2l
grains, nor of the hundreds of letters that
| have come to me is there one | now recall
| as urging objections to remonetization.
| There must be some truth and some sinceri-
| ty where there is such unanimity.
You, gentlemen OF the East, come here
every session OF Congress TO protect by the
maintenance of a tariff your manufacturing
interests. You do this, you say in the in
terest OF the American laborer." You tell
us truthfully that manufacturing is only a
cunning process by which labor is Interwov-
en- and intermixed with the fiber OF the raw
material, by which process new and in
creased demand is made Tor these products
of toll, and by which hundreds and thous-
ands are enabled to buy that food which the
| rich soil of the West enables us To produce
| in such abundance. Good, 50 be it. Now
We come here and tell you of the vast min
! eral resources of our far west States and
| Territories, of the locked treasures of that
precious metal, which all the world buys
| for coin and for the arts, and We ask you TO
give the greatest possible value to 1t, that
more OF the idle thousands of the land may
be encouraged to eXpend their labor in its
production. Now, gentlemen Of the East, do
not mistake uS for enemies, ne are your sons
and your brethern; We gladly acknowl
edge the Relationship; your interest is lar
gely our interest ii you cannot strike hands
with us in the sentiments we express in Ce
bate upun this question, at least accord TO
us that regrt ~ OF purpose you claim for
yourse' aud that love OF country and love
OF matte . honor that a common ancestry
taught before We left your rocky hill
side hoa.,s for the smiling prairies Of the
West
/ do not know how much benefit the
great mass OF the people will derive from
the demonstration OF silver. | incline 10
the opinion that it has been by some large
ly overesiimated, but i do not believe it
will check the declin, lin producing property
1t is just it will be beneficial To an extent.
Ii wrongs no one /; and having decided upon
he first proposition submitted in the old
maxim BE sure yon are right" i desire
much to see Congress obey the final injuBc-
lion of the proyerb Then go ahead" and
that speedily.