Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-02-02
WHOLE NO. 2, 2,322.

4 specie payments are in reality to b
: resumed i'm January, 1879, the Gov
ernment has yet to destroy at leas
I two-thirds of its present paper circu
lation, and the people, on this re
duced basis, and undes the golC
: standard alone, will be compelled Il
meet their debts and their take.
which have undergone no diminu
J tion.
! Sir, here the bad faith of this Gov.
ernment towards the great masses OF
its citizens eliminates. To people
in debt the destruction of their
money is the virtual increase of their
indebtedness to the extent Of the
money destroyed. If a man makes
a contract to pay one hundred dol
lars on given day, and has just
that sum of money in his possession
at the date of the contract, he is do
ing business securely. If, however,
fifty dollars are taken from him by
force, and he Is left to meet his con-
tract on one-half the amount needed,
his bankruptcy necessarily follows.
The American people were supplied
!
which to contract debts, both public
and private, and they are now to
haveanother and far smaller amount
with which to pay them. They en-
tered into all their existing obliga-
tions with comparatively plenty of
money in their hands. BY the laws
of this Government now they are
first to be deprived of one-half their
money, and then required to pay
Their obligation in full. The ma
tiOnal debt was contracted on the
basis of imitation, and is to be paid
on the narrOwest basis Of the most
merciless contraction. A thousand
dollar bond for which only 5000 i'm
gold was realized by this Govern
ment in its distress, at the time of
its issue, has now to be taken up and
paid for with over two thousand
dollars in gold by the taxpayers.
The farmer who bought land with
deferred payments the mechanic
who purchased a house and lot, and /
made mortgage for the balance of /
the purchase money; the business |
of their capital, have all found the |
weight of their obligations largely |
increased by being deprived of the
means of meeting them. They |
must be met, however, and property /
itself, in the absence of money, |
changes hands from the debtor to 4
the creditor classes in payment of
debts. 1t changes hands, too, at
such reduced values that the busi-
ness man is sold out and closed up,
and homes are swept away, often for
the want of very small sum Of
money.
Since the act demonetizing silver,
supplemented as it has been by the
act for a forced resumption of specie
payments, the property of the people
of the United States has shrunk not
less than 35 per cent. in value. What
could be sold for 500 five years ago
can be bought now for So on an aV-
erage all over the country. This Is
q criminal cOnfiscation of property,
amounting to no less in value than
$40, 900, 900, 900 when the estimate Is
applied to every State and section
alike. In this vast shrinkage of all
values, arising from the shrinkage
of money in circulation, is to be
found the immediate cause of the
general bankruptcy and ruin which
now fill the land with the sound Of
falling business houses, commercial
failures, broken savings banks, and
the lamentations of the poor who
have been robbed of their hard earn
ings and of the opportunity to earn
more. Under the influence of this
policy nearly forty thousand busi-
ness failures have taken place in this
country since February, 1873, with
liabilities amounting in the aggre-
gate to over $1,000, ,000, 900. The
heart sickens in thinking for mo-
ment of the SORROWS, the broken
hearts, the shattered hopes, the sui ,
cides which these figures represent.
If the policy of this Government has
been to inflict the greatest misery
Oh the greatest number, its success
has been complete. 1t is i'm vain to
such widespread disasters
to other causes. We sometimes
hear them ascribed to what il vague l
~ styled Over-prOduction. / would
gladly know what Is meant by this /
Dracular term. OVer-prOduction |
What is il that we oVer-prOduce? j
Is it too much food, clothing and !
other necessaries of life? Has the :
soil yielded too much wheat, corn, /
hay, cotton, sugar, rice? The pro- ,
lucer is the one who creates wealth, /
and over-productiOn would therefore :
signify too great an amount of /
!
1t will be hard to convinced sane i
mind that an overflow of wealth is !
he cause of oppression and gloom, I
If financial Calamities and rapidly
Increasing poverty, and of labOrers /
and praying in vain, for |
he privilege, once afforded to slaves, q
IF working for the bare means of \
The mission of wealth \
Produced by toll from the bosom Of /
he earth is far different from this. !
Unless deprived of its natural func- !
ions by perniciOus laws it brings
abundant happiness to a people and 4
Establishes smiling content in their /
midst.