The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-01-23
SENATOR VOORHEES, SPEECa

Mr. Vocrhees-Mr. President, on the 18th Of
December had the honor to introduce In this
BODY the following resolution:
Rssolred That II is of the highest import
ance thai the financial credit OF the govern
the government itself, in all its departments,
shou,d in good faith keep all its contracts and
obligations entered into with It's own clslzens;
And in pursuance of a notice then given L
now cal 1t up, for the purpose OF discussing
the subject to which it relates.
The agitation of the question OF finance has
Continued without a moments intermission
from the commencement OF our present syS-
tenn until this hour. Nor is II likely 70 cease
cease until the people are satlsneQ tnat our
vast debt is in process of extinction upon
principles of Justice to tax-paytng labor, or
until, on the other hand, they are subjugated
into silent submission, and the government
itself becomes changed In spirit ans form INTO
a monfed aristocracy. 1t may be that this lat
ter alternative is to overtalEe US. There are
dark and plentiful OmeDs In our recent his
tory indicating such conclusion, ana mere
who believe, as Alexander Hamilton declared,
that the British government, on this as well
as on other points, Is the best ever devised by
the wisdom Of man Those entertaining this
opinion have thus far triumphed in the hnan-
cfal legislation of the United states, and the
time has now arrived when their victories
must be reversed or soon this government will
cease to be republican and the people no
longer be free.
country, as in all others, has been vigilant for
opportunities of greed and gain, and agrees
SlNe Id aDDrOHfltJlDR LuCuu W It's OWi
tage. In its tenacious pursuit OF this poIcy
Ii has during the last sixteen years pressed
its cruel and unjust demands upon
the American people In variety OF
shapes Just now it assumes manner swol-
len with arrogance, naughty, DEFIANT and
1iIIed with insolence toward all opponents.
Those who are ranged on the side of grasping
wealth affect high disdain for such as choose
to remember that labor has rights which this
government is called upon to protect. There
seems to be an immense sneer on the face OF
sOrdid, inactive capital, as If It's pretenslons
were beyond the criticism of ordinary mortals.
Its advocates outside of congress do not con-
descend as a general thing to argument at all.
Denunciation is now their principal weapon
There is no epithet however base, NO insln ua-
against all who dare TO differ in opinion with
them. A curious spectacle Is presented on
press, here and there aided by a newspaper in
the west Their columns reek from day 20
day with clamOrous aOuse of all who venture
to believe L do that to a great extent our
whole financial system Is an organized crime
against the laboring, tax-pSy fng men and
women of the United States. Those who
reform is demanded In order TO secure
the people from slavery In facts, If not
and in the exact Language with which every
old criminal abuse in government, throughout
all history, has sought to paralyze the work OF
reformation and beat back the tide of human
progress. Wherever in the annals of the hu-
man race unholy avarice has built Its strong
holds and privileged classes have ntrenched
themselves; wherever superstition has held
the human mind in bondage for the benefit OF
spiritual tyrants; wherever man in any way
has had unlawful mastery over his fellow man
and gathered in what belonged to another,
there the same cry which we now hear has
always been raised against any intrusion or
disturbance of established and venerable
iniquity. Nor does the parallel stop here. The
great plea of the present hour for the continu-
alton of wrong and injustice Is that good faith
requires 1t. Those who, finding a Inonstrous
evil Embedded in the laws Of their country,
wish to eradicate 1t by peaceful legisls-
and wrvffh
utmost fury assaulted as violators
of the public faith, enemies of the
common sWindIers' It matters not how deep
and burning the outrage may be or how
fraudulently it may have crept into our stat
utes, good faith, in the estimation OF those
who profit by the outrage, requires IL to re-
maiu there forever, though 1t should aid day
by day the CHASTITY work of ruin that now per-
vades the land. When the Peasantry OF
France, in 1889, worn out with the extortions
of five centuries, arose against king, priests
and mobiles, they were told that they were
breaking the faith of the nation which had
been 0ledged thousand times for their silent
submission to any wrong, IN person or prop
Whenever the starving people of Ireland, In
the dreary centuries of the past, have grown
uneasy in their bondage and struggled against
that the good faith of England Is sOlemnly
pledged to maintain existing laws and per-
petual abuses.
Sir, this plea, so loud now in our ears, has
been invoked In behalf of every wickedness
that ever cursed the world, The usurper in
vokes it to protect the throne he has stolen, as
soon as he Is seated. The tyrant invokes 1t to
shelter his prerogat1ve, and his nobility In
turn invoke 1t In order to live in ease and
splendor of the labor of Others. It is my pur-
pose on this occasion, however. to show what
the obligations OF good faith require OF US on
raign those who have systematically broken Ii
whenever their interest prompted them 70 do
so. II Is my purpose also TO show that while 1t
is of the highest Importance to maintain our
financial credit, 1t can only be done by the
government keeping all It's contracts and obi
cations with its own citizens. This issue has
been presented OF late In a manner so persist
ent and offensive, especially to western men
and western interests, that 1t shall now be met
meet IT.
Sir, appeal to the history OF our financial
iegislatlon. chalienge It's solemn records fol-
Judgment against the actual repudiators OF
national faith and honor. Its pages contain
the facts, the immutable facts, from which the
us candidly review them. The act of February
8, 1882, is the beginning of our bonded debt
The precious metals were found TO be uneq ual
were abandoned as soon as the hour of trial
came. and gold and silver covered in the rear
while the legal tendes dollar went to the front
with the flag and staid there. 1 was aLaons
those who doubted our right to issue 1t, but
experience has shown tt the best money, al
things considered, that ever circulated on
American soil. By this act of February, 1852
and by similar legislation at subsequent peri
DDS, every bond issued by the government
in coin was made payable by the express
words Of law in legal tender notes. 1t wa
plainly written in the statute that these notes
now known as green backs, ..shall be ieceiva
bic in payment Of all taxes, internal duties
excise, debts, and demands Of every kind du'
10 the United states, except duties on in ports
and of all claims and demands against tn,
United states of every kind whatever, excep
for interest upon bonds and notes, which shal
be paid In coin; aud shall also be lawful none,
and a legal tender in payment of all debts
public and private, within the United States
m nj a
aforesaid"
This simple. explicit, and at the same tim
comprehensive enactment guaranteed to tn
American people the right 10 pay three
fourths Of their national debt In ma
tional currency. IL was the law of the con
tract when all the $40 bonds, amounting Z
over fifteen hundred millions were purchases
from the government by the bOndhOlders
and paid for in this currency at par, when