Daily Kennebec journal., 1878-01-01
Gold.

WHAT SENATOR JONES THOUGHT ABOUT IT IN
1874.
From speech delivered hy the Hon. John p.
Jones in the Senate, April |, 1874
We do not want to have labor stimulated in this
county. We want labor encouraged by better
money. We want the laborer who receives bis
pay for days work TO know that il will not shrink
in value on his way to the store where he buy
tie necessaries Of life say to him (the in
fatonisD that no nation can be strong, and be
dishonest
Does this Congress mean now to leave entnoly
out Of view and to discard forever a standard Of
value DID any county ever accumulate wealtl'
achieve greatness, CT attain high CIVILIZATION
without such st4ndsrdi And what bul gold can
be that stsndard' What other thing on earth
possesses the requisite qualities lis value is rep
resented by the average amount Of labor repaired
to produce il . Gold is the articulation of
commerce. 1t is the most potent agent Of ciyiliza.
ton. 1t is gold that has lifted the nations from
bsibalsm. 1t has done more to organize society
to promote industry and insure It's reward, to in
spine progress, to encourage science a4d the ant,
than gnupowder, steam and electricity.
The use of gold had it. origin in the necessities
Of mankind. The human heart Is set upon 1t. .
SO exact measure is II of human effort tbs I
when it i, exclusively used As money it teaches the
very habit of honesty. It neither deals in nor toll
crates false pteiences. II cannot he. 1t keeps its
promises to Ilch aud poor alike.
The value OF god IS not affected by The stamp
Of gOvernmeot. That Is merely the inal and re.
/ iistIe evidence Of ITS weight aud ineneSs. ...
hope the Scnate will stand ty the integrity of
the cOGutiy. No government, no people, can bs
prosperous that Ignores the proposition that hon
esly Is The best pohfy; that essays By any sort OF
! legislation to disturb the relationship between
debtor aud ciodor that lells the creditor lha, the
hsid days work he has seady performed and
loaned to the deb or shah be rcpsid halt day
work on the part OF the latter. 49,.
Gentlemen ask, "llow will you get the gold with
"which 10 lesufne spt Gle payment- 7" When
! the people knew that gold was to be the currency
of the country at any stated time, each man would
have his lite amount OF gold, aud ii would flow
into the country in thousand Pactolian streams.
| There wouid be- 10 doubt about it. Gold viii he
| found in all this country when you DO not bansh
it when you permit ii to circulate; when you give
ii rs true Junction. ....
| say to the farmers and planters Of the south
| that the iluctuatiDg currency they are using in
creases the prices OF everything that goes into the
production ot their crops, white everything they
produce is for sale at pIIces regulated by the pree
OF gold.
From speech delivered in 1872
| DO what we will, the country is still OF Grating
upon gold bass . | believe the SOON
or come down TO a purely gold standard, the
better it viii be Tor the county. believe that
when we do So come down, We shall have entered
upon of prosperity which will he unbroken
for a cet tury. | believe that we shall enter upon
era of prosperity that in very few years viii
make this God-iavoled country the clearing house
for all the world Standing, we do, halfway
between ASIA and Europe, the exchanges of the
world viii be effected ia our markets. Bat h,
long as we use the present uedeemshle, intla ed
redundant currency, we drive the woad,lustru-
ment OF commetce-gold-irom our mds', aud il
viii be found impossible for US TO compete sue
cessluiy with any OF er nation for the woills
commerce.