The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-02-28


gold down and silver up until there
would be no difference between them,
and nobody in this country Gould be
particularly hurt by it.
Mr., Ewing here took leave OF the silver
question and launched out on the subject
OF resumption He was afraid tha. re-
monetization would not immea! a!ately
help the distressed masses, The repeal
Of the resumption scheme only could do
that, That law had two objects. One
was to contrast the Currency in the vol
ume possible TO be held of gold after Jan.
uary |, 1879, to shrink every value In
the land, and to increase every dollar
invested IN secured securities. The other
and more lasting and disastrouswasto take
from the peoples government I'LL control
of the peoples currency and put the
money power into the hands of the
national banks. These objects strike at
the foundations of il republican system
of government. This is apparent to the
Mississippi valley and the south Atlantic
states, for there, thank God, the press is
free and open, and an agitation has been
raised in the heart o. the country which
is shaking up party affiliations and
reforming party lines At this point the
speaker entered into an analysis OF the
recent vote on repeal, to show that nearly
all the democrats wele w favor, and
nearly all the republicans opposed . it,
lie felt safe to predict that the democratic
party would il the end represent the idea
of one currency, whether paper or metal
lie, and by the government alone. lie
criticised the assertion OF northeastern
democrats that the party was departing
from old faith in the matter and quoted
from Jefferson and Jackson in re utation
He said that the idea of measuring our
business necessities now with our business
necessities of that era was as absurd ~
to expect the canal boat and stage coach
to do the work of lightning and steam.
He next argued against giving power TO
issue money TO any private individual or
corporation. The reduction OF $500
o 900 Of currency by one-f'th would,
he said, decrease the va Iue OF property
by $40 900 600 Geo, and those controlling
such power would be able to make hard
times or good times as they pleased.
you'd massacre the bnsi
ness Of the people, because it inevitably
involvesa a contraction OF TIE currency
with which business is done to one.thid
or ne.iourth its volume, and consequent
shrinkage of all the land and products
of the country in proportion. This, he
claimed, hal been demonstrated over
and over again. fhe banks CT Great
Britain, when there was only per cent
difference between gold aud papSr, had to
contract their currency 45 per cent. ana
all values on the island were shrunk in
almost exactly the same proportion. The
amount of contraction depends on the
amount of coin We can get and keep in
the country. In England, France, and
Germany, the coin exceeds the currency
three or four times. IT is not thought
safe to do business on any other system,
as the banks can not hold only por.
tion of the cCin in the country. Here
we have notion that one gold dollar
will redeem three paper ones. Before
the war we had S234 GOO, 900 of coin,
We have produced 81 200 O0OOOO since.
Where has it gone? 1t goes to Europe
and overtops all the balance of trade in
our favor. Even last year, when such
balance was $iGj,OO0 600 in our favor,
we exported Si6,000,000 more coin than
we imported. We have from $50 OOO,-
coo to $l65 100000 now in the country,
of which but $li5 O0O,0O is gold, and
there is O,0oO, 600 OF paper, yet re-
sumption day is next New Years
1t is AS certain as that the sun
shines that our volume of currency
must be cut down to less than S2OO, 600,
coo before we can resume. Secretary
Sherman, with all the powers of tint
government behind him, has been abl
to accumulate during three years bn
$33 100000 of gold. He tried to max,
congress believe that he had $23. 900 ,00l
more, but he had not deduced the accrued
interest on the bonds. All nations arr
struggling for the possession of coin as ;
basis for their currency, and we, theil
debtors, cannot wrest any from them. We
cannot hold even what we have got, ex'
cept by their sufftrance. When Eng land
resumed in 1919 it was after twenty
wears of unparalleled prosperity which
had made her mistress Of the seas and the
mandatory of the world. Everybody
owed her. She had only one-third a'
much debt as we. Yet she be- cared hel
manufactures, baukruptcd her debtors
starved her laborers and increased hei
army thirty-two thousand men to sup
press the cry Of agony OF her people: A
high officer of the army recently told th'
speaker that we would have to increas'
our army one hundred thousand men tt
carry out the resumption Law. 81 tel
YOU said Mr.. Ewing, excitadly, "nt
matter what difficulties the execution o
the law may bring about, the ieguia
amy of the United States will not b
increased one man +" He them too
another fling at the press of the republi
can party, and claimed that the contrac
ton thus far effected had caused us t
lose practically 40 per cent. He scoiie'
at the notion of Oyer-productlon
with millions starving aud uncjotted
| The panic of 1873 was over, M
said. when the resumption act wa;
passed. Former panics dePreclale'
money, this had not. in 1871 there wa' =,
a vast falling of in the number OF ia'l, ;
urcs. Since then, the percentage had
steadily increased. ,,,,
He then considered the enormous loss
IN the country, and instanced the loss on
the wages of 1900, 900 OF persons unem-
pIoved at 81 per day; also the loss to
debtors by adding forty per cent, or
sS oOO 900 to 81 100000 that they did
not owe to the $4,000, 900 or S7,000,0t0
That they did owe. 1t was mere rob-
bsry by legislation in punishment of the
sin of being in debt. The debtor class
were the young energetic business men
who united their talents TO the idle
M ney of the capitalists in an endeavor
10 become rich. Tue government should
be specially regardiul of this class. 1t
,,-as hsv tylp tn m l. xs.,. :,