Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-02-14

| giving a contraction 70 the cur
rency and an addition to fne
purchasing power Of their capi-
tai, which is now distressing the
country,
Congress passed the resump-
tion act Of 1876 to contract the
currency and at the same time
to avoid a stipulation in the act
of 1869, which provided for the
payment Of the bonds in "coin
or its eqaicale'at.n That term
''equiratenf meant that when
Ieverthe legaI-tenlernotess should
be equal with coin, gold or sill
yer, then the $40 bonds should
be payable in legal-tender notes.
And these bonds are now paya-
BILE in legal-tender notes, be-
cause they are now "equira-
le11f' to silver coin-even adj
hitting, for the sake of argu-
ment only, that they were not
originally payable in legal-ten-
ders. ThisSexplains the reason
of the merciless war which is
waged against, the legal-tender
notes. With a heart as hard as
the adamant of the desert, the
foreign bondhoider would rath-
er see every industry of our
country strangled in the tight
ening folds of contraction and
the whole land blasted with mill
dew than have his bonds paid
in legal-tcnder notes. Tho
bondholders are moving heav-
en- and earth to get to gold re-
sumption.
Conscious of their power,
they have become insolent, in
tolerant, and abusive. They
denounce all as financial dun
der-heads who dare TO thwart
their policy and defend the peo-
pie against their boundlcss ra-
pacity.
Mr.. Speaker, there is no en-
lightened fnancier that will con-
tend. that a forced resumption
of specie payments can be of
any practical advantage to the
country. 1t will bring desola-
ton and ruin in its wake. 1t
will bring every industry in this
country to its crutches. 1t is
emptying our shops and mills
and blasting our fields. Mil
lions Of laborers are this day
rolling in shoals from one side
of the country to the other,
praying for wages and for bread.
And after vainly trying every
avenue of escape from misery
and wretchedness, they wall out
their despair in the language
of Millions fallen angel:
Which way ayis hell!
Resumption, so called, is
tearing the very heart of this
nation to pieces, and throwing
lit to the vultures. When the
bondholders are made TO trem-
bic OH their throne of gold and
bonds by the earthquake Of
popular discomfort, they have
no language Of relief except
"Give them the bayonet!" They
would re-enact the appalling
tragedy of English resumption
from 1919 to 1923, when one
hundred and sixty-thousand
Iandholders were reduced to
thirty thousand, the description
of whose horrors baflled the el,
oquence Of the British Parlia-
ment and defied the graphic pen
of England's most eloquent his
torianS.
But there is another startling
fact which lies in the path OF
resumption. When we reach
resumption we will reach an
other conclusion; the national
debt qCiU nerer be paid; not be-
cause it will be repudiated, but
because the nation cannot pay
| it. 1t will be an inheritable bur
den, under which posterity will
] groan and swelter for ages.
Such is the fate of England.
When We reach resumption
this country must pass under
the yoke and be perpetually en-
sIaved to the money oligarchy.
For them our commerce will
climb the liquid mountains OF
every sea to gather gold from
every coast, to bring and empty
it into the lap of the bondhold-
er. Then will our government
reach for the "Midas fingers" of
taxation to rob the nests Of the
peoples earnings to fill the cof-
fers of the bondbolders; then,
sir, will the shops and mills ply
the spindle and the loom for the
benefit of the bondholders; then
will the farmer, converted INTO
the vassal tenant,pursue his rug
ged toll and the fields yield their
golden harvest for the benefit of
the bondholder; then will the
miners delye like slaves to tear
the golden bowels from the earth
to enrich the nations lords;
then will our mint, prostituted
from the common good, coin
oold. free of charge. ssthe mon