Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-06-08

: of tyrants, but a republic leans oi
2 no such support for its prosperity o
1 its perpetuity.
2 The American masses are no
2 law-breakers and anarchist. The!
! know and appreciate the priceless
value of law and order toowell to b,
the enemies of either, and they ar,
} not. When demonstrations of moi
violence and disregard of the laws
of the land are made by any consid
erable number of our people il may
be safely assumed that other causes
are at work, that other reasons ex.
ist for such outbreaks than can he
found in a preverSe spirit of COM
munism and lawlessness Inherent
in our people. 1t is notable fact
connected with the recent strikes in
this country that the railroad cor
poratiOns made the first combina-
ton they consulted together and
determined to reduce wages. it is
the sheerest folly for capital to form
its combinations and then turn up
their eyes in holy horror if labor
also combines for its own protection.
1t is a great mistake to suppose that
in the recent clash and conflict be-
tween labor and capital the right
was all on one side and ali the
wrong on the other. The laboring
masses of this country have too
much sense TO seek a redress Of
| grievances and a protection of their
| rights on the dark and bloody field
of communism, and they will never
do it. Capital is the ally and not
the foe of labor. Mutually de-
pendent, both will make fatal
mistake if the one seeks redress i'm
communistic revolution and the
other by an appeal to the military
power of the Government. Their
every interest points to an amiciable
adjustment Of difference and
friendly discussion and settlement
of disputed points.
Capital must not seek to erect it's
elf into despOtism over labor and
invoke the strong arm of military
power to sustain its arbitrary eXac-
tions. If it does, il will provoke a
conflict in which the interests of
both will be in one "red burial
blent." When men ask for bread
they must be given something else
besides the bayonet. The hungry
cannot be fed, the starving cannot
be saved by bayonets and bullets.
These were not made to preserve |
human life, but to destroy it. But, |
to return from this depression, was
proceeding to say that the course of !
our legislation toward the tax-pay- |
ers of this country must be changed. |
Treated fairly, they will act fairly. |
They are not unreasonable, they are |
not unmindful of the blessings |
which a Government regulated by |
law and order confers upon a peO- |
pie. Let them receive q credit for |
what they have Ovefpaid toward |
the eXtinguishment of the national |
debt, and now when they are sOrely |
pressed, let them not feel that un- !
necessary burdens aie laid on their |
shoulders. If Congress is wise, if /
the bondholder is wise, if the man
who owns his millions is wise, heed |
will be given to this just and equi-
table demand in behalf of the peo-
pie, and the Secretary of the Treas
ury will be told that nothing more !
will be aid to the sinking fund /
until the time when by law some
thing shall become due to it.
But, Mr.. Speaker, the act Of jan
uary IA, 1875, known and ever to be
remembered in the history of this
country as the resumption act, by
which it is provided that the Gov
ernment shall redeem its notes in
coin on the 1st day of January next,
is the car of Juggernaut that has
crushed and is crushing out the life
and prosperity of this country.
Over the ruined fortunes of our peo-
pie John Sherman still cracks his
whip and drives his car. Is there
no way to lock the wheels OF the
car or unseat the driver? If not,
God only knows what is to become
of the people of this country. Has
he not crushed enough hearts, made
desolate enough homes, created
enough distress to entitle him TO be
ranked high with those architects of
ruin whose names survive on the
pages of history only by the evil
they have entailed upon their race?
Surely he has done enough to graft
fly the ambition Of any reasonable
man in this direction.
Mr.. Speaker, when j stand on the
desolate track over which this car
of forced resumption has passed,
and gaze upon the melancholy mon
of ruin it has left behind 1t,
and ask myself the question, who
has been benefitedand blessed while
so many thousands have been
wrecked and destroyed, ! wonder
at the patience and long suffering OF
the people who have been the vic
Tins of the cOld-blOoded and selfish
that has made millions
mourn that few might prosper.
Sir, | would like to see correct
of this forced resump-
ton policy, of those who have lost
by it, and how many and how
much, and of those who have gained
by it, and how many and how
much. But still the process of sell
ing interest bearing bonds to redeem
notes that bear no interest, and thus
the currency, goes on,
This is the process by which the
of the Treasury hopes to
reach the heaven of resumption,
and when he arrives at that prom
ised land, he proposes, ] suppose, TO
hold his position by the same meth
DDS that enabled him to get there.
The great financial magnates tell
us that we have almost reached the
blissful cline; that we have struck
hard pan, as they delight TO say,
and that they now behold just ahead :
the hill-tops Of future prosperity ra- :
1iant with the sunlight and glOries
Of resumption. But, sir, l have lost '
my faith i'm them as prophets.
When the silver bill was passed
they saw the gulf of dark despair |
lust before us as plainly as they now I
discern the morning light of better {
lay, There II no truth In thelr pro- {
1ictiOns. This country has been
nearly ruined by this attempt TO I
force resumption, and when we I
have seized the gllttering prize we
will find that we hold a barren I
5cepter i'm our grasp, and that we
cannot maintain the position save
by the same distressing process that
US to reach it. In my hum :
bic Judgment IL Is the duty of this
House by all the means which hon
est Representatives can use in behalf {
Of their suffering constituents to put {
4 stop to this process of selling bonds /
that bear interest to redeem notes !
1