The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-05-31

dollars; State debts exceeding eigh
hundred millions; municipal and cor
porate debts of over two billions
with an individual Indebtedness ex.
ceeding the total of these amounts; al
this hanging over people whose sur
plus products, gathered from all the
fields of labor, found no rewarCling
markets, and then, at this moment,
secretly and fraudulently, they are
deprived by the tricks of legislation oi
one of the means of payment, and the
markets of one half the world closed
to their labor in the passage of the act
of Congress, in 1873, demonetizing sill
yer. No greater crime against the
labor OF the country has marked the
legislation of any government.
No nation produced as much min
eral wealth, and especially that of sill
yer, in 1873, as did the United States.
Gold and silver were among our chief
resources. The production of silver
was rapidly increasing, and it would
| seem that 10 policy could have been
more foolish and mischieYOuS or so
| unjust and oppressive as this. With
| the demands made upon the labor of
| the country to pay for the support of
Government and the interest upon
public Indebtedness, it was the black
est of crimes to deprive one ofthe chief
resources to meet these burdens, of its
value for that purpose.
Sir, what would be tthOt:ght of the
wisdom of that architect or builder
who, completing his structure, would
commence diminishing his base which
could barely sustain the weight of tie
entire structure, and, having reduced
it more than One-half, should then
~ IL, I'll, .
Would not the common sense of man
kind pronounce it stupid folly, and
say at once the superstructure must
needs topple over. Suppose in the
toppling over it brought death and de-
struction, would not the folly become
crime?
And yet this is the fact in our finan-
ciaI legislation. From necessity the
Government had built a pyramid of
debt based upon currency made up
of Il circulation of government notes,
gold and silver. The Government
first subtracts from that base a large
proportion of its notes, and in doing So
adds to the weight of the pyramid by
the increase of debt; and secondly,
substracts from the base "Silver." Is
it at all wonderful that the pyramid
commences to tumble over? And,
looking to the vast numbers under its
shadow, some of whom are already
buried and others piniOned so that
they cannot escape, and now confront
inevitable death and destruction in
their fortunes, all the result of this
criminal policy; what words of con-
demnation can be employed to do full
Justice either to the policy or its
agents? No wonder is it that labor,
1IaI nn1 1OaralN-uaH GhOlIl1 f.rN-
out in distress and protest against such
domination. Who can measure the
far-reaching effects of this legislation
in the disturbance it made in values,
the millions added to the treasury of
capital and stolen thereby from labor?
But the end of this great conspiracy
against labor for the felOniOus purpose
Of enriching capital, was not yet. The
next step taken was by the act of JAN
uary II, 1915, in which it was enacted
that the Government should upon the
Ist day of January, 1879, redeem the
notes of the Government then out
standing in coin, Let us pause for a
moment to see the precise logic of this
enactment. Itwas to convert the inn
mense national, State, municipal, rail-
road, and individual Indebtedness of
the country, amounting to over ten
of which was contracted on a basis of
the mixed currency authorized by law
into coin.
In other words, the largest proper
ton of this indebtedness was contract
ed upon aVOlume of currency amount
ing upon an average to over a million
of dollars, while its payment under
this legislation is to be made upon a
volume of currency, not exceeding i'll
its practical use over five hundred |
millions. This being the logic of this
legislation, the next question is to in>
quire into its effects. TO do so, it is
proper to understand, if we can, the
amount of currency which will be in |
the hands of the people upon the first |
day of January, 1879, the date fixed for |
resumption. As Ihave saidpreviOusly, |
the nominal amount of currency in |
the year 1877 was the sum of S7O7, $751;
23S.S
give again the table showing this, |