Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-05-08
The Goal we are Nearing.

The Conscientious and virtuous, look
upon small transgressions and first viola
tions of law with horror, but after repeat.
ed acts of vice, virtue rctires in disgust
conscience becomes callOus, and all the
baser passions Of greed, seltishness aud
sensuality are let loose without restraint.
| We are led to these reflections from re-
viewing die steady and persistent efforts
OF John Sherman, Oh behalf Of the Money
Power, to override, ignore and tramplG
under foot the rights and interests OF the
people, and even the laws Of the land by
forced and unwarrantable constructions
OF simple statutes, when they happen to
cross the path Of his destructive march.
If the public conscience should not re-
bel at the first encroachment Of this in
7ader, he knew 1t would he an entering
wedge, or IL stepping stone to another
vantage ground, and so by persistent eI-
forts and repeated steps, he imagines that
the public mind will become so accustomed
to his insidous encroachments, that no
general alarm will be given until he
shall be in n position to grasp sovereign
authority and bid defiance to the popular
will. The unconstitutional and out
rageOus credit strengthening act was su-
gar-Coated with public honor BY this
act the nation was robbed Of hundreds of
millions Of dollars, and debt which was
In the process OF rapid liquidation, was
petrifed upon the necks Of the present and
| future generations, and its burdens inten-
sifed hundred fold by making the inter
est more difficult to meet than the Install
ments of principal were before. Previous
to this, for years, the country had been
doing business on a cheap and abundant
currency, which prompted men to new
enterprises. Commerce was extended
great highways were constructed, mills
and workshops were erected, inventive ge-
MUS was stimulated to greater efforts,
great discoveries were made, and idlenesS,
poverty and wrctchedness were suppant
ed by industry, thrift and comfort In
ten years, society had made greater ad
vance than in half a century previous.
They told us that all this was delusion,
a dream, and that which seemed prosperi-
ty was but the imagery of delrium, which
could be reduced to reality only by pass
ing through the golden gate OF specie
payments. But these bonds were still in
existence. The laws under which they
were issued. the 'original Contract" upon
their face, and the general understanding
of the public at the time the debt was in
cured, all pointed to greenback payment,
when due, and as the day of their MATURE
ty was drawing nigh, and in the present
condition Of the treasury, coin payment
was out of the question, it became nee
essary to defer payment until greenbacks
could be annihiated, and the menace of
legal tender payment removed.
So in 1870 the refundng act was passed
authorizing the issue Of 81 100000, 900 of
coin bonds, upon whose face "coin OF the
then standard, " should be paid at matu-
rity. This act of extension and coin pay
ment was secured on the plea of a lower
rate Of interest, whereby $lj,000,000
could be saved annually to the govern
ment. The Saving plea was new
dodge. 1t had no part in the act Of 1869,
which raised the market value of the 800
bonds from Is cents to $l.20, at which fg-
ure the government paid of $500, 100000
the same year in greenIacks, at an extra
expense OF $780, 100000 in premiums.
Then to make up the per cent. which
the rcfunding bonds were to bcarless than
the old ones, the outrage Of 1873 was per-
petratcd, whereby Onc'half Of the com OF
the country was annimlatcd that the val
ue and purchasing power Of the other half
might be doubled To crafty the greed
and avarice OF the money kings JIG I'm
Sherman led off in Il scheme not Only'to
double the burdens Of the government,
but to destroy one of the most valuable
mineral resources Of the country. All
this time the public mind was diverted
from the deyilment which John Sherman
and his co.emissaries were committing in
financial matters, hy the shaking Of the
"boody shirt" The country was pur-
posely kept agitated from center to cir
cumterence over sectional issues. Section
al hate and prejudiccs were continually
being famed into red heat to prevent the
public mind from dwelling upon, or in
vestigating the acts Of congress. Taking
advantage of its prestige, and the conf
dence of the people, under the screen OF
the sanguinary emblem Of patriotism, the
Republican party prOsttutcd itself to
Mammon, and from the manaclcs it had
removed from the limbs of slavery, it
forged chains to bind black and white,
both north and south. In 1870 it took the
next step under the lead of John Shcr-
man to crush out prosperity for the benc-
eft of the creditor class.
The resumption act, which was design
ed to extinguish the peoples money and
wrest the monetary prerogative from the
government and confer it upon the money
power, was justified upon the plea of
Honest Money" and enacted under cover
of an extra shake of the red flag.
The Democracy having partially gained
the ascendancy by aiding to expose these
high handed outrages, and promises to
counteract them, passed the silver bill,
and the bill requiring the reissue Of the
greenbacks after resumption. These acts
Sherman ignores, and tramples under his
feet by his own construction Of statutes,
which are not warranted either by the in
tent of congress or the text Of the laws.
He defeats hesilver act by refusingto pay
out the coin in payment Of interest or
principal of the public debt, on the plea
that it is not fair to compel creditors of
the government to receive it, and also at
tempts to render the law nugatory by
concert of action with the banks not to re.
celve it in ordinary cash transactions.
| me INV requiring MN W Ttlssuc lhc
greenbacks and keep them in circulation
| he defeats first, by converting them into
five and ten thousand dollar denomina.
tions, and second, by his construction Of
the law, that he is under no obligations to
reissue them except In exchange for com,
| Still with Democratic senate and house
of representatives, the secretary is permit
ted to ignore, and ride rough shod over all
legislation that mterferes with the inter
ests Of his masters, and unless a change
shall take place, unless the people arise
en- masse and enter their protest to execu-
tive violation of law, and legislative in
difference, it will be but short and easy
step to usury and exercise supreme au-
thority when the suffrages OF the people
shall express n desire for a change of
policy. The longe rcongress allows John
Sherman to ignore and trample upon its
enactments, and the oftener it is repeated,
| the less ripple it will make upon the sur
face, when the final coup de main shall
wipe out the last vestige Of popular liberty.