The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-02-06
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A RINGING SPEECH .

Six months. in advance, ce,............... -
A RINGING SPEECH.
Hon. M. Vest, the newly elected
Senator from Missouri, made . shsrt
speech at the banquet rendered him at
Jefferson City, from which we, take
the following on the finances. 1t will
be perceived that they have the true
ring: s.a<r
WHAT GENERALIZATION MEANS.
Capitalization means force, a. AM
tithetic to popular will, and must al
ways be associated with monarchy and
hereditary rank. State Government,
upon the other hand, next to that of
the family, will always be dear to the
American heart. The one is of foreign,
the other of domestic growth, and
while great centralized Government
may dazzle for time, like the sun,
with its garish light at MONDAY,
it il at last in the States, and by the
unpretending but steady light of that
lamp which Jefferson fixed as q beacon
for posterity, that our liberties must
be preserved.
Capitalization means force, but it
does not always come in tho shape of
standing armies, or the mailed hand 0f
military despot. Look around, and
you will see in every portion of this
vast country, with its varied products
and almost unlimiten resources, the
blighting influence of financial CEN
tralization.
Pitiless as the ocean, unheeding a.
the storm, cold and remorseless AZ
death, financial Capitalization is to-day
crumbling out the life of the country.
The dream of Alexander Hamilton's 3
ambition when he led the old Feder-
alists, has been realized in the finan-
cial system of the Republican party.
Under this system New. England and
Wall street own and control the Union.
The Republican leaders determined to
crystalize their power and make it
perpetual, by erecting centralized
financial despotism around which
should rally the janizaries of tho Ma
tional Banks, and the pretorian cohorts
of the bondholders. Every interest
was subordinated to tho giant infamy.
The bonds of the Government in
terest- bearing and non-taxable, were
sold at ruinous prices, and more than
two thousand National Banks were
permitted to deposit these bonds with
the Government, draw the accruing
interest, issue bank notes to an amount
only one-tenth less than the bonds de-
posted, and then loan these notes to
the people for 10 per cent. INTEREST,"
payable in advance.
The same spirit of Capitalization,
always looking to the same end, made
the five-twenty bonds payable, princi-
pal and interest in coin, when by their
terms the principal was payable in le-
gal-tender notes. The same spirit af-
forwards made these bonds converti-
BILE into coin bonds so as to destroy
the identity Of the original issue. The
same spirit, in order to make the
bonds more valuable, demonetized sill
yer, and finally struck down with the
AK of resumption the energies and in
dustries of the entire country.
WHO DEMANDED RESUMPTION?
The National Banks and the bond
holders. 1t has come by operation of
law, and ruin has come with it. Bus
mess is paralyzed, values destroyed,
the country full of tramps, the cities
full of thieves, while the people of the
West are staring bankruptcy squarely
in the face. Honest money. shouts the
bondholderl The credit of the Gov
ernment must be preserved Yes, SO
says every honest man; but to pre-
serve the credit of the Government it
is not necessary to ruin and bankrupt
the people. The credit of the Gov
ernment and the welfare of the people
should 60 hand in hand.
The Government is not the master
of the people. 1t is their property.
their creature, and its only use is to
subserve their interests. With the Re-
publican party the Government has an
existence separate and apart from the
people. The greenbacks which the
people were compelled to take as le.
gal tender were refused by tho Coy
ernment for import duties and inter-
est on the public debt. In other words
in accordance with tho monarchical
system, based upon Capitalization,
there has been one money for the peo.
pie, another for the Government.
In 1874 the Democratic party of
Missouri demanded in its platform,
which I had the honor of reporting
from this stand that greenbacks should
be made equal to gold, by making
them receivable for import duties and
interest on the public debt. In the
name of the people we demand now
that the ruinous system of the Repub-
lican party shall be reversed, and that
instead of contraction and congestion,
we shall have expansion and healthy
enterprise. Let the volume of curren-
cy be increased, its value enhanced by
making it receivable for all debts, pub
lie and private; the National banking
system abolished and instead of bank
circulation that there be tegal-tender
notes issued directly by the Govern
ment.
A PUZLLE FOle ERS.
A fast man on a fast day took his
horse and went to the end of the fast
land, and there tied him fast. Then
he rose and took off his hose, and went
with his hose along the rows, and put