New-York tribune., 1879-05-20
GREENBACKS AT THE POINT or THE BAY
ONET

ONEI.
In the course of the debate in the House
upon the coinage bill last Friday, MIR. U.
Turner, of Kentucky-who, it will be remem-
bered, lately protested that he was not Mr. L.
Turner, of Kentucky, and who should not, con-
seoueptly, be confounded with Il. Turner,
though they do seem to be "as like as two
"peas n-called attention to another Repub-
lican outrage, perpetrated also with bayonets,
which is really more shocking than the man
ner in which they have used bayonets at the
polls. o. Turner. who, by the way, Is In favor
of unlimited greenbacks and calling 81 cents
dollar, made the following bloOd-curdllng
revelation: "Why, Mr.. Speaker" said he,
"who first created the greenback cur
"rency and declared it a legal-tender
with unjust exceptions in favor OF the
"bondholders and the Government 1t was
"the Republican party. They not only did
" that, but forced Democrats to take it at the
"point of the bayOnet and under threats OF
"guard-hOuse in Kentucky, and / suppose
elsewhere" Unless o. Turner is foong
with our finer feelings with an empty figure
of speech, this is a state of things that de-
mands immediate attention and redress.
The spectacle of brutal and tyrannical Re-
publican Government forcing greenbacks upon
Kentucky Democrats at the point of the bayO-
net is, if possible, more shocking than the
picture Mr.. Thurman drew the other day of
the swelterng New-YOrk repeater, or the
other picture made so familiar by Democratic
orators and newspapers of United States
troops standing guard over the ballOt-bOx
and blowing from the muzzles of cannon
- 70 90
the rights of citizens o. Turner gives us
but a few bold strokes, but he makes Il
picture that hangs over them all. We take
it upon ourselves to say that he Is wrong
in assuming that greenbacks were forced
upon Democrats elsewhere than in Kentucky
at the point of the bayOnet. We are confident
that this exercise of tyranny was confined to
Kentucky. And we venture to say further,
that If it had ever been known elsewhere that
Kentucky Democrats were suffering this
crowning outrage of despOtic Government,
there are thousands OF lion-hearted Democrats
all over the country who would have rushed
to their assistance and nobly shared
their bardslips, even though they were
unable to repel the assault 1t must have
been from motives of pride that the Kentuck
lduB kepJ lHlS lcIIlDlc SIdut VI uldIlS cO iOliS
concealed. Rather than call upon their fellow
Democrats for aid, they have submitted to
this usurpation and allowed greenbacks to be
forced upon them at the point Of the bayOnet.
And this no doubt accounts for the fact that
when Henry WattersOn called for 100000
Kentucllians to come to Washington and res
cue the Government, not more than ninety-fve
to ninety-eight thousand responded The rest
were writhing under the bayonet of the op-
pressor which was being used to stick
greenbacks of various denominations into
them. And yet o. Turner wants more green
backs. We confess we do not quite under
stand o. Turner. 1t may be that he likes green
backs in themselves well enough, but does
not like to have them forced on HIM at the
point of the bayonet. Perhaps he is like the
man into whose bosom an oyer-zealous waiter
fired a dish of soup; he did not object
so much to the soup as to the way they
served it. If the Kentucky Democrats don't
want their greenbacks at the point of the
bayonet-and there do seem to be objections
to that method of distrlbution-O. Turner
ought to tell the country how they would like
to have them served.