River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-28

construction of the resolutions of 1898 had
not occurred to any one On the other
hand, these resolutions did not prevent the
growth or development of the country;
they did not prevent the purchase of Lou
isiana by Thomas Jefferson. and they did
not prevent the signing of the second bank
bill by James Madison. But things drift Cd
along, until 1880 under the astute mind of
John c. Calhoun, a different and more
practical construction was given to these
resolutions Of 179S John c. Calhoun was
opposed to tie tarifflaws those laws which
imposed duties on imported goods, and UNI
der the resolutions If l79S he claimed
that South Carolina could nullify them
John G. Calhoun said that the tariff laws
were unconstitutional, null and void, and
that South Carolina one Of the states that
made the government, might withdraw its
consent to that government. it might null
lily these laws, and the convention in
South Carolina actually framed the laws
of the state by which they proposed to null
lily the laws of the United States, which
required the collection of duties in Charles
ton. Then it was that there was a ma4l
president OF the United States who did not
believe in modern democracy-Andrew
jackson was then president of the United
States. When he heard of this act of
John {. Calhoun, he issued his proclama-
ton, and every part of that proclamation
might well fol m part of any republican
platform. Applause 1t contains the
very doctrines we now ayow. He said
that this was
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE,
that the people must obey it, and that the
laws must be enforced by the people with
out respect to any state lines, and he told
John {. Calhoun: IF you attempt to car
ry out your threats, by the eternal God
will hang you" Great applause. And
the worst of it was that these people be-
lieyed he would, and he would. Great
applause. And so that controversy set
tied down. Then, my democratic friends,
a strange dissolution occurred in the dem
ocratic party. After General Jackson had
retired from the presidency the democrat
ic party gradually drifted TO the
southern states. The south wanted
to build up the institution of
slavery. They therefore put forward this
doctrine of state rights more and more,
and the democratic party in the north be-
came weaker and weaker. Great APP
plause. Time was when Wisconsin was
democratic, when Indiana was democratic,
when Illinois was democratic, when Ohio
was democratic, when Iowa was democrat
ic, when the power of the democracy was
in the northern states But gradually, I'M
der the influence of this evil principle,
the power of the democratic party faded
away, first one state and then another
People by the thousands and tens of thous-
ands deserted the democratic PARTY and
went over and joined other political or
carnations. So that the power of the
democratic party drifted into the south and
was there used to foster slavery.
My countrymen, the democrats succeed
ed in electing three or four feeble presi-
dents. When | name them some of you
will scarcely remember there were such
presidents. There was Martin Van Buren,,
there was Franklin Pierce, there was
James X. Polk, and finally there was
James Buchanan, and he was the last
democratic president. All the time the
democratic party was going into decay,
was going to seed. | think it would have
been better for the people of the country
the democratic party at that time had
| ceased to exist, and had dropped their
political organization.
Why is it that, although the democratic
claim to have been in power some forty
odd years, that we never have had, during
the existence of that party, good national
money? The reason was because under
their idea this kind of money was uncon-
stitutional, null and void, 1t was contrary
to the resolutions of '9S." They thought
there was no power in congress authoriz-
ing the issuance of any form of paper
money, either by the national banks or by
the United States. They therefore pro-
vided under the laws then in existence for
state bank paper money. You had, before
the war, banks organized by thirty odd
different states and many territories.
They were issuing paper money without
any general law and without any general
| security; there was no provision made to
secure the note holder. The money had
partial but limited circulation. That
which was issued in Wisconsin went very
well here That issued in Illinois went
pretty well there. 1t was ''red dos" mon
ey, blue jay" money, and various kinds
of money. 1t has as many names as an
ordinary counterfeiter, and as many
aliases. This money was of limited cir
culation, but you were compelled in the
good old democratic times to take this
paper money because YOU couldn't get any
thing else. The American people never
have become accustomed and never will
become accustomed to a simple metallic
money composed of gold and silver. They
always have had and always will have
some form of paper money, and the kind
they had then was state bank paper mon
ey What was the objection TO that kind
Of money?
In the first place it was not good. A
bank would break every once in while.
1t was estimated that the people of the
United States lost 100000 a year by
broken bank paper money in times before
the war; and when the bank broke it went
out of existence. No man ever heard of
bank in olden times ever making its
money good. Then, beside, it was counter
] r 1 Il. la.,~ L.. Il
that a man IN order to find out whether
bill was counterfeit had to take with him
book as big as the moral
law, or at least as big
as the New Testament in order to find out
whether the money he received was coun-
terft or genuine. The if he tried to use
! the might pay it out here for groceries
and store goods, but when he crossed the
state line he had to go TO a brokers'
office and change it. | have, since | ar
rived at age, paid 10 per cent premium
| on exchange between the town in which |
| lived in Ohio and the city of New York,
| The money was bad in many respects. 1t
! could be counterfeited easily, it was OF
! limited circulation, the banks were failing
constantly, so that when man received the
money at night he didn't know whether
! the money would be good in the morning.
| Why was it the democratic party couldn't
| give us good money? Because the idea
! that prevailed in the democratic party was
that congress had no power to authorize
the issuance of national money. 1T was
| "AGIN THE RESOLUTION OF '9S.
| And there the doctrine of state rights
| came in.
| But when the republican party came in
| to power we devised national money. We
gave YOU first the United States notes,
which are the promises of the United
| States to pay money and nothing more.
| 1t was not money in the true sense, but il
was a promise to pay money. 1t was the
| best thing we could do then; we were in
| the midst OF the war. Gold and silver had
! practically been driven out Of the coun-
| try. We substituted these United States
notes for other forms of money, and with
! that money we paid our soldiers. We
purchased our supplies, we carried on the
| operations Of the war. We were compelled
| to do a great many things under the strain
| of war that we probably would not do at
other times. The patriotic feeling of the
country was aroused. | wall tell Won now
| what | wouldn't have liked to have told
you then, that if it had been necessary |
would have voted to have taken The last
/ shirt of your backs in order to have sus-
/ tanned the boys in blue"
| When we issued this form II national
money the democrats opposed it. They
said il was "agin the resolution Of '9S. 2"
! The national congress had no right to
1 issue that money; and some of their lead =
/ ing men said the money would go out with