Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-09-19

see this condition Of things.
/ was from the beginning
a greenbacker-not perhaps in
the political sense a member
of the greenback party, but / always
believed in national currency as dis,
tinguished from local currency, and
it was my hope from the time I cast
my first vote, in the early part of 1862,
to authorize The issuance OF a national
currency, to establish a national cur
rency such as we now have. Before 1
left the great city Of London, that em-
porium of European commerce, I in,
quired there if [ could buy
some of our own national currency.
and l found that it would cost as
much to buy our notes there as 10 Luy
them here. (Applause.)
WHY HAVE WE RECOVERED?
1l.rincations of our prosperity
necessarily awakens thought and
provokes inquiry as TO what is the oc-
casion, the cause, policy, the reason
that We have recovered everywhere
from the deep slough Of COM
mercial dependency, and why
we are now upon the high wave
of prosperity. L was taught in the
great school of craftsmanship OF which
Henry Clay was the great teacher and
expounder. / learned of him. | be-
lieved in hi im IN my early years, when
he was in the heydsy OF his fame, and
his name was received with honor and
applause ia our own and all other
lands. One Of the lessons that /
learned of him was that The
American people were great
commercial people, having perfectly
free trade between our own states. and
having no impediments thrown
around the transfer of commodities
across state, lines.
In opposition to many men Of his
time, Mr.. Clay was in favor Of na-
tiOnal currency. Although this ought
never to have been q
political question, it became 3
party test. The democratic party
triumphed, and the national bank
went down, and We had multitude
OF state banks, some having a ciTcula-
ton of five hundred miles and scme 8
circulation of hardly five mills, and
it was the
WORST CURRENCY
that ever plagued and pestered an in
dustri0us people. We had a bank
known as the union bank of IeDnes-
see, with branch here in Knoxville
and notes were Issued payable in golC
when presented at the counter. ButyOu
never found one OF them that was
payable in Memphis, 400 miles away
and in Memphis you never found note:
payable in Knoxville, and so it was
all over the land, aud the only men
benefited by the banks were tht
| bankers and brokers,
But now for the last eighteen years
we have currency that i.
| equally good in Chicago, New Orleans
or New YORK. AT one time il
seemed as if the idea of a nationa
| bank currency was at an end. Web
| ster spoke of the national bank as al
obsolete idee, and so it seemed at that
| time, and Mr.. Clay went to his grave 6
sad map, feeling that his whole life
! had been a failure, but had be lived tC
| look upon affairs as we see them to
| day, he would see his idea of q nation
al bank currency, carried out perfectly
and completely. 1t was my hope L
live to see it, and [ see it to-day,
THANK GOD!
when the pride of this country, a!
shown in the money that it circulate
throughout the commercial world, il
the equivalent of gold and silver
GApplause. My friends of the greer
back party, what do you wish TO &C
complish? Would you make green
backs any better? You can not do
that. Would you make them any
worse? God forbid.
But gentlemen that
PARTY OF HENRY CLAY
was one of great opinions, great po
litical thoughts, great dogmas, grea
principles aDd the Creates OF them al
was the union of these states.
When he was asked on one occasion
under what conditions he would con
sent that this union, established b.
Washington, should be broken, b
lifted himself to his tallest an
most msjestic proportions, and said il
q voice of thunder that was heard al
over the land, "Neoer! never !
never IL" And, gentlemen, if ther
is one idea that more than any Othe
has entered into my whole politics
career, and, unless / am mistaKel
greatly, has marked my polilica
teachings, so far as I have ventured
teach, il is the
of the States. (Great applause.) In
deed, could not have been other tha
Union man. My parents lie burie
in one section OF the country and m
children in another. My childhoo,
was passed In one part of the land, an
my manhood and all that [ have &C
complished in the world in another.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.
Another of Clay's great doctrine
was the internal improvement Of tn
land, and that by the genera
government. Mr.. Clay foresa'
that this would be a Ian
capable of sustaining man
millions, and the census of the presen
year demonstrates that its population
will reach nearly fifty millions, an
we can only conjecture what 1t will b
twenty years hence.
After referring at some length to th
republican policy of internal Improve
ments, Mr.. Maynard continued
Do you wonder. therefore, when th
question is presented to me whether | wi
be a republican or democrat that | hes
tate not moment to decide. (Applause
have not spoken, my countrymen,
what the republican party has done.
have spoken simply of its laws and polio
that has been carried into effect.
REPUBLICAN PERFORMANCES.
Let us look and see what the republica
party has done.
It came into power on the 4th of Marcl
1861, by the inauguration of Abraham
Lincoln. He found already that the state
lying upon the Gulf had reared themselv'