Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-07-01
Uncle Solon's "Tract."

pillars OF the church to tell their ex-
perlence. 1t gives word of encourage
ment to the new converts, and makes the
old stand.bys take hold of the work with
renewed vigor. In this way backsliders
are brought back into the fold, and out.
siders are led to embrace the blessed
truths of the Greenback gospel.
1t was six years ago, and the old sweet
tree by my. window was as white as a
sheet, as it is to-day, The old tree is a
Mammouth Rosy. The old robin had a
nest in the top-most limb. The odor OF
apple blossoms was in the wind. In the
interval the tree has wonderfully grown.
The robins nest is lower down and the
old bird sits within eye shot.
AS l sit here the Oath day of May, 1880.
with the same surroundings-tie same
birds singing, and the same odor Of the
apple blossoms, as six years ago, it seems
that the last SIX years are squeezed into a
smaller compass than John Sherman ever
squeezed hog into dollar, but | am re-
minded by the growth, not of "tbem
steers" but Of the apple tree, that the
wheel OF time never stops IN its revolu-
tions.
At apple blossom time Six years ago,
read in the Boston Journal this item,
Pig Iron Kelly has made another in.
ilatlon speech" II seems to me that the
Journals fling was not a fair answer to
Judge Kelly'S argument, and sent to him
ior a copy Of the speech, with n view of
answering 1t in IA Poor Mans Tract. +"
About the time the crows began to pull
the corn, the speech came to hand. /
read Kellys argument, but did rot see
the answer. HOeing time came-haying
and harvesting, corn was housed, Leans
were in The stack, and the apples were all
plckcd-but no answer to Judge Kelly's
argument. Aft + the house was all bank.
ell, in the leisure hours Of winter, the
works of the ablcst thinkers on the
other side were read to get some
"chaw" to answer Kelly, Lut no progress
was made. For six months the
financial question was studied with
a single ohject-to answer Judge Kelly.
That Kelly was wrong never en-
tertained doubt, but had not the wit to
answer Linl. After six months of Cx.
haustive study, was as firm in my belief
that Kelly was wrong as our iOrefAthers
were in their belief OF the existence Of the
witches-but | had not made the scratch
Of a pen to answer the argument. | be-
lieved the financial system was irving to
defend rested upon axioms as self evident
as that two and two make four, and that
kelly's scheme would not hold water-but
! could not find the holes, and the "PoOr
Mans Tract" to answer Judge Kelly never
was born. But | hated to give II up so
and kept pondering over the question
provoked with myself because could not
argue man down whom knew was
wrong; and, finally, | concluded that the
financial question was beyond my compre.
hension. At the close OF hard days
study, searching the writings OF wise men
to find the key to Keliy's riddle, the
thought flashed through my mind that
possibly Kelly was right and was wrong!
Heretofore | had assumed that Kcly's
arguments were all moonshne. That M.
sumption rested upon prejudice that was
born in me. Prejudice is the Burner to all
progress. We are governed by it and
don't know it. Prejudice is hard to over.
come by argument, but it can be swept
away by the logic of events. Prejudice is
the great obstacle in the way of the great
truths of the Greenback gospel. Our argu.
ments are unanswerablc nnd the misses ol
men are kept from joining our ranks by
appeals to their prejudices.
The moment entertained doubt that
might be in error, that moment Jaw
that Kelly was night and his argument nm.
answerable. 1t was an instant moons con.
version, and struck like q bolt Of chain
lightning. A now life had burst upon
me. | saw my life work before me. |
felt Il call to preach-and to print a
newspaper The people read the good
easy reading. and came to their school
houses to hear me talk. At the close OF
these school house meetings the men and
women would gather around, and when
farmers wife who had had charge OF
dairy OF dozen cows for twenty years
would take me by The hand and say, 81
will be pillar of that new church. " it
gave me new courage in my work. Other
well meaning men, whose minds were
clouded by prejudice, as my own had been,
honestly believed | was an old fool, and
said 80. AS men and women began to
embrace the new gospel | was attacked
with ridicue, personal abuse aud all man
ner Of lies, but they didn' hurt-lics never
do. II was the truth that had stirred the
monkeys up. The learned lawyers laughed
at the idea OF an obscure old farmer dis
cussing finance, but when they we're hurled
from their seats in congress they laughed
out OF the other corner OF their mouth.
The good work went on The GIccnback
slogan came out OF the woods and was
sounded from hill top to hill top, and the
voteIncreased from 800 to $4,000 in 3 Yeas.
In Maine the rag baby was blrn with
sledge hammer in his hands and from the
very first handled that hammer like play
thing. When the farmers sold hogs for 4
cents that cost them cents pound and
saw that what they had lost on their hogs
had been put into Blaine's bonds, they
went after the robber with pitch fork
1t was hot work down east and the tramp
OF cowhide boots was heard from Somerset
to the sea. That robbar is the changing
OF the volume Of the unit Of measure
the dollar-by statute law in the in
tarest of funded wealth to tic all
values to gold, and then legislato the
gold dollar up and down as it may
suit the interest of the fundholders. They
rob the people by increasing the value Of
the gold dollar, then they diminish the
value of gold to enable the Vanderlilts
and wheat gamblers TO double their for
tunes. The gamblers have invested their
gains in bondsS(Vanderbilt has $5O,C0D,-
0O0), and now they are ready for another
squeeze. The law has made the gold dol
lar dollar Of india rubber. 1t has di.
mlnished its purchasing power one-hplf
within the last fifteen months. What it
will be year hence no man can tell. 1t
may buy bushel Of wheat, it may buy
two.
The object of tho Greenback party is
not to rob anybody, but to stop the rob.
berry that results from changing the value
and volume OF money, and TO engraft in
the statute books laws that will protect
the industries of the country. Its work
has just begun. The con hlct between the
owners Of funded wealth and the produc.
ers Of wealth may last as long as the
struggle between freedom and slavery
The public debt must be paid, or this
republic must go.
Now is the time for every Greenbacker
to take hold of the plow. Let us all yield
to each other to produce harmony in our
own ranks, but pull up the fusion weeds
in the GreeDback fields. The old Aboli-
tionists did not fuse. They kept their
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