Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-04-27
GENERAL WEAVER.

OAANAAN&AA w In LIN
rHF GREENBAcK LEADER AT FUL-
TON OPERA HOUSE.
He Makes . Speech On tho Money nues-
Iion-Tbo National Banks Fiercely De-
How the BOndhOldors Fatten on
the PeOple-The Greenbsck tho
Only True Paper Currency
ture, and tho Mission
Of the Now
Party.
Gen. James B. Weaver, the leader of the
Greenback party in Congress, and late the
candidate of that party for the presidency
of the United States, made speech at
Fulton opera house last night. Tie hall
was not more than One-fOurth filled, but
the general, nevertheless, spoke with
great warmth and feeling, and was listened
to with close attention, and occasionally
heartily cheeied.
He was conducted to the stage and in.
troduced to the audience by Mr.. r. J..
Houston, the acknowledged leader Of the
party in this city.
Gen. Weaver commenced by saying that
it had been his pleasure to address his fel-
low citizens almost every day and some
times twice day for some weeks past,
and his audiences had generally been very
large if the attendance was not so large
on the present accession it was probably
because the people had not been awakened
to the great importance of tho money
question they have been too busy with
their own affairs to properly investigate
the subject aud have been misled by the
influence of those whose interest it is to
misrepresent the party. This should not
discourage those who favor the Green
back policy. The old Abolition
party. the Free Soil party and now pow
erful Republican party, had labor
ed under the same disadvantages
and had triumphed in the end. General
Weaver said he would attempt to set forth
as clearly and briefly as possible the true
principles of the Observation-Disclosures
party. He believed that Democratic and
Republicans and all other parties were
equally interested in the success of these
principles he believed they were equally
honest in their political views, aud that if
they would forego their party preiudices
and investigate the true condition OF affairs
they would support the Grecnback princi-
pies. He wished it 10 he distinctly under
stool that the Grcenback party
did not propose to carry the election by
any disorder or subversion of the rights of
property on the contrary their object was
to conserve these rights and more firmly
secure them to to the whole people. Our
ancestors who framed our present system
of government brought not only great
ability but great virtue to aid them in the
work. They might have yielded to
the demands of Great Britain and lived
| comfortably under the British govern
ment. but they felt that they owed a duty
to posterity, and they were willing to suf-
fer in the fulfilment of that duty. They
believed in free government, and that no
power essential to the happiness Of the
whole people should be allowed to pass
out of the hands of those not chosen by
the people. In the constitution framed
by them it is provided that Congress, the
representatives of the people, shall
have power to declare war. Would il
be safe to delegate the power to declare
war to the gunsmiths and powder manu-
facturers ? Certainly not, though none
others know so we'll the use and power
of war munitions. The constitution de
| clares that Congress shall regulate com
merce, but it gives no power to fix the
price of butter, hay, Or other commodities
Congress is given the power to coin money
and regulate the value thereof. Are you
willing that this great power shall be del
egated to those who arc not responsible to
you for it's issuee The national bank sys
tenn is at war with the principles of free
| government. They are given power to ex.
| pand and contract the currency at theil
| own pleasure and thus regulate the prices
of produce and labor. In the old slave
| times capita, said it should own labor
That system was ovcrthrown by the Re.
publican party, and now, although capi
| tai has abandoned its claim to our labor,
| it still holds that capital shall control the
price of labor, and that is just as bad.
| Money is essential to the prosperity and
happiness of the people, therefore it should
be issued by the people through their rep
resentativcs, AMI not by the banks. The
people, and lot the banks, should deter
mine the amount of money necessary t.
their use. A distinguished advocate o
hard money has said that, other thing.
being equal, the volume of money il
circulation determines the price of labor
the larger the volume of money the highe,
the price Of labor, and vice versa. Thi.
is undoubtedly true, and being true it il
| evident that the power that can determine
the volume of money determines the pay
| of labor. This immense power has been
given to the national banks, and they have
| used it to the oppression and impoverish
| ment of tho people. In 1873 the great
panic overlook the country aud labor in all
its branches was paralyzed. And thcu
Congress under pretense Of affording relief
enacted law authorizing the nationa
| banks to retire their circulation in whole
! or in part The banks rapidly retired theil
money. The argument was that Over-pro
ductiOn had caused the panic that there
was so much food in the world that people
were starvin. to death; the shoemakers had
made so many shoes people were compelled!
to go bare-fO there was so much cloth
manufactured that people were obliged tc
wear rags there was SO much rain that all
the streams went dry! This was the logic
of the banks and of the government and
they acted upon it by largely contracting
the volume of currency. What was the
result? Prices went down !; wages went
down your property was taken from you
and sold for half its value the capitalist
bought it ; the people at large were beg
CARED and then the capitalist again went to
Congress and in January, 1875, secured the
enactment of another law removing the
limits of bank circulation, SO that prices
might 20 up again and they could sell out
at large profit. And then the Republi-
can politicians chuckled and said "Didn't
we tell you so didn't we say there would
be good times when We once got down to
hard pan?' These infamous laws werc
naSSed in the intesest of 4 favored class