The examiner., 1881-12-17
Have the People Cause to Complain


 hands the whole power and authority of the government was now surrendered, were | about to make another move which should result in the bankruptcy of the whole na- tion, that they might enrich themselves from the spells, after the manner of the wreckers, who place false lights on the rocky coast, in order that they may plum der the wreck of such vessels, as misled by there false signals would founder upon the rocks. This new move Is called the con- traction or appreciation of the currency; in plain language it means burning up or destroying the peoples money to get it out of their way so that they can gain control of the entire currency and thereby have the people at their mercy in the same way that 8 few men having bought up half of the grain of the country and obtained the passage of a law authorizing the destruc- tion of the other half would have the peo- pie at their mercy:
 Stop with me for a moment and consider the position the government is made to take by the bankers, first to increase by hundreds of millions it's interest bearing debt, and do this to induce the men who are now employing these greenbacks in active business pursuits and thus keeping labor fully employed throughout the coun- try, to take their money out of business, discharge the workmen they employ, de- liver the money to the government to be destroyed, and tske in return for it a bond which they lock up in their chest where it will now support them in idleness, and also be beyond the reach of the tax-gath- erer. They now no longer have any inter. est in the expenses of the town. The roads and bridges over which their car riages roll are built and repaired, the edu- cation of their children is paid for, and all their burdens are borne by the very men who have been thrown out of employment by their action, and in addition to this these very men are made through the gov ernment to pay them interest on their bonds
 Gould any plot be more infamous You will answer no. So did John Sherman be- fore he became the tool of the money
 
 act is introduced into Congress to force resumption of specie payment.
 JOHN SHERMAN ON THE RESUMPTION ACT
 BEFORE HE GOES OVER TO THE MONEY
 POWER.
 ''The appreciation of the currency is far more distressing operation than Sena- tors suppose. Our own and other nations have gone through that process before. *
 It is not possible to take this voy- age without the sorest distress. To every person except 8 capitalist out of debt, or salaried officer or annuitant, it is period of loss, danger, lassitude of trade, fall of wages, suspension of enterprise, bank ruptcy and disaster. To every railroad it is an addition of one-third to the burden of it's debt, and more than that deduction from the value of it's stock. It means the ruin of all dealers whose debts are twice their (business) capital, though one-third less than their actual property. It means the fall of all agricultural productions without any great reduction of taxes. What prudent man would dare to build house, railroad, 8 factory, or a barn, with the certain fact before him that the greenbacks he puts into his Improvements will in two years be worth thirty-fve per cent. more than his improvement is than worth When the day comes every man, as the sailor says, will be close reefed; all enter prise will be suspended; every bank will have contracted it's currency to the lowest limit, and the debtor, compelled to meet in coin debt contracted In currency, will find the coin hoarded in the treasury, no representative of coin in circulation, his property shrunk, not only to the extent of the appreciation of the currency, but still more by the artificial scarcity made by the holders of gold. To attempt this is to i'm pose upon our people, by arresting them in the m1dist of their lawful business, and applying a new standard of value to their property without any reduction of their debts, or giving them an opportunity to compound with their creditors, or to dis tribute their losses, would be an act of folly without example in evil in modern time I"
 l now ask you if any prophet could have foretold the consequence of an act with greater exactnessP You are my witnesses that all the misery, bankruptcy, rum and distress foretold by John Sherman follow ed in the track of the resumption act. The only fault in the picture is that it was not drawn strong enough. It was the distress accustomed by this act which gave birth to the Greenback party, and that party has been laboring ever since to open the eyes of the people so that they may see the gigantic frauds practiced upon them by the money power. At the first awakening they failed to comprehend the full extent of their injuries, only here and there catch ing glmpses of what appeared to be a great wong. They had many crude ideas of reform, and in their struggle and found erlngs to get out of the meshes that were strangling them they were laughed at, booted at, jeered at, and insulted by the organs of the bankers. whose hope of future success in their swindling operation would be lessened should the peoples attention be attracted by the outcries of those | SInnafioaD 4ho-