Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-07-04


be granted. But has not congress the
constitutional power to sell aud trans
fer these sovereign properties of the
people at its discretion ] again az
firm that it has not; that the exercise
Of such power is utterly inconsistent
with the structural basis OF re-
publicanism. Itsubstitutts the sover-
eighty of the servant for the sovereign
ty Of the people, and proceeds to
plumber them of their natural, inalien-
able equal rights in their sovereign
properties and prerogatives. No
greater treason was ever perpetrated
against king or people in ancient or
modern times.
But will admit that the constitu-
tioDal authority to do is claimed
claimed. mind you-under art. sec.
5, OF the Con stitution, which delegates
power to congress Ito dispose of
the territory and other property be-
longing to the United States - But,
mark you, the power "to dispose
o" does not necessarily mean
the power to sell, give or ALLEVIATE At
discretion. What the power TO sell
the very basis OF sovereign power
No! no! no! Such power was never
delegated nor intended to be delegated;
and, therefore, the term ITO dispose
Of, being interpreted in subordmRtion
to the fundamental principles OF our
government, which is the only rule or
standard by which any grant of power
can be measured or construed, must be
held to mean only power TO dis
tribute these sovereign properties in
equal or uniform shares or benefits,
according TO the natural rights and
sovereignty OF the people. This con-
struction seems go plain, natural and
conclusive that further argument is
wholly unnecessary.
But some OF the most stupendous
robberies OF the people have been per.
petrated through perversions OF the
power delegated to congress ITO coin
money and regulate the value thereof"
This Is manifestly power to
make or create money, and Ia strictly
limited by the term money used in the
grant of power In connection with
the object for which the grant of
power was made, viz, 10 secure
money of uniform value throughout
all the states for the common benefit.
II was not n power to create any mere
"currencies," or substitutes for money,
which have been made the means
through which these grand larcenies
Of the people have been perpetrated.
But in order fully to understand the
extent OF this grant of power and its
perverslons, we must understand what
money is, or what constitutes money.
| have read or heard per-
haps hundred definitions,
scarcely any two OF them alike, and
many of them evidently framed to
clothe the subject in mystery, in order
TO mislesd and deceive the people. l,
therefore, give my own definition
Money, as l understand it to be, is
substance or material capable of being
prepared for convenient use rs money,
and which, when 80 prepared, may be
endowed by law with the attributes
Of legal tender in payment Of all
taxes and debts, public and pri-
vate, within the domains OF
the sovereign power making or
authorizing its creation. The giving
or endOwing the material proposed for
use as money with these qualities of
legal tender is the browning act in It's
creation, and without these qualities
OF legal tender no money was ever
made nor can be made. All else are
mere currencies, representations o.
substitutes for money, unknown to the
constitution and unauthorized by it,
/ deem it scarcely necessary to
say that these legal-tender attributes
may be conferred upon paper as upon
any other material, and that this was
the power most distinctly surrendered
by the states and delegated to con-
gress, the states only retaining the
power to confer legal tender on gold
and silver. IT is wholly unnecessary
to add that paper, when properly pre-
pared for use as money and endowed
by law with all these attributes of lie.
gal tender, constitutes money OF uni
form value with gold, silver or any
other material. This fact was demon.
strated by the "demand notes" bear
ing these attributes throughout the
war, ana was again most
strikingly demonstrated in the
present greenback paper money
which, az soon as all these legal tender
attributes were conferred upon il in
1879, Immediately rose to par with
gold and silver money and so remains
to this day.
There are two methods OF robbing
the people through perversions of the
power ito coin money" One of these
methods is by the creation of bank
note currencies or substitutes for
money purporting to be redeemable in
coin, with the right to issue trans
ferred to banking corporations
to enable them to rob
the people of interest or
u,ury. This is the method of the lead
ers of the so-called Democratic party
and had its development in the wild
cat' and other banking schemes an
terror TO the war, and now manifests
itself in their support of the present
national banks, in common with the |
leaders OF the so-called Republican
party. The other method was inau-
gurated by the leaders Of the Republic !
can party and consists in the crea-
ton of hybrid substitutes for money |
deprived of a part of the le- |
BARTENDER functions OF money,
by the national |
banks ana Understanding public debt, |
mainly created through perversion |
of the power TO borrow money! This |
method of robbing the people by de- |
basing their money and supplements |
as stated had its development during |
and since the war in the creation OF |
the different forms Of the greenback |