The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-10-08

other shady retreat for legarized de-
faulters until the storm passed over.
Laboring and business men and
women are ont to the value Of 500, 900
in consequence. enc aged widow who
had deposited AMI lost her all is hope
lesslv ii aalse. AaotIler Il suicide.
Several men are fra,np-; while many
others having songLt relief in saloons
and other places of dissipation are on
the down-hill road Of sin and crime to
fill the jails and State prisons. The
bankers luxuriate and the system goes
on.
On Main street, in jamestown, N.
T., situated nearly opposite each other,
are two national banks. Yesterday, /
had occasion to enter one of them. In
it is q picture hung whose memory
haunts me- 1t is the same as, or very
similar to, that which every national
bank in the United States con-
tains. / will draw it for you. II Is
. vivid, truthful picture of capital OPP
pressing labor. It is writ in human
flesh and stained with human gore.
Scattered all about it are the dead and
the dying; the mangled corpses, tr o.
phies Of victory. Here it is, laboring
voters:
On the left, in the foreground as I
entered, stood a man who at one time
figured prominently in the United
States Senate. He is President, direct
or, and heavy stakeholder in the
bank. He was evidently sort Of re-
ception committee. He stroked most
complaccntly at intervals white beard
and winter vest, smiled blandly, and
conversed fnently on the fine weather,
bountiful crops, and general prosperity.
Farmers hurried in and out. They were
haggard and careworn. Their gar
ments were faded and rusty: many Of
them were patched at the knees and
elbows. It seemed to them question
Of life or death. Cne old farmer had
heavy obligation to meet at the bank
that day or his note must 90 to protest.
He had brought ell his dairy product,
wool-clip, and even eggs and vegetables
from the garden for the market. Wool
was bringing rs cents per pound, but
ter Is cents, and cheese 5 cents, and
slow sales. The old man hurried to
and fro; he tried to sell his produce
and could not; he tried to find signeI
to aid him to renew the obligation and
failed. Finally, fretted and worried to
desperation, he sat down and wept like
. child; teers weak and futile. The
prices for farm produce were OF the
lowest possible margin, and yet butter
and cheese were luxuries, not necessi.
ties, on the average laboring mans
table. And the worn and faded suit
was barely respectable. The President
Of the bank from an elegant gold watch
noted the time of day, smiled blandly,
and said the note had gone to protest
To the old man the words came like
. thunderbolt. It was his death sen
tence financially. Chagrined and EN-
barrassed in the extreme, his naturally
fine and sensitive organism suffered in
describable emotions. Silently he
arose, and, walking down and out, car
rying in his face heart history tina,
tongue or pen could not delineate. Be
hind him were long, long years o.
weary, hopeless toll, crushed hopes
ruined aspirations. Before him, los
credit and manhood, q sheriffis sale
nameless days and sleepless nights
recklessDess, incompetence, the path
way to sin and crime, state prison, and
the gallows, or the infirmary and pau
per's grave.
He did not study the cause; he dit
not seek out q remedy. Something
was wrong. The banks were rich ant
powerful and oppressive. He was onl,
one from among its millions Of re
morseless victims. And the dead ant
the dying, financially, were strewn al
around him. The Republican part,
had blanketed the entire country will
debt and mortgages. The Democratic
party were foreclOsing on them.
On the brow Of the hill as the oil
man passed along was An elegant resi-
dence, among the finest in the city. ]
il the property Of q popular banker
The father watered railroad stock +
the value of 500, 900, and for stealing
legally that amount from the peopl
| the son was made banker. On thei
knees in front of the mansion five 10
borers were with their fingers pullin,
superfiuous leaves from the elegan
lawn. These men had all been farmer
in comfortable circumstances, witt
little homes for themselves and fam
lilies. Through on un ust system o
legislation the homes had been givel
up, the members of tie families ha'
B. parated, they had drifted down int.
day-laborers, serfs to . moneyed aria
tocrat. One Of these farmers, to kee]
the sheriff's sale of little longer, ha.
watered his milk, and for it was fine
$50 and costs. There is q mine Q
difference between watering milk ON,
watering railroad stock; between steal
ing q loaf OF bread for furnishing
hungering family and robbing Unite
States Treasury of : 81, ON.OjO.
Since American freedom was estab
lished at so fearful cost, every patrio
and statesman has UNANIMOUSLY said
"The national banking system must b
abolished or civil liberty must die.
And yet moneyed aristocrats, through
willy system of Legislation, blind til
great masses to the leading vital quea
tions at issue. Money dethrones man
hood, corrupts the press, distorts truth
and places crafty. artful lawyers an
bankers to legislate for labor. Thes
establish banks, extenuate their char
tiers, and perpetuate the system. Banl
! ers are built up into millionaires, an
the great army Of American laborer
into bonded serfs.
! The Supreme Court of these Unite
States says: "The greenbacks are 81
right. Make and use them. Pay o.
the bonded debt. Take the yoke fror
the necks of American laborers" Th
national bankers say: 1.-THE green
backs are not Ill right. You laborer
must pay us directly and in
directly II per cent. for the use 9
money. We will become lnillionaires
II we cannot buy elections we will bu
legislation. We will perpetuate on
system. The national 10. shall n
main; national banks shall control th