The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1886-02-02
N NcPHEksoS, in which he attempted to

~ they Were heeniled bv the viles o
The immaculae jay Co X. and preie; rec
to believe Ms rose.colorei advertise.
ments rather than the plain words writ.
ten on the face OF the bonds themselves
then instead of piiying them as the vic.
Tins of bad faith I should rather he dis.
posed to adjnurn-,he wisdom OF Provi.
dence which In spirit decomposition
justice, has provided that dangerous
men, like dangerous animals, will de-
vour each other when better prey is moi
within resch."
The example Of bond holder plead.
ing The cause OF the poor man. struck
him a. o marvellous moral exhibition, Of
will appear hy the following:
"Mr. President, there are some things
which on first sight evoke no vuice; they
simply take away ones brea,h, as the
phrase goes, and the astouEded mind
like soldiere under the influence of sud.
den panic, req ,ires to he rallied and re.
called to i'selt before 1t can take in the
full Significance OF the proposition. Wei
do | remember when for the first timF
nv ewes beheld the vast and terrible
grandeur of the ocean, and when ! frs
saw and heard the dread majesty of Nj.
agsra Speech then seemed not only
impossible but inappronriste, uniting
useless, and utterly insufficient. S ',Iton.
there are to he seen now and then mora
exhibitions of far surprising grandeur
which strikes us equally dumb With ~
miring wonder, and makes US before
venturing speech anxiously inquire o.
ourselves II poor depraved humanit,
can really thus attain to such fello wshiI
with the eod.. We hardly expected such
spectacle to be presented 10 the dis
cussion OF this plain and prosaic qnes
tion; and yet, Mr.. President, such ar
one cohfronts US when Wall street. with
its congeners. comes forward as The
friend and guardian Of the poor. y,
"S1snee as 1t NAV srpear Apollo l.
really stalking among the swineherds Of
Admstss,, aad asks to be recognized as
the veritable sun.god. Ut truth the
chiefs OF capitalistic pnwer have put into
this discussion the plea that silver musl
he degraded from its high place for the
sake OF the poor! Wall street wants
this done, not as Caiumny ysinly imag
ines TOR its own profit. hut because the
tender hearts Of its denz z ns, which .beat
only for the alleviation Of human mise
ry, csunnt bear to see poor men paid fol
their labor in silver dollars. which are
worth hnt 80 cents in gold though worth
fol 100 In meat and f)ur. l have OF.
ten bad,occasion 10 note with pride this
disinterested devotion OF capital to The
interests of the workineman. 1t is q
distinguishing feature Of our, cIviliz 'tiou
more particularly when the working
mans vo'e Is essential TO financial
schemes like this. saatf' y :;
"If a railroad corporation wants to
oobble mp a few million acres OF the pub.
lie lands 1t does 81 in the interest-not
OF it's shsra.hniAers-but OF :. the poor
settler. 80 ~. II anational
bank wants the tax on nchecks or depos.
it's repealed, or wants green6scks retired
nut OF tbe way Of its own notes. 1t Is
done Or urged to ID done, not forits
pro6t-by no rnesus-but for The sole
good Of the poor whom We have alwsys
with us. In short there Is not q capital.
ist ora combination'of money schemine
to procure advantage OF the people BY
legislation, Who does not approach Con.
gress. vowing, under the penalties OF. the
sweet singer Of the captivity, that he pre-
fers the American laborer to bis chic
JOY" e t
In referring to the policy pursued ii
reference to silver, he makes use of lhit
wonderful combination OF words:
"Ia no other instance in our history, 1
IN this; have our executive officials beer
vested with the discretion of oheying Of
disobeying the laws "a they NAV deem
proper, and setting at defiance the peo
ple's will as expressed through their rep
resentatives. / am q ,ite sure that ne
other country under the sun bu, our
ever iel, itself compelled to borrow mon
ev to meet its obligations and complain
at the same time that the legal money
called for by those obligations vas &C
abundant in it's vaults that the care OF i
was . burden and nuisance! A slov
fash of lightning. or an honest thief, o.
q truthful liar are all things which may
he conceived of-nav, by the aid OF
very vivid imagination one may ever
form an idea OF the existence OF SINGER
believer in civil.service reform; but it i
hard, indeed, to imagine govetnmen
80 rich in coin that 1t is compelled t.
borrow monev to pay it's debts.
Can such things be. and overcome us
Like sammer's cloud2
How long will the American peopl
submit to have their finances controlle'
by combinations Of money? When vii
they rise and assert their own Interest,
under the bene6cent and venerable dem
ocratic maxim, 'rhe greatest good to th
greatest number 2"
| ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION