The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-10-21

in the senate the national bank bill.
which, after three davs. was passed by
4 vote of % to q. Then it was
hurriedly sent to the house, and
passed the next day by vote of SO to
Ga. and five days later it received the
! presidents approval.
| Such was the haste to rush this
measure through, that the opposition
did not have time to prepare and make
a protest.
Mr.. Collamer, of Vermont, barely
had time to say:
To induce the people to take $780,
900, ,OVO Of bonds on interest, to set up
these banks. put out their circulation
as national currency" and we guar
antee its payment!
Wherein is that any better than the
greelback?
| will ask gentlemen to put that
| question to themselves. Is it any bet
ter? What is it founded on? United
States credit! United States
bonds! Whom do the bilI-holders
look to for final redemption? The
United States treasury!
We say we will redeem them. The
| system has no other foundation. All
these fictitious contrivances about the
responsibility of individual stock holders
amounts to just nothing.
As to the proposition to retain 25 per
cent, out Of their circulation, they can
put that in their pockets whenever
they please, and there is nobody to
question them.
1t is simply and singly founded upon
public responsibility, and MIR. Sher-
man thinks that its great feature of ex-
cellence.
Instead of circulating that amount Of
our own [greenb back currency, upon
our own responsibility, and paying
nothing, we are TO hire these banks to
circulate that amount of our currency
and pay them twelve millions of dol
lars year in gold for doing it.
Yankee rs am, am unable to per-
ceive how it is possible that it can be q
good trade for us, or how any shrewd
man would think of entering into an
agreement OF that kind.
Two points Of the British plot were
now secured-the abolition of labor
ownership. and the establishment of q
bankers currency based on the pub
lie debt.
The next point was to get rid of the
greenback and the treasury note, and
the cannon $ boom at Petersburg had
hardly died away when congress passed
bill for the rapid extinction of the
money which alone had saved the Union
In his first annual report after the
passage of the contraction bill the Sec
retary Of the treasury said:
The process of contracting the circu-
lation Of the government notes should
60 ON just as rapidly as possible without
producing financial crash.
Such was the secretary . zeal to serve
his Wall street and London masters
that even the bankers saw that he must
| be cautioned, lest the people became
alarmed. So A. G. Spaulding, New
| York banker, wrote to him to ''c0n-
tract slowly, so as to maintain a
ToLERABLE EASY MONEY MARKET FOR
ATLEAsT A YEAR TO CONE"
That year there were but 632 business
failures in all the country, but as con-
| traction continued, failures multiplied
| and labor was thrown out Of employ
ment until il 1878 there were over
| 10. 600 failures, and 5000, 900 men were
tramping for work.
But even this did not give the money
| power entire control of the currency.
Silver was being produced in great
abundance, and its coinage was unre-
stricted. This must be stopped. So
another British emissary, armed with
half a million of British corruption
money, invaded our congress, and cap
tured enough marketable representa-
tives" to secure the demonetizatiOn
act.
But their scheme was not vet protect
| ed.
The national bank act, in order not
to alarm the people, limited the bank
note circulation to $500. 1000, 900. and
the act of Congress. March 5, 1864. per-
mitted the secretary of the treasury. at
his discretion, to increase the green
back circulation to $4OO, 100000.
In his circular, Mr.. Hazard said:
It will not do to allow the greenback
SO called, to circulate rs money for any
length of time, for we cannot control
that.
So, on the 14th day of January, 1875,
John Sherman introduced bill which
was passed and became law, author
izing the national banks to expand and
contract the volume of their currency at
will, without regard to limit. also, that
from and after January l, 1879. the
greenbacks should be redeemed. and
retired as fast as presented for that pur-
pose in sums not less than $50.
Thus the record shows that the Haz-
| Zard circular been adopted by our
lawmakers, and has been the rule OF
action for both the old political parties,
and that it has been carried out to the
letter as far as legislation is concerned.
1t is true it received . check in 1878,
by law authorizing the coinage of a
limited number of silver dollars and
the preservation of tho greenback cir.
culation, but these acts intended to
head off the worst features of the Eng.
lish policy, have been rendered nuga-
tory by the dishonest and illegal man
agement of the public funds, and the
evasions and misconstructions placed