The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-03-15
The cIonstitutionolity Of the meas

ure was questioned by some; bat il
was an extreme case, and necessity
knows no law but its own. This
measure gave temporary relief tc
the government, but appalled, the
money kings, who found them
selves in the condition of the
buckle-makers when shoe-strings
came in fashion-out of bunineas.
But they were shrewd, more
shrewd than congress itself, as we
shall presently see. The first issue
of the greenbacks constituted the
Demand Notes, which differed from
all subsequent issues, in that they
did not contain the clause, except
ing duties on imports AMI interest
on the public dept, which from
this time forward, shall be paid in
gold" This clause omitted, the
greenbacks were on a par with
gold. and wherever gold went, they
could go, being COLDS equal. But
here came in the money kings.
There was little or no demand for
boarded gold, greenb acks would
do as well; and for gold to lie idle
was not profitable at all. So,
within a few days after the pas
sage of the Legal Tender Act,
there was a convention of the bank
ers from the leading cities of the
east and north, held in Washing
ton City, and by some means or
other, they induced congress to
introduce the exceptions noted
above, and thus created an urgent
demand for their gold by giving
advantages not possessed by the
greenbacks. Importations were
large. The duty had to be paid in
gold, and the tariff rates were high.
Government bonds were issued by
hundreds of thousands and by
millions. The interest had to be
paid with gold, and soon the de-
mand for gold was large and
urgent, and as the demand increas
ed, the price of gold advanced
until there was wide difference
between it and the greenbacks.
The gold hoarders had got ahead
of congress, had the advantage of
the people, and had matters pretty
much in tileir own hands, though
it was said some congressman
found THEN. wealth greatly increas-
ed about these times, but how we,
of course, do not know.
Let us now see how this state of
things worked During the war,
the tariff on foreign importations
was very high, and in the emer-
gency, some articles had to be i'm
ported from abroad that had pre-
yiously been furnished at home,
such as sugar, cotton, etc.
1t was, if we rightly remember,
in 1864 that the duty on sugar was
about rs per cent and the premi-
UNI on gold had risen to the enor-
nous extent of 165 per cent So
the importer had not only heavy
duty on his importation, but also
had to pay two hundred and eighty
five cents in greenbacks for one
hundred cents in gold, with which
to pay the duty. OF course, as a
business man, he had to add this
to the selling price of the sugar,
and the whole burden fell at last
upon the consumer. Like the cele-
brated toasts given by a king, a.
bishop and farmer IN Spain-the
king gave: Il rule for ALL" the
bishop responded, Il pray for ALL"
the farmer significantly added,
"and 1 PAY for all; 50 in this
case, and all similar cases of which
this IS but a specimen, the gold
dealer got his premium, the i'm
porter received his per cent, the
wholesale merchant received his,
so did the retail merchant, and at
the last the consumer pays for all
and from first TO last, the tendency
of such operations has been, and
is to widen the gap between two
classes Of society by making the
rich richer, and the poor poorer.
We have said this was a long
story. So it is. We are now but
fairly into it; but if life, health,
and strength, and the patience of
writer and reader hold out, will
wade through it before we are
done, and tell why things are so,
what made and keeps them so, and
what is likely to be the result.
The New Cabinet.