The advocate., 1890-07-30
in the Historical society library, Topeka.
10 ia All good reading:

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The nug Of This country, wherever 10 floats
whether over the citizen 40 home, the miner ln
the mountains, The dr0yer ON the plains, or the
mariner 80 sea, should carry with 10 protection.
am iu favor NJ free coinage ana circulation Oi
silver the same ns gold, ~ the extent Oi the pro-
dnCtl0n Oi these metals by our mines, but am
opposed tO Che policy Of Increasing our bonded
| indebtedness for the purpose Oi buying either,
! am In favor NJ paying our bonds In strict ac-
c0rdance with the letter ana spirit on tlie hWs
under which they were issued, and 70 chat end
Congress should Immediately repeal the public
credit net OF sOO the funding bill OF 1870; the re-
sumption law, and the national banking act ne.
tire The bank notes ana substitute therefor full
leRll tender Pecnbacks Then, with the money
ll hnnl, W., three hundred ana tWenty'lWO MI
lions Oi greenbacks, one hundred and lllty mil
Hons Of gold, and fifteen millions Of silver the
secretary NJ the treasury as preliminary step,
should pay on nm equal amount Of outstanding
per cent. bonds, and thereby reduce our Interest
account thirty millions annually
Should Mr. ROthschlld refuse tO receive green
backs In exchange Tor his bonds, then the secre-
tary should pay them In COln-gOOd, honest,
round silver dollars, weighing tl2h grains ench,
ana he should sell every dollar Oi gold ana green
backs In the treasury FOR the purpose Of raising
the required amount and II That was not Nllll-
Client, The government should give free transp0r'
tatlOn tO five hundred thousand tramps ana
million Idle consumers, from the eastern ctles tO
the silver mines Of Colorado, New Mexico ana
sAIllulu, illll Nv lf hIt Lllllf uItl hlu IUlt w
the extent Of their capacity the U n. mlnts, until
nm honest money had accumulated IN quantities.
sufficient 10 discharge these and oil other similar
obligations.
10 accomplish this the volume OF greenbacks
should be Increased ana furnished by the general
government only upon per capita basis, limited
by the constitution, In nm amount sufficient 10
give steady employment 10 labor ana free activity
TO trade.
Not only has 0ur money been contracted and
our bonded indebtedness Increased, but no the
same time revenue beyond the prOntS Ot IN
dustry has been levied upon the country Since
1896 there has been collected by the government,
from various sources Of revenue, over four th0u'
sand million dollars Had the secretary or the
treasury applied the surplus OF thls revenue 10
the payment OF our 5-20 bonds, ~ the law
authorized, instead OF burning the money and re-.
funding the bonds, we would have been spared
the horrible spectacle OF financial ruin which
now presents Itself on every hand.
But this has not been done.
by the public credit act OF 1869, the entire vol.
ume Of currency bonds, over illteen hundred
millions I'm amount, which had been sold by the
government at nm average OF less than sixty cents
on the dollar, were made payable In coin, By
that act the people Of this country were dellber-
ately robbed OF m amount equal 70 the difference
between the price Of currency and gold, which nc
the time OF the passage OF the act was twenty
nine per cent, and Wenty'nlne per cent. pr0nt
on llneen hundred million dollars amounts TO
hlA IlllilNItu anu IlllIlN UNf UllllNNnt WlNH ~
substantially the amount made by the bond
holders ln consequence Of the passage or the
public credit net OF 1869.
Following this act came the funding bill OF
1870 which was necessary In order TO get lhe
currency bonds converted into coin bonds be-
fore the robbery should be- discovered and the
government taken ont OF the "hdndS " fs
friends
In order 10 carry successfully into operation
these schemes OF plumber, the specie resumption
Isatf Of nina
work Of contraction has gone on, and IL stll go
Ing on, until 10 has produced an army Ot bank
ulpts, stretching out I'm line from the Atlantic tO
the Pacific, until II has paralyled the industries
OF the people, spread mortgages all over tnc
country, and rendered homeless and destitute
thousands Of men, women and children Under
this policy, our workshops are ClOSod the fires
In the furnaces eXtlngulshOd produce sOld Tor
less than the cost NJ production, ana taxes levied
TO the point OF COntiscat0n
Our lalls are filed full; penltentarieS overflow
Ing; strikes OF common occurrence, ana nm army
OF amless tramps wandering from place TO place
begging for bread.
What n contrast between the condition OF az
fairs to-day and that Of the country from 1869 to
iS7Gl
In view Of all the facts need we wonder at the
disturbed condition Of society?
The only thing, II seems To me, To- be wondered
Mt and admired, Is the patient endurance OF the
American people.
SuCn nnNnclNl pOHCy, lOHOWeu WIN SUCH Ic-
suits, would long since have COnvulsed all Europe
and raZed mOnarChies 10 the ground.
But not 40 here. This Is republic, and IN u
republic the people have the power within them
selves 10 right their own wrongs.
Then, II we have the power, lot us be men, and
use II according 10 our best Judgment.
II those In authority have taken the wrong
road, or started on an expedition 10 Moscow too
late In the season, let us call halt before our
supplies are exhausted, and return before an
Arctic winter begins.
We may reach resumption, and SO did NapO-
leon reach Moscow, but on arriving there he
found the city In flames and the products OF Che
country In ashes; he found himself and his great
army, nc the opening OF u severe winter, stranded
on the plains Of Russia.
SO, too, will u he with us when we reach re-
sumption; II will have been over the wreck and
financial ruin Of forty millions Of people. And
even then we shall find resumption no harbOr Of
Snfpty Like NnDOleon M Moscow we shall find