The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-11-24

death. And what was the answer to
these appeals and petitions2 They
served only to elicit denunci atom, mis-
representation, ridicule, SANDER and
abuse. Virtu lily the answer TO rs vas:
You do not know your needs. 60
back to your Homework harder and
live closer and keep out Of politics,
and all will be we'll" Was it just, was
it generous. was it kind, was it even
respectful, to thus spurn this first ana
earnest appeal of an oppressed ana SUI
fering peOple2 Have these men, VINO
are indebted to the people for whatever
of prominence and official dignity n
power they may enjOy-have they tof,
gotten that they are the servants ana
not the masters of the people? After
session of thirteen months, employed
for the most part, as the records lndl-
Gates in marty maneuvering for party
advantage. and expanding S $1,000, O0O,-
600 of the peoples mOney-$SOO, 600, 600
of which came from the sweat and toll
of these same rejected and insulted pc
t~itioners, that body adjourned, leaving
not one single act on its record for the
benefit Of the people.
In the light Of q plain lesson Of his
tOry-that all the civilizations worthy
the name that have lived and passed
away-perished under the iron hand
of money power-that those who con
troll the money Of a country control
the destinies Of its people, IS 1T not our
imperative duty as a people to establish
such barriers and limitations as Will
arrest the evident and alarming ten
dency to centralize money power IN
this country.
This was one of the grand purposes
of the measure presented to Congress.
1t would have supplanted u iniquit
Ously unjust and oppressive national
bank system by securing to the people
an adequate amount of money direct
from the government at a low rate of
interest, to have met the legitimate de
mands of the country. But in justifi
cation of the the silent contempt which
characterized the reception of this
measure, and with the artfulness,
sophistry, and adrOitness Of skilled
and
persistent assaults on its minuteSt de
tails have been substituted for manly
argument as to its underlying prln-
ciples. But the discussion and inVesti-
cation Of our demands has ode con
stantlv to their favor and strength,
until TO day they stand as the unquall-
fed expression of the sentiment of III
Order in thirty four States of the
Union.
More and more are the great masses
of the people learning to comprehend
the duties, functions, and powers of
the government as their general agent.
What right has that general agent to
issue the peoples money to corpora
tiOns at a cost of l percent, and license
those corporations to loan it to the peO-
pie at a cost of s to "a per cent? We
believe with John O.. CalhOun-that the
people should not be required to pay
interest on government credit while
said credit could be extended to them
without interest. We believe with
Thomas JeffersOn-that "the power to
issue money should be taken from the
banks and restored to the people and
to Congress, to which it ~rightfully be-
LONGS We believe James @. Blaine,
not ONLY that 1.-The one defective ele-
ment in the national bank system is
that it requires the permanence of
national debt as the basis Of It's exist
ence." but that any such system is in
herently false and wrong and cannot
be justified on any principle of justice
or equity. We believe that Abraham
Lincoln could have uttered no truer
prophecy had his hand and pen been
guided by inspiration, when he wrote:
The money power of the country will
endeavOr to prOlOng it's reign by work
ing upon the prejudices of the people
until all wealth is aggregated in a few
hands and the Republic is destroyed"
The Constitution declares that Con-
gress shall have power to regulate COM
MERGE among the several States. What
are the essential elements or factors of
com merce? Money, transportation and
the transmission of intelligence. Does
Congress regulate these? Does Con
gress regulate money-the value and
Volume Of money? Organized capital
demanded that Congress should de-
grade and destroy our legal tender cur
rency and establish in lieu thereof
national banks of issue, which should
be based alone on interest bearing gov
eminent bonds. Congress Obeyed.
Organized capital bought the bonds at
about half their face value, and thus
mOnOpolized the basis Of our banking
system. Organized capital demanded
that Congress should tax State banks
out Of existence. Congress Obeyed.
Thus capital mOnOpOlized the control
of the volume of currency. Organized
capital demanded that Congress should
outlaw land as security for loans from
these banks. Congress obeyed. Thus
the securities upon which these banks
must be operated were limited, chiefly
to stocks, bonds and personal notes,
whose values were to be manipulated,
regulated and dictated by organized
capital through ito stock exchange in
Wall street. Thus the power conferred
upon Congress by the Constitution to
regulate money, its value and volume,
was virtually surrendered and trans
ferred to capitalistic combination.
But the Constitution further confers
l1nnn CONGRESS the exclusive rioht to