The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-05-31
WHO IS

hard times, the Democrats hold up
their hands in holy horror and eXclalm
it is the Republicans who are RESPONSE
HE and not them. Now let us see If
this is true; let us see if the Democrats
did what they could to prevent the
vicious legislation from which the PEG
nile have suffered for more than
twenty years. 1t will be necessary to
examine the Congressional Record and
see how the Democrats and Republl-
cans have voted upon various meas
nrns On the 4th of December, 1865,
Mr. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the
Treasury, made his report to Congress,
In that report he uses this language:
ct is a well established fact which
has not escaped the attention Of all In
telligent observers, tn 1T the demand
for more money increases (by reason
of an advance in prices with the sup
pIv, and that this demand is not IN
frequently most pressing when the vol
ume of currency is the largest and in
hatiOn has reached the elimination
point. Money being an improbable
article to hold, very little is withheld
from active use, and in proportion to
it's increase prices advance, and as
prices are reduced the demand for it
falls off; 50 that, paradOXlcal as 1t may
seem, a diminutiOn of the currency
may in fact increase the supply of it,"
This report was one Of the most re
markable that has ever been sent out
from the Treasury Department and in
it the Secretary made a plea for less
money. In another part of his report
he says: The people are now COM
p~aratively out of debt. The expansion
Of the currency has now reached such
-. - - - O@Drlucivn 70 a loruo
portion of the people (meanlng sup
pose oppressive TO the money c~IasseS)
while at the same time it Is diminish
ing labor and Is becoming ~subVerslve
of good morals. The remedy and only
remedy within the control of Congress
is. in the opinion of the Secretary, to
be found in the reduction Of the u
rency."
At the time this report was written
there was in circulation among the peO-
pie, in round numbers, two billions of
dollars of paper money to say nothing
of gold and silver, making over fifty
dollars per capita. Everybody who
was old enough knows how prosperous
we were when this volume of money
was in circulation. But the Secretary
of the Treasury feared for the morality
of the people if they were to continue
long in a s and plenty, so he sug-
gested a contraction of the currency
so that prices should be reduced and
the people should be compelled to work
harder to make a living and thus pre-
serve their morals. Great God, who
ever heard such a proposition? The
people must be reduced to poverty and
want and slavery to preserve their
morals. The three million tramps now
in the land are not forced to commit
crimes for a living, but ought to be
saints, under Mr.. McCulloch's plan of
contraction, if poverty and distress are
essentials to good morals. But what
are the facts in the case? Has not
crime increased in proportion to the
tramps in the country2 You may
preach forever, but you can't convert
a man with an empty stomach. When
Christ was or the earth he recognized
this. truth and performed thirty-One
miracles and twenty-eight of them
were to relieve the bodily sufferings of
man.
| did not begin this article to discuss
the evils that had resulted from a con
fractions of the currency, but to show
who was responsible for the passage of
b act antagOnizing the funding of
the money that was in circulation
among the people at the time it was
passed. The act of April 18th. 1866,
was supplementary to the act of March
Sd, 1865, and was really the first fund
ing act since the war. The passage of
this act was the beginning of all of our
woes and has brought more suffering
upon the people of this country and
wrecked more fortunes and caused
more universaland widespread distress
among the producing and laboring
classes than all the wars that have
been waged / n this country since the
establishment of u government. On
account of b passage of this act re-
duclng the volume of currency from
over fifty dollars per capita to less
than five dollars now, the producing
and labOring classes are in worse con
ditiOn than the Southern States were
at the close of the war. | have said
frequently on the stump that if the
volume of currency could have re
manned at fifty dollars per capita till
now, we in the South would never
have known that we lost the negroes,
so prosperous would we have been.
Well now, who is responsible for this
changed condition of things2 When
this act was passed on the 18th of April,
1866, the vote upon this measure in the
House was: Yeas. 81; Republicans, So;
Democrats, %. Nays, 81; Republicans,
So; Democrats, 1. 1t will be cen from
the above that the Republicans were
equally divided and that the bill could
not pass without help from the Demo
Gratis and twenty-eight Democrats
voted with ffty-three Republicans and
passed the act, while only one Demo
crat voted with the fifty three Repub-
licans against this monstrous measure.
Now who is responsible for the passage
of this act? Kind reader, let the scales
of party fall from your eyes and look
at this vote and answer the question
honestly and candidly.
The Democrats claim to be opposed