The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-04-19


they had had nothing to eat for two
days, and in Aty they let him go. He
was one of the calamity hOwlers
The writer concludes with the follow
ing, which would be very good advice
! to our rulers and law make IS of to day:
If the Emperor was not so self conf
dent one of his chaplains might do him
a service by calling his attention to
page in sacred history which recOunts
how a young king in a similar crisis
lOs5 five sixths of his kingdom by treat
ing roughly some of his subjects who
peUitioned HIM for a tightening of their
burdens | Kings. l2:13-16
For the information Of calamity pro
ducers Twill quote what some of the
most prominent calamity hOwlers In
| the past thought on these subjects.
| Thomas Jefferson says: l sincerely be
| lieve that banking establishments are
more dangerous than standing armies.
| President Jackson (Old Hickory said
IN one OF his messages: 1t being estab
| lIshed by unquestionable proof that the
Bank of the United States was con
verted into a permanent eleCtiOneering
| engine, it appeared to me that the duty
which the Executive Department of the
| government ought to pursue was not
doubtful. AS by the terms of the bank
charter no officer but the Secretary of
| the Treasury could remove the deposits,
| 1t seemed to me that this authority
ought to be at once eXerted to deprive
| that great corporation of the support
and cOuntenance of the government to
such a use of its funds and such exer
ton of its power. In this point of the
case the question is distinctly presented,
| whether the people of the United States
are to govern through representatives
! chosen by their unbiased suffrages, or
/ whether the power and money of a
| great corporation are to be secretly eX-
erted to influence their judgment and
| control their decision. 1t must now be
determined whether the bank is to
| have its candidates for office in the
country from the highe st to the lowest,
| or whether candidates on both sides
! shall be brought fOrw trd as heretofore
and supported by the usual means
Thomas II. Benton said: The govern
ment its-lf ceases to be independent, it
! ceases to be safe when the national cur
rency Is at the will of company. Ben
| jamin Franklin says: On the whole
no method has hitherto been found to
! establish a medium of trade equal In
all its advantages to bills of credit
made a general legal tender. Will
| also make q few quotations from a
speech OF John G. Calhoun ON his
amendment to the bill authorizing the
| issue of treasury notes In the Senate
| October Sd, 1887. Arguing against
national banks, he sain: Can it be
| doubted what must be the effects of
! system the operations of which have
| been shown to be so unequal IN free in
| stiCutiOns Again he says: With this
| law so we'll established, place the
money power in the hands Of a single
! Individual or a combination of indivId
uals, and they, by expanding or con
! tracing the currency, may raise Or
sink prices at pleasure, and by pur-
| chasing at the points of greatest de-
preston and selling at the point Of
| greatest elevation may command the
whole property and industry Of the
community and control its fiscal opera,
! ton. Further on he says: The cOnse-
! Quence Is to discourage industry and TO
! convert the community INTO stock job
! bers and spectators How truly are
| his predictions justified at the present
time. Let us now hear what Henry
! Clay says on contraction: Have the
gentlemen reflected upon the cOnse
! Quence of their system of repetition?
| have already stated that the country
Is borne down by a weight of debt. If
the currency be greatly diminished, as
beyond all example it has been, how IS
this debt to be extinguished? Property,
the resource on which the debtor relied
for his payment, will decline in value,
and it may happen that man who
| honestly contracted debt on the faith
| Of property which had a value at the
time fully adequate to warrant the
| debt, will find himself stripped Of all
| i L. ! I,
tinguishable. Again he goes on to say:
| But if the effect of this hard money pol
! icv upon the debtor does be injurious,
it is still more disastrous, if possible, on
the laboring classes. Enterprise will
be checked or stopped, employment
will become difficult, and the poorer
classes will be subject to the greatest
privatiOns and distress. William Pitt,
| the friend of America, said: Ii the
| United States adopts our banking and
judiciary systems their liberties will be
| destroyed.
Adam Smith, the father of political
| economy, said high prices and plenty
| is prosperity. I might mention Mills,
Lincoln, Chase and a long line of
irlustrious names all of whom were Ca
lamity howlers on the above subjects,
but those mentioned above are enough
to show that we are in the best com
pany.
In conclusion, [ would say to the Ca
lamity producers as John Q. Calhoun
said to an opponent in debate: You use
ridicule because you have no argument
to offer. This is a critical moment
with the Alliance. Let every man
stand to his gun and obey the conn.,
mand ewes front, forward march.
He that dallioS is q bastard and he
that doubts is damned"
T. A EPPES.