The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-10-04

OLAcO nO AcGS nOO yCb uceu0 enough Oub
or the cruel war, and must have some
more. The neutrality-suspicious. act is
passed, which declares that the interest
and the principal of the bonds shall be
paid In "specie," changing the words
'lawful money" z" in the bonds to
specie" which meant either gold or
silver, or both. Then they corner the
gold and suruptitiously get silver de
monetlzed. By these two acts the gov
ernment was robbed of nearly 50, ,0OO,-
OO0, 900, and the farmers of the country
of at least 25 per cent. of the products
OF their labor ever since. These two
acts at the same time have increased
the value of the bonds to at least five
times their actual income to the gov
ernment from their sale, have covered
the lands of the South, West and North
with mortgages, robbed the producer
of the means of exchange with which
to meet his obligations; made five thou
sand millionaires and millions of
tramps, paupers and many more mil
lions of ruined homes.
Thus the debt of the government
which ought never to have been made,
was at the close of the war about So
O00, 900, 900, in round numbers; more
than 81, 500, 000,O of which had al
ready gone into the Golfers of the money
changers as commissions, discounts
and interest. Since the war the gov
ernment has paid more than S., ,OOO,-
600, 900 on this debt, money which has
gone out of the pockets of the producing
non producing plutOcratic shYlOcks
who pay no taxes. This grinding still
goes on. It would take twice as many
pounds of cotton to-day to pay what is
still due on the same debt as it would
have taken a year after the war to
have paid it all.
Gen. Weaver, though elected to Con
gress as Republican, and by 1000
majority, was honest enough when he
saw the drift Of these things to protest
against and sound the alarm. For this
he at once became the target of ridi-
cule, slander and abuse from the class
who were doing this robbery; and they
havenever held up. For about twenty
years now this patriot statesman and
high-toned Christian gentleman has
been opposing this high handed rob
berry, and the stronger he grows in the
estimation of the people, the more vile,
slanderous and contemplate are the
efforts of the plutoCratic shylOcks and
their hireling press to damage his repu-
and this warfare has been Waged by
plutocratS, regardless of party affilia-
tion, while both parties have We'd with
each other in their efforts to do all
they could in the interest of the money
class and ignore the interest of the
producer and taxpayer, and they
spend millions of this wealth every
four years to darken council and blind
the people and keep them in ignorance,
that they may go on with their robbery.
But I think hear some Democrat
say, 1.-The Republicans are responsible
for all this" We have not had the
chance to stop it. We acknowledge it
is as mean as the devil would have it,
but we have not been able to check it,
because the people defeat us and keep
the robber Republicans in power"
We admit that since the world began
there never has been a more corrupt
party in power in any country than
the Republican party in this country
has proved itself to be. But it is not
true that the Republican party is re-
sponsible for it all there has not been
time since the war when there was
not Democrats in both branches of
Congress. If they could have done
nothing else, they could have informed
the people of the robbery and thievery
that was going on, and If they had In
an honest, straightforward, manly and
truthful way done this the people
would have believed them and put
them in power. Did they warn the
DeOple of the curse coming to this
country from the passage of the ''credit-
strenofhening act?" Did they open
their mouths about the bill demonetiz
ing silver9 Did they object to the in
sersion of the exception clause in the
greenback, and destroying it as legal
tender9 Not a bit of it. But on the
other hand when the farmers OF this
country in the little log school houses
began to meet and discuss the hard
times their causes, they soon found out
and were willing to lay all this blame
at the door of the Republican party.
And two years ago, upon the promises
and pledges of Democratic candidates
to Coz gress throughout the agrlcultu-
raj territory of this country, the peo-
nIe rallied to the Democratic banner.
The like had never been known before.
The majority rolled up wiped out an
overwhelming Republican majority IN
the last House and gave the Democrats,
together with the nine Peoples party
members. about two thirds majority
in the present House. Ihls was an
item for the Democrats, but the men
who voted for them looked IN VAIN Tor
any measure of relief. They did aDso-
IuteIy nothing they had pledged them
selves to do, they made sham ngnI
on the free silver bill, which reIorners
hoped they would pass; but it failed.
They had blamed the Republicans with
robbery, treachery, thievery, knavery
and everything else that was mean IN
passing the act, demonetizing silver.
But given the chance to show their SIN
cerity, they approve rather than undo
the law. The Democrats never aoused