The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-10-21
County Ticket.
THE WILDCAT PERIOD.

The WILDCAI PER1OD.
MIR. EDITOR--It seems to me that
the Republican speakers are not Civ.
ing prominence enough to the discus
sion of that clause in the Democratic
platform favoring the repeal of the
tax upon the issue of State Bank notes,
Our experience, say from 1850 to 1860
with state banks, ought to satisfy any
person without repeating it.
| was farming in Wisconsin at that
time, and the loss of many good
hard earned dollars is still fresh in my
memory. A farmer was in luck when
he sold load of wheat, hogs or any
other produce, if he did not receive
in payment one or more deprecated
bank notes. The country was flooded
with counterfeit bills, and the failure
of banks was almost an every day &C.
currence. In the fall of 1856 / sold
dressed pork at So per hundred and
that was considered good price.
Brown sugar sold at ten cents per
pound and calico at Is cents per yard
and other goods in proportion. Now
let us compare the prices. 100 pounds
Of pork in 1857 at So per hundred paid
for 80 pounds of dark brown sugar in
Democratic free trade wildcat bank
times. Today you can get Sc for 100
pounds of dressed pork and get 12O
pounds of granulated sugar. for the
money.
You can get as good calico at cents
per yard as you paid 10 cents for then.
sold my farm in Wisconsin and
moved to Minnesota in the spring of
81. My money was in the bank and
l held certificates for it, except about
$500 in currency for current expenses.
When we arrived in Lacrosse we were
informed that Wisconsin bank potes
would not pass in Minnesota, but Iowa
money was all right. So we eXchang-
ed enough to pay expenses through
and paid 7 per cent premium. When
we arrived in what is now our home,
in Blue Earth county, the Iowa money
was gone, and though we had curren-
cy and certificates of deposit on Wis
consin banks, we could not buy a
scrub calf with the whole of it, and if
we had not had a small amount of
gold, that came to light in the nick of
time, we should have had to beg for
bread.
returned Wisconsin and after
spending good deal of time and
money obtained gold at a premium of
Sper cent and was glad to get it at
any price.
Now, Mr.. LawleI before an intel
ligent audience at Good Thunder,
speaking of this distressful free trade
period from 1916 to 1862, said the peo-
pie lived happy, contented and pros
porous. cannot believe that he will
fully prevaricates in this as in many
other statements equally various
with the truth, but will charitably call
it ignorance, and to further prove
it l will quote from the annual mes
sage of James Buchanan, Democratic
President of those days: with un-
surpassed plenty in all the prOduc-
tions and all the elements of natural
wealth. our manufacturers have sus-
pended and our public works are re-
tarded, our private enterprises of
every kind are abandoned, and thous-
ands of useful laborers are out of en-
ployment and reduced to want. We
possess all of the elements of natural
wealth, and yet with all of these adj
yantages the country in it's monetary
interests is \ deplorable condi-
tion."
Now l do not see why any sane
man should lie willing to take risk of
substituting financial system that
gave us so much trouble and caused
such enormous losses to the people
before the war, for the perfectly sound
currency which we have. Money that
is good everywhere, people have faith
in because Uncle Sam holds the secur-