The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-10

party, in published letter, which
arraigned both the old parties as
plant tools OF the money power and
of monopoly. We quote:
In the limits of this letter, can
not refer at length to the financial
history of this country, since the war
of the rebellion. To relate how the
money sharks have controlled our f.
nancial Legislation during that
period and robbed our people Of
thousands of millions, Is but to tell
the story of one of the blacklist GRIM
inal cOnspiracieS that was ever car
ried into effect. You and I and all
who had then arrived at the age of
maturity, remember how, when the
war broke out, the ShylOcks of Wall
street (see Appleton's Cyclopedia for
1861 offered to loan the government
money at from "a to 36 per cent in
terest; how in 1862 congress author
lied the issue of $50, OOO, 900 of treas
ury notes, not bearing interest and
payable for all debts, public and priv
ate and that these 'greenbacks"
passed at par with gold. We also re-
member that these shylocks then
went to work, and secured the pas
sage of another act February Is,
1862, providing that the greenback
should not be legal tender, for
"duties on imports and interest on
the public debit" and how. after
thus depreciating their value, as
compared with gold, and creating a
demand for gold, so that 81 in gold
would purchase $3.50 in greenbacks,
they then went a step farther, and
secured the passage of the national
bank act, by means of which they
could again exchange these green
backs" for government bonds. and
then get 80 per cent of these bonds in
national currency, to use for bank
ing purposes and at the same time
drew interest regularly upon those
bonds, thus getting double interest
upon the bond investment that ORR
ginally cost them 81 for every 81 to
81. of the same. We also remem-
Der that the next conspiracy was to
secure contraction of the currency,
$50 that the banks could control the
money circulation) by the passage of
the act of April IL, 1866, authorizing
the sale of 500 bonds for greenbacks
and Y. 5. currency and the destruc-
ton OF the same. At that time the
''greenback" was the only evidence
of Indebtedness which was not draw
ing interest, and which, as money,
everybody was satisfied with. They
amounted to over two billion of dol
lars, and as the war was over, there
was no necessity for converting this
vast sum into an interest bearing in
debtedness. But the money power
was OmnipOtent, and this crime was
contaminated. This contraction
went on, from 1866 to 1876, at the
rate of $500, 100000 per annum, pro-
ducing an average Of 900 business
failures per year, and a steady reduc-
ton in wages and the number en-
ployed, and an army of tramps; with
numerous strikes and bloody riots all
over the land.
The greenbacks did then nearly all
60 into retirement as stated, but we
fail to discover anything "honor-
able" in it. The Globe seems to
think that all the non-interest-bear-
ing greenbacks should have been con-
verified into Understanding bonds.
In McCOlloch's time 1869 there was
neither gold nor silver, and specie
payments were resumed in January,
1879. Evidently the Globes idea Of
finance is that money is not needed
as circulating medium, and that
the less there is of it the better times
will be.
The Globe has recently made many
other homogeneous statements upon
this subject to which attention may
be called later. In the meantime the
public would like to have the Globe
explain how the silver law is respons-
ible for the recent expectation of
gold, and upon what ground it justi-
fies President Cleveland in his declar-
alton that the silver notes should be
paid in gold.