The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-05-19

to His Country, Sinner Before God
and Enemy to Humanity.
A careful review of thirty years Of
financial legislation in this country
presents to the unprejudiced mind a
mass of corruption, extortion and ex-
travagance, that might we'll lead us
to excIaim with truthfulness that this
is the age Of corruption. The most
wonderful feature of the whole is the
patient endurance of the American
people For three decades it seems to
have been the sole object of Congress
to build up and fortify great fortunes
in the >ands of private individuals and
corporation Never before in any
country has wealth been produced so
rapidly, or accumulated so easily and
readily by favored few.
Dut the most wonderful feature of
all. too serious to be funny, and too
important to be overlooked, has been
the apparent approval, by the people,
of the most infamous schemes that
over disgraced the legislative history
of any coun ry. The most unprinci-
pied and treacherous class of citizens
have so shaped legislation that the
Interests of the masses have been
ignored, and robbery, extortion and
Reputation countenanced by legal en-
actment.
Laying aside all the infamous legis-
1ation in favor of railroads, trusts
manufacturers and kindred corpora
tions, that in the'interest of bondhold-
ers alone presents to our view some of
the most diabolical schemes of robbery
and extortion ever known.
The bondholder Tor the capitalist
who became bondholder) from the
start, was traitor at heart.
No class of men have ever exhibited
more selfish and reasonable designs.
None have practiced more deceit and
dishonesty.
When it became necessary for the
government to have money to carry on
the war for the Union, they promised
$3.50, 600, 600, but repudiated their con-
tract when about one-half of the
amount was paid.
Government being thus driven to is
sue paper money they appeared upon
the scene, and reasonably demanded
that the government should discredit
its own money.
Having done this, and secured an
exception in their favor by which the
government promised to pay them in
terest mot the principally in gold, on
the bonds they would buy at face
value with the money purposely
discredited, they at once began to
gamble in the gold which the govern
ment had, by it's act, placed a premium
on. The money which furnished the
sinews of war they discredited and
weakened in every manner they could.
In thus doing they weakened the
power of the government in it's strug-
gle for life. Every mothers son of
them should have been arrested, tried
and convicted of high treason. When
they purchased these bonds with the
money they had deprecated, they
agreed to take it again for the princi-
pal of their bonds. But Immediately
after the war they Immediately began
their cry Of an s'honest dollar" and
demanded their principal for the bonds
Sin CON- For bond that costs
them but 60 cents Tin coin," they de-
manded 100 cents Gin coin" In 1869,
by bribery, corruption and bulldozing.
they secured the passage of the Credit
Strengthening Act, making their
bonds payable in a more valuable dol
lar than they gave and agreed to take
in the redemption of their bonds. BY
this act the equity of the debt was
changed so that 5000, 100000 in
value was added to the bonds
that much property transferred
from the people to the bondholde1
without an equivalent rendered. II
was gigantic act of reputation. OK
tortion and robbery, without paral
lei in history. The gravity of the
crime and the stupendousness of its
nature moved John Sherman to say
when it was first proposed, that ''the
bondholder was an extortioner and re
pudiator when he demanded better
dollar than he gave Ben Wade sale
''it ought to d-n any party;" and
Oliver P. Morton exclaimed from hi:
place in Congress, that it was ''bul
movement to boom the bonds.''
In 1870. the bondholder, to fortify
himself against the possibility of the
repeal of the act of 1869 by future
Congress, secured the passage of the
Funding Act. which provided for thu
exchange of the old bonds for new
ones, with the contract written il
the new bond that it should be paid IL
god or silver of the weight and fine
ness then existing"
But the bondholder was not satisfied
with this. He repudiated this contrac
by securing the demonstration of sill
yer in 1873. lie has continued to repu
diate it by refusing to take silver il