The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1893-11-23
A FlNANCIL HISTORY.
Course and Eject OF Legislation
Since 1861.

The 4th of March came and A bra
ham Lincoln was inauguratcd Presi-
dent. Less than month previous,
February sth, convention Of the
southern states was he'll at Mont
scmerv, Ala, which adopted consti-
tuition for the Confederate states Of
America and elected jefferson Davis
president. Almost Immediately fol
lowing the Inauguration open hos
tiIi:ics began between the states.
Fort Sualpjcr was attacked April -,
lS:l, and On the 18th, President
Lincoln called for 5000 mi ita to
serve three months. To arm and
equip these troops required money,
and in plovid ny and cxpending this
amount and the hundreds of millions
which follows lies the entire cause of
our present difficulties. Many other
explanations are given for the uni
vcrsal depression in business which
prcva,ics al! sentiOucs OF our country
ut the present time, bat honG reaches
the true reason except the unsciu2u-
lOus manipulation of the currency
during The past thirty years. 1t is
the 'powcr Of money to Cypress that
the people have to fear and from
whia!, the; are now suffering. The
magnitude If iblSH HHaHGinl trans
actions were without parallel i" his
tory. and the amount Of our national
debt as Il national result Was enough
to destroy all hope Of payment. Yet
such was the power of rccuperatlon
ami i,rtuEption among the people
that. vast as rs the debt was, il gould
have proven beneficial to some extent
had not Il few planned while the
many worked ThrIfe energy and
economy on the one side has he, II
contrasting agaInS, great odds for the
past twenty five wears. Sith ,"onopoly,
greed and the "pOwer Of money to
oppress'' on the other side. \ con-
tinua,ion Of this investigation will
disclose II record of fraud, corruption
and selnshnpss that will aston!sll the
, most c,.altauic Tie zeal ti4.al tolicy
under which we now live began with
| the administration of President Lin
coin. After the inauguration the
Senate remained in session until
March 2S and adjourned. Difficulties
continGed l0 Increase until Il call for
an extra session OF VAngtesS Was
made fer July 1. 1861. The report
of the secretary at that date stated
that tho estimated expense for the
fiscal year lsGa was $3ls,al9,ael,
which proved to be more than $40,
UOO. 900 short Of the amount actually
expended. The tariff bill of March
ad WE nmcrdcu and the dutiable
list largely inctc:scd. Tie measure
| brought into the national treasury
only $50, 4o2, l2J-$l4 900 900 less
; than 1860. and $4,000, 900 less than
1886. The demoraIised condition OF
the people gives the only explanation
The credit of the government had
| reached Il very low stage 1t this time
and is fully disclosed bva 4 speech Il,
the session hy Mr.. Spalding. Il mem
Der of tEc House. He said TIE
Treasurer is in The market to-day
with his q per cent treasucry notes
without beng able to get them taken
The . per cent cupon bonds are now
selling in New York at IS to SSi
cents on the dollar. Il discount Of |!
per cent. Treasury notes OF Decem
ter last are hel,, at lO2,, showing al
ready that the government Is ut this
moment unable to negotiate any OF
its loans that have been authorized
10y Congress excep: at the most
ruinou> rates OF discount. | believe
sir that We are now entering the upon
a system of taxation that will las,
for years.
Secretary Chase had been in con.
>u!ta,ion 4 number of times WITH
bankers from the large cities, anU
could make no arrangements fol
placing The bonds or treasury notes
There seems to he at that earl, period
either conspiracy to break down