The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-01-31
SEVEN ,FINANGlAL G0NSPIRA6IES.
Which Have Enslaved the American People.
Published by Permission of the Author,
Mrs S. E. V. Emery.
CHAPTER II.
THE EXCEPTION CLAUSE.

4
ed solely for his benefit. Think of
the situation. The soldier facing
death on the battle field for $40 per
month, sends that money to his sor-
row stricken family to be used in
supplying them with the necessaries
of life; and in the purchase of their
food and clothing with this blood
bought treasure, they pay indirectly
to the gold gamblers Of Wall Street
from Is to so per cent. Where is the
man or woman whose cheek does not
burn with indignation and shame as
he contemplates this robbery of the
soldier and his family.
But again, the enormity of the
crime did not end with Shylock's
power to rob the people through i'm
port duties. The exception clause
had deprecated the greenback. This
was part of Shylock's scheme. 1
know you have been told by the pop
ular press and orators of every reason
under heaven-except the right one
why the greenback was depreci-
ated. They have told you it was be-
cause the Democrats cried them
down; and again, because so many
were issued it was feared the govern
ment would not be able to redeem
them. Why, my friends, if the best
man in Michigan were to give his
notes and then refuse to receive
them for debts due himself could it
have any other effect than to depre-
ciate them? 1 tell you it was part
of ShylOck's scheme, nothing but de-
probation could follow the exception
clause. Now why did Shylock wish
to depreciate the greenbacko Sim
ply to enable him to get more of
them in his possession with which to
buy the government bonds. Having
purchased such legislation he could
buy bonds with greenbacks at face
value, and by means of exception
clause he could turn his gold into
greenbackS at enormous advantage.
Let us take view of the situation.
1t is A. D. 1894. The country is
desolated by war. Scarcely family
in which death has not entered.
Fathers, husbands, brothers and sons
have been stricken down at the bat
tie of Spottsylvania, or the Wilder
ness, and there is mourning through
out the land. The wall of the widow
and the cry of fatherless chilren are
heard alike in the homes of affluence
and poverty. Mothers wiring their
hands and cry aloud inxa agony of
grief, an only son has been smitten
down in the battle of the wilderness,
or perhaps tirst-born, with shatter-
ed limbs, lies writhing and delirious
in distant. hospital. The pail of
death is over the land. But the
clamor and clangor of business goes
on.
A cargo of goods. has entered one
of our ports: government requires
the duty to be paid in gold. The i'm
porter proceeds at once to Wall
Street, which, after the exception
clause was placed on the greenback,
became the great gold market of the
earth, and as Judge Kelley justly
said, 1T invited from all the money
centers of the world their most vora-
cious vampires to come here and fat
ten upon the life-blood of the Ameri-
can people" Thither our importer
wend his way, and as it CHANGED to
be the month of July, 1864, he found
he must pay $2S5 in legal tender
money for 500 in gold. But there is
no alternative, he pays the required
sum, adds that much more to the
price of his goods and turns over the
500 in gold to the custom house Of
icers, who duly deposit in the United
States Treasury. There we leave
our importer, who has been com
PEELED to add to the price of his
goods, not only the import duty but
also the enormous premium on Shy-
locks gold. Let us now return to
our Wall Street broker and see how
he has been affected by the calamity
of war. The $2S5 in greenbacks.
which the importer paid him for the
500 in gold, he Immediately invests
in government bonds at face value.
His next step is to draw interest on
his bonds, for the act of February Is,
1862, stipulated that his interest
should not only be paid in gold but in
Advance. Having drawn his gold in
terest in advance he is prepared on
the morrow to sell it to the next i'm
porter, and with each exchange he
clears $1S5 on every 500 in gold.
Shall we ever cease to extol the pa
triotism of those Wall Street capital
lists? But our picture is complete
until we take look at the soldier
Sixteen dollars per month seems a
small compensation for one to stand
before death in it's multitndo of