St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-06-08
COVINGTON, ST. TAMMANY PARISH, SATURDAY, JUNE
BROKE THE CHAIN.

BROKE THE CHAIN.
Arp Asked to Contribute to q Monu.
ment to Gen. Sherman.
But Says He Cannot C.,lnply-states His
Reasons for Refusing tn do So-But
william IL Willing to Chip In for
shaft to Gen. .Dohnst0a.
Mr.. Slickman-Sir: I received your
letter asking for % cents to help build
. monument to Gen. Sherman. the hero
Of the march to tho sea. and wanting
me to scnd three other names and warn
ing me not to break the chain. etc.
will 60 as far rs any rebel so-called to
keep the peace and bury the past and
be friendly; but you must excuse me. I
have lived all my life in tho path Of that
march to the sea, and for thirty years
have been straining my mind to 500 the
heroism in it, and l can't do it yet. II
just shows how blinded we poor mortals
are. All the heroism l see 10 in the
retreat Of Joe Johnston, who, with 40
900 men, resisted that march OF Sher-
man with three times that number and
killed more, man for man, than he had
soldiers. There is where the heroism
comes in. But we will mako fair CON-
promise with you. II yon and your
boys will contribute 25 cents each for a
~ vnh thu r0aI
hero Of the march to tho sea, wo will
let you build one to Sherman and say
nothing about it. We thought that the
time was about out for Dragging. but il
you arc determined to keep it up let's
tote fair. Itseems to US that it requires
. good deal OF cheek to brag about an
army of near three millions of men
whipping an army Of three-quarters OF
. million in four years time. l wouldn't
mention it II were you. Wo are very
tired Of all this ridiculous gush about
the Grand Army of the Republic,
especially when you know or ought to
know that you have on tho pension rolls
more men than we had in our army
during the war. You can't knock the
truth out with monuments. We will
help you build monument to all tho
brave soldiers who fought on either
side and VIC will bury the tomahawk
and say hurrah for Americans. but we
take no stock in Tecumseh Sherman,
nor any other Sherman that Is kin to
him. We would il we could, but some-
how or other we can't. So you will
please excuse me for breaking the chain.
Some Of these days, when this everlsst-
ing panic is over, We will build monu-
mens to old Joe Johnston that will tell
the truth and commemorate the heroism
OF that march to the sea.
This reminds me OF old John Sherman,
tho statesman, so-called. and OF little
paper-covered book that is called Coins
Financial SCHOOL, that is going the grand
rounds on its silver mission. 1t did not
come from our side of the country, but
it is capturing the people. don't know
who is behind it, but do know that it 10
tho brightest, clearest and most attrac
tive book on the silver side that has
been placed before the American peo
pie, and il not answered in an effective.
way will sweep this western
country as fires sweep the prairies. II
will not do for the gold standard folks
to say, "Oh, it is all bosh and 10 paid
for by the silveritcs." The book must
be answered. Maybe it can't be. ]
don't know. can't answer position
in it and am an average man. The
truth is, am afraid to believe all that
is in it for fear somebody will call me
about it yesterday and what he knew
about w. II. Harvey, who wrote it. He
smiled and said: Harvey is . silver
crank, just. like am. They call me a
crank. but nobody can answer the argu.
ment on tho silver side, and hence
their only reply is that the book is a
deceitful snare and all that.
but the book is taking the western and
southern country. They cannot prin.
them as fast As they are called for. YOU
will find them on all the railroads, but
as yet they have not got in the book
stores. 1t is said that 100000 copies
have already been sold. The simple
colloquial style Of illustrations capture
the common people,"
Now, there are whole lot of US who
have been reading both sides ef the
for year or SO, and we have
got all mixed up and come to the con.
clusion that nobody knows much about
it. But this little book has told US more
than all the newspapers. and il some
body don't publish a reply to it I'm
afraid We will all slide down the silver
toboggan and stay there. Coin says
that tho value Of all the property in
the United States is SOS, 900. 0OO, 900 and
the Indebtedness OF the nation is s17,.
0OO. 600. 900, and he gives all tho figures
in detail. Well, il that's so, We are
busted, and the appointment Of . na-
tional receiver is in order. He says the
railroads alone owe 5000. 0oO, 900 to
Europe, and tho annual interest is
ss4O, 200. 900, payable in gold. lie says
that every kind OF property has been
in value since the crime OF
1873 that old John Sherman was the
author of-the crime OF demonetizing
silver by an act passed between mid
night and day. when everybody was
drunk or asleep, and even Gen. Grant
said he.didn't knos. that he had signed
any such an act. It takes twice as much
now to pay debt IS it did Ave
years ago, and as we own nearly ss much
rs we don't owe, the country is about
bankrupt, and q few thousand million.
aires will soon own the whole concern.
This is the picture he draws, and to
read it and believe it makes . man feel
like taking his double-barrel shotgun
and joining the army Of bread-winners.
The masses Of tho people are in deb.
and while property shrinks, the debts
swell and taxes increase until they are
. burden. The people realize this. No,
long ago sold q piece Of property for
$500 that 1 refused 81, 500 for three years
ago. was forced to sell to pay debts