The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-08-13
OUR COUNTRY.


Correspondence of the Progressive Fa mer.
Prior to the late civil war, tbs Wing
party favored banking institutions by
the general government and the States,
through which the commercial world
received, by loans or otherwise, the
medium of exchange with which to
transport goods and produce, and to
meet obligations. While the Demo
cratic party. as a party, distavored
those institutions and advocated, q
''Sub-Treasury system; hence Presl-
dent Andrew Jackson had the govern
ment deposits removed from the United
States bank during his administrator
which institution was soon after aOol-
ished by the Jacksonian and VanBuren
Democrats, and the same party con-
tinued to fight the banking system oy
the States, which system finally
wrecked the fortunes of thousands OF
individuals by their wild t MODE
of issuing, expanding and contracting
the circulation of their paper currency,
and the boarding of specie when a
panic would come, which was about
every ten FEARS Gold and silver were
then of equal value, except a slight dis
count was sometimes made on silver
for transportation, because it was the
heavier of the two metals and transpor-
tation facilities were meagre, other
wise silver raj preferred by the peO-
pie. and generally demanded a pre-
MUM over gold, as the T~reasurer's re
ports will show.
Though the United States bank was
a short lived institution, the different
States continued to charter their banks,
which issued three dollars of their
paper to one of specie in their vaults
(often more) for the redemption of their
bills. And the results were in times of
panics more of them failed, and when
the war came On all of them in the
South were broken, and the people lost
hundreds of millions of dollars Of their
currency, and both the United States
and the Confederate governments were
compelled to issue paper money largely
to carry on the war. Since then the
Republican party has created the pres
ent National banking system, transfer
ring the power from the government to
corporations to issue money, contrary
to both the letter and spirit of the con
stitutiop, giving them privileges and
powers, which, if perpetuated, will
wreck the government. Those old par
ties differed on other national matters.
The wings favored the building of rail
roads by the government with her pub
lie lapds, which would have caused
them to have been owned and managed
by the government; but the Demo
cratic party opposed the idea and pre-
vented any being built in that way.
Since the war the Republican party
has chartered the great Pacific roads
and given Them many millions of acres
of the choicest of our public lands to
monopolies, with their privileges to op
press the people. The Wings were also
opposed to the indiscriminate importa
ton of foreign population, and they
formed the Native American or Know
ASAAA6 P~4Oy w P4CNOA0 Az OuV AK
Democrats again won in that fight.
flooded the country with voters who
knew nothing of, and cared less for,
our American institutions. And on
the question of Domestic slavery, which
EnglaI d had fastened on the colonies
Gor sinister motives) contrary to the
wishes of her subjects-the people of
said colonies-those old parties again
differed. The wings were for getting
rid Of the institution of slavery by
gradual emancipation or remuneration
and colonization, 90 as to benefit both
races and the world, but the Democrats,
as a party, favored perpetual slavery,
with a view Of carrying the institution
into Mexico and Central America for
the money there was in it. Several of
the Southern States came very near
passing emancipation laws prior to the
war, but the Democratic party again
won by defeating them, and also de
feating Henry Clay for the presidency
of the United States, while he was
president of the American Colonization
Society, and was in favor of gradual
emancipation. The continued struggle
dissolved the Wing party and brought
on the civil var, the entire results of
which history will never relate, as it is
impossible to record the hundredUh
part Of the trials, losses, miseries and
follies inflicted upon both races of our
people by a mos bloody and sanguin-
:, airy tratricidal war of four years dura-
ton that might have been prevented
and would have been but for q few