The Louisiana populist. [volume] (Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, La.) 1894-1898, 1895-03-08
GOODBYE WORLD, HOWDY
HELL.
Proctor KNOTS Racy Letter
Read I'm the House Debate.

elsewhere reported, Mr.. Hatch
read letter from Proctor Knott,
of Kentucky, to Senator Black
burn. Our readers will doubtless
enjoy this production of the man
who delivered the famous Duluth
speech while in congress in the
seventies, and it is given below in
full, as we find it in the Congress
siOnal Record:
III do not know when my demOc-
racy has been more completely out
ragged than by the last insolent dc
mand of the gol,lites that the gov
ernment shall issue $500, 600, 900 Ill
gold bonds and retire the treasury
note circulation with the proceeds.
They DO not seem to want to leave
us even a hereafter.
(Laughter)
"Y0u know, as everybody else
must who has half as much sense
as sucking guinea pig, that when
ever this government agrees to pay
that amount or a tithe of it in gold,
silver is doomed, so far as we are
concerned to all enternity. AS old
Judge FOrbish said to Johnny
Moore, 1t had Jest as well say
goodbye, world, and hOwdy
hell Laughter.)
"Great God! how rapidly this
long suffering people are being
driven to the dreadful alternative
of slavery or intemecine strife, to
determine whether they will tame
ly hold out their hands and have
the shackles Of a remorseless plu-
tocracy riveted upon their wrists
or fight.
"NOw mark what / say, if the
inexOrable law of cause and effect
has not been expunged from the
statute book of the Almighty, un.
less a halt is called p. d. q. You
may expect to see the horrors OF
the French revolution put on the
American stage with all the mod
ern improvements, and that within
the next decade.
"I remember l was suspected by
some of my friends of political lu-
macy in 1860 because | predicted
that in the event of Mr.. Lincoln's
election there would be war be-
tween the states. They could not
see why it ought to be SO. Neither
could /, but l knew the causes
which were at work, and which
would in the long run produce that
result, and l regarded his election
SIMPLY as the spark which would
explode the mine. So, when the
fiery cloud appeared in less than
one short year which delugcd the
country in blood for nearly a lus-
trum some of those who had
thought me a croaker, mere dys-
peptic pessimist, began to regard
me as Byron did Jeffreys-as "a
id, disconcerning fellow" l
tell you, Senator, in all seriouness,
| see far more reason to appre-
hend the speedy approach of ter
rible revelation in this country
than Lord Chesterfield saw in
France when he wrote his historic
prediction from Paris Nor am /
alone. That gentleman, Astor,
who went to England some time
ago, bought him a place on the
island, and became a British sub
ject, saw what is coming as plainly
as l do, so he took time by the
forelOck and skipped out when
there was not such rush for state
rooms as there will be after
while. He knew very well that
if things should keep on as you
and l have seen them for some
years past, the time was not far
off when there would be such a
crowd of his class of people hur-
rying aboard every outgoing steam
er he might be, showed OF the stage
plank.
Oaughter.)
''Our good friend, Mr.. Sibley,
sent me copy of his magnificent
speech anent the Carlisle abortion
the other day. l was sick in bed
when it came, lonesome and low
spirited, my wife in Louisville un-
der treatment for her throat trou-
BILE, and not a God-blessed friend
near me to cheer me up. / read it
over, in some places two or three
times, and it stirred my old blood
like the call of the trumpet stirs
that of the war horse, or perhaps
you will understand me better
when say 1t acted on me like
good wine-King Solomon's favor