The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-05-22
AND THE Way HE SKINS OLD
BARE-BONES IS A CAUTION.
His Twisty Record Shown Up-In
1869, He Was Against Contrac.
tion-Denouced 1t as Crime.
In 1879. Only Ten Years After
wards, He Was the Great High.
Priest of Gold Resumption.
His Speeches on the Different Oc.
casions Quoted-John Sherman.
Proves John Sherman to Be
a Rascal-NO Other Evis
dcnce is Needed
01 M YEAR q CENTS !

te44
George W. Pepporoll in the Arsns.)
Continued from last sceek.
From these statements IL would
seem that you, Senator Sherman, could
never be guilty OF tho OWLS and cruel
ties which you have 50 truthfully and
fully described. And yet this is the
crime of crimes which your chosen
biographer says was "tfe grand and
crowning work" Of your life. You did
1T too, sir, by the cruel process Of cur
rency contraction through the fund
ing of the legal tender notes Unto in
terest bearing bonds Of the United
States" You adopted that plan in
spite Of the fact that in a former speech
april 8, 1860 you had shown that a
reduction Of the volume of the cur
rency was not necessary in order to
increase its value. In that speech
you said:
I'm regard to going back to specie
payments when did ever nation
travel toward specie payments rapidly
as this country has done without re-
ducton of the currency? Here is
significant fact that when gold was
2s0 our currency was SIS, ,0O0, 600; and
now when our currency 10 over $780,
900, 900, gold is 100 and going down and
down, and no power in this world can
prevent its going down. This fact
shows that the mere amount OF legal
tender outstanding does not Az the
rate of gold. That is the result oft
the restored confidence sof tn penrle
of this country and of I'll n&Sl0x1 IU'
the credit of the United States. I -
lieve that if the secretary Of the treas.
ury will keep out Of the stock market,
will just remain in his seat in the
treasury department, and pay the
debts as they become due, the people
of the United States will take care OF
the currency of the country and of
the credit Of the government; and it
will not be necessary to buy bonds be-
fore they mature or do anything else
except simply to meet the current in
debtedness in order to bring us back
to specie payments, and l do not be-
lieve any power can prevent it,"
That plan of reaching specie pay.
ments so truthfully stated could hurt
nobody. 1t would have a natural
growth and transfer into a normal
condition of the currency without any
reduction of its volume or fluctuation
of prices. Yet it was not adopted, but
the tourniquet plan, placing the coun.
try and the people beneath the feet of
the money kings, was ultimately con-
(?) to the varied business interests OF
our constituents" You describe the
decision of your committee in your
speech of 1869 as follows:
'sThe question then remains: What
mode Of appreciation of the value Of
greenbacks will operate least injuri-
Ously to the various business interests
of our constituents? And upon this
point your committee, after the most
careful consideration, have come to
the conclusion that the only and best
plan is to allow the legal tender notes
to be funded at the pleasure of the
holder into interest-bearing bonds OF
the United States"
Evidently, sir, in the light of your
own explanation, the words, ''our con-
stituents" meant the creditor and
the fund-holding class. Surely the
debt and tax-paying class was not re-
ferred to as your "constituents' who
were to be benefited by currency con-
traction. 1t is common remark that
you entered Congress poor man, and
that you are now rich. Perhaps your
ho of TIT 70 81 ~ ~
rich fund holders may throw light on
this matter. You probably remember
that General Logan, in public speech
on the floor the senate, March II, 1874,
taunted you with your change of front
on the contraction subject, and that
you gave him no satisfactory explana.
tiOn.
Another item in your course Of ac-
tion must not be neglected. At first
you merely aimed at "specie reSump-
tion;" that is, coin redemption, using
both gold and silver coin as the mon
ey Of ultimate payments. But, as IL
in the very wantonncsS Of cruelty +
prompted by the greed Of your fund.-
holding "constituents," you joined /
the war on silver, resulting in its de
probation as a money metal. YouV
determined on gold redemption at ALL
hazards, and did not cease your efforts
till that unheard-of scheme of finan-
cial cruelty had been accomplished.
In 1873 the bullion value OF the silver
dollar was 3 cents more than that OF
the gold dollar, and silver was one OF
the moneys of final redemption in all
the world except England. The war
fare Of yourself and your party has
changed this, making ''specie resump-
tion" with single gold standard
twice as profitable to the bond-holders
as with the double standard Of gold
and silver. AS an indication of what
the people OF this country suffered un-
der your manipulations, l quote the
following from one Of your ablest par
tisan leaders and co-workers in your
unholy scheme. Col. r. J. 'Ingersol