Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-10-22

hlIullhr aInOuEt IN tle ueAt tnreo o4rer
and that this will continue 10 go on Do
you think that this Is the right policy for
our government 20 pursuei Every time q
bond Is issued the oppression Of tho men
who toll Is increased. The interest on these
bonds is not produced In the hanks or In
the offices of the cities. Il has 10 como out
Of the industry Of the country. 1t has TO
come from the products Of a country, and
the products Of a country are created BY
the men who toll; the men who mako
and cultivate farms. who build and oper-
ate railroads; The mon who build cities;
the men who do the work Of the land; the
men who mike our civilization possible.
For l say to you that swallowtail coats
and big shirt fronts never yet laid the
foundation Of empire; purple and fine lin
en- never yet built o mighty state; per-
fuined handkerchicfs and bright neckties
arc not the forces that sustain the flag Of
our country In time Of peril The people
who have to pay the interest on these
bonds and ultimately have TO pay the prin-
cipal, whose sweat and whose toll have TO
produce the product to do IL, derive not one
fnrthing's benefit from these bonds. The
men who get the benefit of these bond Is
sues arc the class Of people who manage by
| the aid OF government TO lick the cream
and devour the fruit Of other mems indus
Try. Let the American people follow the
suggestions Of Mr.. Schurz, and our country
will become bond issuing country In per-
petuity, and the farther down tho vista of
time the American patriot glances tho
darker will be the cloud and the heavier
will be the burden which his children must
face.
National Honor.
Mr.. Schurz end Mr. Cochran wiring their
hands In horror over what they call the
prospect Of sullying the national honor and
paying our obligations or the interest on
our obligations In anything else but gold,
and they point to the fact that in 1890 con-
gress declared practically that it was the
policy of this government TO keep every
thing on q gold basis; that the world had
accepted this, and for US to disregard that
declaration would place us In the light Of
repudiators and dishonest men before the
world Just see how little substance 1t
takes to enable rhetoriclan to fill the air
with ghosts. When was our great debt
created? Long before 1890. And what
kind of money did we get for the bonds we
soldp We got paper for some and gold and
Schurs nor any other mortal has been able
to point out wherein you wrong O creditor
when you pay him In exactly the same
money that he gave you Neither he nor
any other mortal has been able to point
wherein you do an injustice to any man
when you pay o creditor In money that has
exactly the same purchasing power, that
will buy as much property Of any and ev-
cry kind and as much labor as did the
money he gave you will agree with Mr.
Schur1 that q creditor should not be paid
In money the purchasing power of which
Is much less than was that Of the money
that he gave to the debtor, but If 1t is dis
honest to pay creditor In money that Is
cheaper than the money that he gave the
debtor ask you and ask the American
people whether it Is not dishonest to COM
pei debtor to pay q creditor In money
that has twice the purchasing power as had
the money which he got from the creditor?
II paying the creditor in cheaper money |
than he gave the debtor Is repudiation, |
ask whether compelling debtor to pay his |
debt In money that is twice as dear rs the |
money he got Is not robbery?
Bonds Payable In Coin.
What ore tho facts? For both Mr.. Schurz |
and Mr.. Cochran carefully avoid referring |
to them. Substantially all of the bonds |
and interest bearing securities of the Unit
ed States now in the hands of our creditors |
at home and abroad provide on their face
that they arc payable not in gold, but in |
coin. No man could possibly be deceived
In buying one of those bonds, and, with |
the exception of the bonds issued during |
this administration, they were not paid for
In gold, but were paid for In coin, which |
meant gold and silver. What Is true of the |
principal Of these bonds applies equally to
the annual interest Every individual In |
the United States or In Europe that holds
one of these bonds knew at the time he got |
1t that the principal and interest were pay
Gble in gold or silver at the option of the
government. You remember that O little
over year ago the president was so bent
on fastening the gold standard upon our
country that he asked congress to authorize
the issue of gold bonds, which he said |
could be floated on lower rate of interest,
but congress refused to do 1t. Thereupon
the government issued bonds of the same
character that 1t had formerly issued-that |
Is, coin bonds-and, according to the presi-
dent, they brought less money in the mar
ket because of the fact that they were not
payable In gold. The bankers got them
cheaper than they could otherwise have got
them by reason of the fact that they were
payable in coin and not In gold. And yet,
In the fsce of these well known facts,
Messrs Schurz and Cochran have the as
surance to tell us that we will be- guilty Of |
repudiation and Of sullying the national
honor If we do not pay those bonds In gold |
Suppose man advocating the coinage of
silver were to stand before an Intelligent
audience and make such an argument as
that, what would they call him? AS re-
member it, one batch Of bonds was sold in /
the market for about e17, 900, 600 less than
the president assured rs they would have
brought had they been payable in gold
Yet these bonds are, like all other outstand- |
ing bonds that were sold, cheaper by rea-
son Of the fact that they were payable In
gold or silver, and instead of the national
honor requiring us to pay those bonds in
gold national honor common sense and |
eternal Justice alike forbid our paying |
those bonds In gold If to pay them in gold |
will cost the American people one dollar |
more than 1t would to pay them in silver |
If 1t Is wrong to unjustly withhold any
thing from the creditor that Is due him |
under the contract, then 1t is crime to |
compel debtor to pay something that he |
does not owe.
Greenhacks, Etc.
But the bonds issued by the present I'D |
ministration were issued for the purpose |
of redeeming greenhacks and treasury |
notes in gold, and we are told that to pur-
sue any other policy will be repudiation. |
Let us see. These greenbacks and treasury |
notes have been outstanding almost ever |
since the war, and not one of the several |
hundred millions that arc outstanding Is |
payable In gold But this is not all. The |
government has taken pains oil along to |
tell the world exactly what these bills |
would be paid In. On March IS, 1859, |
congress passed what was called the "credit |
strpD pthaninp acf ~ readipnr aa follovyo.