The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1896-05-20
BEN RUSSELL'S RECORD.
ONE OF THE CONGRESSMEN WHO
HAS "LEARNED" RAPIDLY.
Two Years Ago he EIoquently Denounced
the Representatives of the Money
Bags" Now He Is Arrayed
With Them

From the Atlanta Constitution.
In view of the very warm contest that
is now going on in the second congress
sional district--a district which has as
its representative man whose vote has
been cast with that of Congressman
Turner and Lawson in favor of the main
tenance of the single gold standard-it
may be of interest to see what this gen
tleman's views on the coinage of silver
were when he was entrusted with CON
gressional commission by his people.
Secretary Smiths letter to Colonel
Peek in which he presented free coinage
as platform on which all democrats
could agree; Judge Lawsons eloquent
advocacy of silver as the most stable
measure of value the world over, and his
sin Gods name" prayer that the silver
of the world be dumped i'm upon this
country-these are fresh in the minds Of
the people of Georgia. Here are the
views of Congressman Russell as he ex-
pressed them in words of becoming elo-
speech of August "a, 1893:
"When the crop is ready to be market
ed they (the people of the south) are
confronted with the price of 5 cents a
pound for cotton. The man who used
to walk around town with his samples,
whistling a merry tune because he knew
that With the proceeds of his surplus
crop he could pay his debts to the mer
chants and carry home something in his
pockets, is today depressed, sneaking
around, so to speak, to the counting
houses in the cities, begging to be car
Tied' over until sufficient currency may
be put forth to enable him to get reas-
enable price for the cotton which he has
produced by his toll and sweat.
"Mr. Speaker, it is said that while
Rome was burning Nero fidded, and
while cotton is going down, down in
price, and the industries of the country
from one end to the other are paralyzed,
the American congress is fiddling, arguing
talking, consuming time, telling the
same story over and over and over again,
while among the people all is treplda-
ton and distress.
81 have observed, Mr.. Speaker, that
every effort made upon this floor to have
the free coinage of silver has always
been objected to by some gentleman who
is in favor of the unconditional repeal
of the Sherman act, and, sir, while /
have the greatest respect for New Eng
land-the home of Webster, of the Ad-
amses, of Edward Everette, and of John
Hancock, who wrote his signature so
large that tyrants might run and read
i'll am sorry to say that in every stage
in this discussion the way toward relief
has been blocked by the members from
New England.
''Mr. Speaker, / have said the effort
made here by the frien IS of free silver,
of honest money, Of an expansive cur
rency, has been blocked by the gentle
men to whom l haye referred Because
a currency is expansive is no reason w by
it should not be honest, and there is not
man in this house who doubts that if
we should pass a free coinage bill every
dollar made under that legislation would
be as honest as the gold dollar.
Further, Mr.. Speaker, have noticed
that this is not partisan fight, and /
will tell you how it has struck me, a
new man upon this floor. | come here
a democrat, | come here imbued with
the traditions of my party and thank
God that the party, in the main, stands
by tie principles upon which 1t was
founded, aud which have engrafted it
forever on the institutions of the country.
But / find, siI, that every step we take
toward giving the people honest money
has been blocked by the representatives
oil New England, and the representatives
of the men who hold the money bags of
this nation. | am, therefore, compelled
to come to the conclusion that this is
not fight between the republican and
democratic parties, but that it is simply,
inthe last analysis, fight between the
men who hold the money bags and the
balance of the people of this country.
Now, what are we to do? l tell you,
gentlemen who hold the purse strings of
this nation-just as honest, just as patri-
otto, perhaps, as any other portion of our
peOple-that there rs great expanse of
territory within the United States, PEG
pied by millions who delve in the ground
and in the workshop, and who come to
you saying: Let us have an opportunity
to develop our country to pay our debts;
give us an opportunity to get living
wages; let us have an equal chance in the
race for happiness with you And tell
you futher that unless the cry, of those
people is heard, unless you respond to
that cry, you gentlemen who have the
stocks and the securities and the stock
markets and all those things at your fin
gers ends-I tell you that you are sowing
crop of dragons teeth, and sooner or