The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-08-22
Jackson OH the Money Power.

VINO ueSlGe 10 enSTOSS I'LL PoWol III 1ht
hands of the few, and to govern by
+ corruption or force, are aware of its
power, and prepared to employ 1t
Your banks now furnish your only
a circulating medium, and money /:
plenty or scarce, according to the
quantity of notes issued by them.
While they have capitals not greatly
disproportioned to each other, they are
competitors in business, n no one Of
E them can exercise DOMINION over the
rest; and although, in the present state
of the currency, these banks may and
do operate injuriously upon The habits
of business, the %pecuniary concerns,
and the moral tone of society yet,
from their number and dispersed situa-
ton, they cannot combine tor the pur-
l poses of political influence; and what
ever may be the dispositions of some
of them, their power of mischief must
:, necessarily be confined TO narrow
space, and felt only IN their immediate
neighborhoods.
'IBut, when the charter for the Bank
OF the United States vas obtained from
{ congress, it perfected the schemes OF
the paper SYSTEM, and gave to its advo-
CiIcS liz pO5lllOh LhOI nav iAhSSi cbi
to obtain, from the commencement of
the federal government down to the
present hour. The immense capital,
and peculiar privileges bestowed upon
it, enabled it to exercise despotic sway
over the other banks in every part of
the country. From its superior strength,
it could seriously %injure, if not destroy,
the business of any one of then which
might incur it's resentment; and it
openly claimed for itself the power of
regulating the currency throughout
the United States. In other words, it
asserted (and it undoubtedly possessed)
the power to make money plenty or
scarce at its pleasure, at any time, and
in any quarter of the Union, by con-
trolling the issues of other banks, and
permitting an expansion, or compelling
a general contraction, of the circulating
medium, according to its own will.
The other banking institutions were
sensible of its strength, and they soon
generally became its obedient instru-
ments, ready at all times to execute its
mandates; and with the banks neces-
sarily went. also, that numerous class
of persons in our commercial cities,
who depend altogether on bank credits
for their solvency and mean of bust
ness; and who are therefore obliged,
for their safety, to propitiate the
favor of the money by distinguishing
zeal and devotion in its service. The
result of the i'll advised legislation
which established this great monopoly
was to concentrate the whole moneyed
power of the Union, with its boundless
means of corruption and its numerous
dependents, under the direction and
command of one acknowledged head
thus organizing this particular interest
as one body, and securing to 1t unity
and concert of action throughout the
United States, and enabling 1t to bring
for ward, upon any occasion, Its entire
and undivided strength to support or
defeat any measure of the government.
In the hands of this formidable power,
thus perfectly organized, was also
placed unlimited dominion over the
amount of the circulating medium,
giving it the power to regulate the
value of property and the fruits of
labor In every quarter of the Union;
and to bestow prosperity, or bring
ruin, upon any city or section OF the
country, as might best comport with
Its own interest or policy.
awe are not left to conjecture how
the moneyed power, thus organized,
and with such a weapon in its hands,
would be likely to use it. The distress
and alarm which pervaded and agItated
the whole country, when the Bank of
the United States waged war upon the
people, in order to compel them to
20 &c lan,anAc cannot unt ho
forgotten. The ruthless and unspar1ng
temper with which whole cities and
communities were oppressed, individ-
uals impoverished and ruined, and a
of prosperity suddenly changed
into one of gloom and dependency,
ought to be indelibly impressed on the
memory of the people of the United
States. If such was Its power in a
time of peace, what would it not have
been in a season of war, with an enemy
at Your doorsP No nation but the
freemen of the United States could
nave come out victorious from such a
contest yet, if you had not conquered,
the government would have passed
from the hands of the many to the 6
hands of the few; and this organized 9
money power, from its secret conclave,
would have directed the choice of your ,
officers, and compelled you to d,
make peace or war, as best suited
heir own wishes. The forms of your
government might for a time have J
:emained, but its living spirit would l
lave departed from it.
ssThe distress and sufferings IN a
on the people by the bank, are s
ome of the fruits of that system of
policy which is continually striving to K
.nlarge the authority of the federal t
government beyond the limits fixed by
ne constitution. The powers enumer- A
IN that instrument do not confer =
N congress the right to establish such
corporation as the Bank of the United ,
and the evil consequences u
which followed may warn us of the .
of departing from the true rule
f construction, and of permitting tenn Q
,orary circumstances, or the hope of I
,etter promoting the public welfare,
o influence, in any degree, our deois- "
ons upon the extent of the authority n
f the general government. Let us
bfde by the constitution as il Is writ u
or amend it in the constitutional !.
node, if it is found to be defective. ~
ssThe severe lessons of experience
yill, l doubt not, be sufficient to pre- Ia
congress from again chartering ID
UGH a monopoly, even if the constitu-
on did not present an insuperable OBJ is
sction to it. But you must remember, N
~ fellow citizens, that eternal vigil
,nce by the people is the price of @
berty and that you must pay the .,
rice if you wish to secure the blessing.
/ behoves you, therefore, to be =.
,atchful in your states, as well as in n
ne federal government. The power =
'hich the mOneyed interest can exer- u
Use, when concentrated under a single
cad, and with our present system of h
urrency, was sufficiently demonstrated J'
1 the struggle made by the Bank of 81
ne United States. Defeated in the
eneral government, the same class of hi
ltriguers and politicians will now al
sort to the states, and endeavOr to OF
there the same organization be