The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-07-07
GIVE US OUR POUND OF FLESH.

Asininity and arrogance are inSep-
arabic. Ignorance and insolence are
twin hinnies. lacking only their dams
ears of being blooming jackasses. The
bumDtiouS Dretender of the east pre-
Stunning ignorance for the averag
western man, assumes 70 play him for
sucker. The spectacle of a thou
sand operators" from the Sordid cen
tiers OF the Atlantic seaboard states,
in Chicago. today, for the avowed pur-
pose of convicting the average western
delegate of ignorance, is hardly less
humiliating than it is exasperating.
These constituted money-miSSion-
aries are either blind or brutal, or both.
There is as much intelligence and pa
iriotism arrayed upon the side Of silver
as unon that of gold To say nothing
of the United States senate, many Of
the brightest writers, numbers of the
most profound jurists and enlightened
statesmen of not only America but Of
other nations. are the sincerest adyO-
cafes of the rehabilitation of silver
But this assumed superiority in intel
Iigence, by these self-seekers, is accom-
panied by a threatening mien and a
dicratorial spirit. There is in their
enunciatiOns the swish Of the masters
lash The humiliating truth is they
are not depending upon their persua-
sive reasonings, but upon their power
to c-oerce. One Of the most startling
chapters which has ever occurred IN
the political history Of this country
since the high-handed rule of King
Georges Board of Lords is embraced
in a dispatch sent out from Washing
ton. and which appeared in the single
gold standard papers on the morning Of
the Fourth of July. This manifesto
goes on TO intimate that the silver men
of this free country will be given a
chance to demonstrate the courage Of
their convictions, by martyrdOm. The
threat purpOrts to come from the bank
ers Of the country, who are represented
as having determined 20 refuse 10 loan
money to any advocate of free silver,
thereby giving them 4 much needed
"obiecI lesson In other words it is
proposed that the bankers of this coun-
try shall both boycott and prosecute
the men who do business with them.
The dispatch goes into the details or
this proposed ''object lesson" Those
who have notes in bank are to be push
ed to the wall; those having mortgages,
foreclosed upon and ruined.
Should the drastic scheme of this
dispatch be Systematically attempted
there will be a hanging-bee in this
country, and the average lamp-poSt
will be ornamented with the dangling
carcass of a banker. The banks OF
this country do not own the country.
The banks of this country do not own
even the money they do business on
The banks of this country do not loan
their own money. They do business
on other peoples money. They loan
the funds of their depOsitOrs. Ii the
Deople did not do business with clI"
banks the banks would do no busi-
ness. No bank can exist in the alb
sepce of the confidence and support OF
he community, whether that commuD'
ity be for free silver or otherwise. The
dispatch referred to says that the bank
ers of Louisville. Kentucky, have al
ready agreed upon the enforcement of
such a policy. If that is true, and
the banks of Louisville attempt to
carry out the threat, they will bank
rupt themselves whether they bank
rupt the city or not. When the banks
of the country start this threatened
boycott they start run on their own
vaults which will never cease until the
last dollar on deposit is paid out, and
the last door closed