The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-10-29
REPUTATION AND DlsHoNoR.
A Psst u Henry ward Bssshss's Dssa

Sermons.
During the fat money and unlimited
paper currency excitement OF 1877 NJ.
Beecher delivered famous sermon On
Thanksgiving Of that year on the perils
Of the day. In It he used this Language:
"Whenever in any nation there u
such an attempt to tamper with stand.
ards that the moral sense Of man II BE-
wildered and liberty b given to unpran'
cipled men at large to cheat, TO be un'
faithful to obligations, to refuse the
payment Of honest debts-whenever
that takes place, It Is all the worse II
done with the permission Of the law.
I hate the devil riding on law worse
than I do the devil riding without q
law under him. Whoever tampers with
established standards tampers with the
very marrow and vitality of public
faith. The danger into which
we are running is hidden under the
mystery of finance and the currency.
All msney is but representative Of
property. As now, by facility Of inter.
course, all the world is one open mar
ket, the need of one and the same stand.
ard of money, uniform, universal and
unalterably becomes imperiouA
'Gold is the worlds standard. Gold
Is the universal measure of value. Other
kinds Of money there are-silver, cop
per, paper-but they all mnst conform
to gold and be measured by It and be
interchangeable with it. in fixed and
definite proportions. Gold Il king in
commerce. All other money must rep.
resent gold. No vote of Legislature can
change the nature of commerce, the
nature Of property, the nature Of It's
representative in money or the relative
superiority or inferiority of different
currencies. Gold came to it's supremacy
as a representative Of property by the
long-established consent Of mankind.
Congress cannot change It for the
world. nor even for this nation. except
upon past transactions. It may give
impunity to men to cheat contiding
creditors, but II cannot rule the value OF
currency in all future transactions.
"The crime Of paying debt in O cur
rency inferior in value to that in which
i was contracted, base at all times and
anywhere, has deeper guilt and a
baser infamy in our case. When in our
mortal struggle capitalists were solicit
ed to lend their money to US on the faith
Of the nation, we were too glad, most
grateful, for their aid. Then they were
not grasping and swollen usurers. Oh,
no! They were benefactors. We re-
Soiced in their bounty and gave thanks
for their confiding faith in our national
honesty. Now, our dangers past, we
revile them, finding no epithets too VIC
lent, and strive to pay them, not golt
for the gold they lent our misery, bu,
in dishonest measure of an inferior
metal.
"In the court Of the Commercial
worlds conscience we shall be convict
ed of endeavoring to cheat the men WHIT
came to our rescue IN the dark day
This congress would not have existed
nor any government of the United
States, but for the strength given to ou
armies by foreign capitalists, and nov
to return their aid by base treacher.
is to deserve an infamy as deep as tn
lowest depths of hell. But woe to thos
men, bull-headed, without eyes, who ar
attempting to undermine the integrit,
and simplicity of the nation"