The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-08-07
COxEY IN COLUMBIA.

|
ton which was in store for them.
1t had been noised about that COXey,
Jacob S. Coxey of Massilon, Ohio,
the real, live, genuine, keep off the
grass" CoXey was in town. 1t was a
curiosity which one doesn't often
see, and the club, in high pitch of
ebullient curiosity, declared they
must have him, and accordingly he
was sent for and brought out. COXey
brought his mouth with him and for
about two hours kept it open. The
crowd gazed and still the wonder
grew that Coxey should be so much
talked about. Long before he shut
his mouth, curiosity had been salts
fed and the spell was broken, and
the crowd settled down, in dull
spirit of resignation, to suffer the in
Fiction which they had brought upon
themselves.
CoXey, no doubt, thinks that he is
sent to save the country. He, knows
what the matter is exactly, and has
apatent on heremedy. He, CoXey
himself, knows all this, and is the
only man that has been smart enough
to find it out. He is a full-mOuth,
talkative Populist. A regular pine
box, country store Populist agitator
of the ordinary pattern. There is
not much harm in him. After you
had looked at him about ten min
utes, and saw him open his mouth
, time or two, you wouldn't be
afraid of him. You might even dare
to put your hand on him. He is one
of those cheap, smart. wayside poll
ticians that knows it all and knows
exactly what to do. "NOw L will
g tell you what PROPOSE" he says /;
i what he, Coxey, proposes to 10000
g 600 of people and to this great gov
S eminent of the United States, and
1 he proceeded to tell. First, how
ever, he assaulted the Cleveland
Sherman Democratic Republican
ism. He told how Cleveland had
n prostituted the public patronage to
seduce Democratic Congress; how
he had provided for these congress
= sional minions when their constitu-
!, ents had turned them down in the
= election of 1894; how Breckenridge
of Ark, who lost his job by doing
> Cleveland's bidding, had been sent
n as minister to Russia, and Kilgore
/ of Texas and Springer of Indiana
It who had shared the same fate fol
o the same reason, had been provided
3, for by judicial positions, and so on
/ Then he rang out his non-interest
o bearing bond scheme. Think of a
d Populist wanting bond issued
l. even though it bears no Interest,"
Yes, he wants bonds, and plenty OF
them. He wants to plaster the whole
g United States over with bonds. He
a wants every state, county, munic
l. ipality, township and village to load
IA itself down with bonds to the extern
RS of one-half of the assessed value O.
ID it's property. By the time the city
lie puts mortgage on its people
n property to the extent of one half its
n value, and the county on top of tina
+? to the extent of one-half, and still
IL further the state on top of that, W.
70 will have the country pretty heavil!
80 loaded with bonds, with hardly room
. enough to plant small crop of pota
~ toes. Then he wants the govern
al ment to issue paper money to tn
49, extent of ninety-ntne per cent o
=. these bonds and turn it over to TIN
= states, counties and municipalitie
,d respectively, to be squandered b,
them in this thing and that thing
in the hope that everybody will ge
n a handful. This reminds one of
I'd man figuring OH saw-mill. III
1t sees a forGune on paper, but a fey
ed turns of the saw open his eyes a
n, well as his pockets, and he find
y himself mired in a mud-hole. Flo
be instance, the assessed value of prop
ct erty in Columbia is about two mil
he lion dollars. CoXey would have u
h, issue one million dollars worth o
ny bonds, send them to the government
at Washington and get $99O,0OO i
paper money and spend it aroun
~ generally. The other $4,000 goe
:, for expenses. And there is n
question about it, we would spen
- ,0 it, aud spend it in hurry. The
we would have to tax our propert!
nc for it is so nominated in the bono
" enough to pay off four per cent
p" forty thousand dollars of thes
~ bonds every year. 1t takes abor
Wy thirty thousand dollars year to ru
W this city, and it is struggle to rails
~" W. this amount, Don't you think
n~ would stagger us little to raise,
addition to this amount. another TO