The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-02-13

wheat 10 pay the debt:
4 Nj. HILL Do-s the senator van, n
answer To sha; long and complicated
question now:
/ Ar. BrT.Eg. The senator can us<
h.s own pleasure, bat would he GLAD
TO hear from him nox.
/ Nj. HiLI- | have forgotten wha,
the fret part Of the question Wa.
Ar. BCTIEk- That Is the way with
these gold bugs. They excuse their
wrongdoins By ignorance and want of
memory. daughter Tha, Is the onl \
excuse for their sins of omission and
commission.
Mr. Hill. I hardly think the S-na-
tor from North Carolina can expect
me right OFF To answer a long question
that takes about Que pag- Of recital
recital OF the ridiculous fact that the
Senator fron Ohio would he apt 10 take
| the Senators notr for any very large
| amount
Mr.. Bun n. tnl-s, it was pay able
in gold.
Mr.. Hill Ned, II pa ysble la any way
possible. s.here are too many assump-
| tions i'll II, and II requires rather too
| in reasonable time.
Mr.. BUTLER. | will give the Sega
| tor from New York an opportunity to
think over it and give the answer at
his leisure
MIR. HILL. Ii does not require very
much time, but hardly think viii
indulge myself now to answer the
| question.
Mr.. BUrLxh Then will proceed To
say what I Think the senator would
and should do As my trusted friend
The fact that the Senator from Ohio
Mr.. HILL. The senator can answer
it himself if he wants To. have no
objection to that.
Mr.. BUTLER. | did not catch the
| Senator's remark.
Mr.. HILL. | say the senator can
proceed to answer it himself if h- de-
sires.
Mr.. BUTLER. The Senator from New
York will have full opportunity to cor
| rect my statement AS to how he would
act if do not state il correctly. | will
state what it would he his duty To do,
and leave it for him TO say whether or
not he would do his duty.
No doubt the Senator from Ohio
would demand payment in wheat, but
you would not for moment consider
his demand. You would call his at
tentiOn to the letter of the contract
and insist on paying him according to
the contract, in the manner most ad-
| vantageOus to me. Especially would
you do this if you had learned that the
Senator from Ohio had cOrnered all of
the wheat in the country, and besides
had nearly every other farmer in the
country in debt to him on the same
kind of notes and was trying to force
payment from them all in wheat, when
there was no wheat to be had except
you purchased it from him and at a
price double what it was when the debt
was made.
| l say that if you had given up the
option which had in my contract and
had mortgaged my farm to buy wheat
at an enormously increased price
rybody would say that you were
either fit subject for the iunatlc asy-
lum or that you had been improperly
influenced by pecuniary considera-
tion or otherwise by the Senator from
Ohio. In short, your conduct wOuld
be infamous. 1t is true that the Sena-
tor from Ohio might threaten that he
would fUip np credit if you did not
pay my debt in wheat as he demanded
but you would promptly answer him
that neither he nor any one else could
ruin my credit as long as | was able tC
pay my debts according to the contract
and still have corn lett in abundance
in my barns.
i You would furthermore tell hin
promptly that the surest way of ruin.
ing my credit would be by mortgagine
my farm to buy wheat at 100 per cent
advance in price and thereby discrim.
l lNn -
which l had, and causing it to fall il
price. The difference would be mar
out of debt with plenty of means fol
support, or deeply in debt, paying
twice as much as the value received
, and with the property that he had left
J deprecated in value on account of tht
discrimination.
In case | pursued such short-sight
ed and foolish policy | would find my
self at the end of the hext year, wher
the mortgage on my farm came due
, forced to give another mortgage tt
. buy more wheat at still further ad
vance price to pay the debt. Thus
wear after year, though my fields TEEN
ed with corn in abundance, | would b.
forced to plaster fresh mortgages OF
, my farm until the mortgages amount
: ed to more than the value thereof
> Where would my credit be then?
;, Now, this is exactly what our gov
ernment is doing to-day. We are is
: suing bOnds-putting mortgage upol
this country to buy gold to pay deb
when we have the option of payini
!. that debt in silver. This policy wa
= inaugurated by the Republican party
not only without shadow of law, but il
:, defiance of law. The Democratic part
denounced this policy and denOunce
!, it Justly, and promised the people t
u u put stop to it. The Democratic part
y came into power, but it has adOpte
the Republican policy, which leads t
bankruptcy and ruin. Both old pal
ties have betrayed their trusts to tn
:. Americen people. They stand tO-da
hand in hand, mOrtgaging the prOI
ertY and liberty of this country ava
. to foreign gamblers and speculator
Z You call Benedict Arnold a traito
~ He surrendered but one army post
Great Britain. What will you say {
a those who are trying to surrender IL
+ whole American continent TO Gres
n Britain?
r. But the Secretary of the Treasur
y says that the greatest danger in OF
lt currency system now is the greer
t backs. He says that those who wal
!! to raid the Treasury and deplete 1t
y its gold gather up greenbacks and con
u to the Treasury and demand gold.
e want to ask what right they have
/ demand gold, and what right has he
l. pay gold. want to ask if these greer
backs are not coin obligations, evel
one of them payable in silver at Il
N option of the government. If the Sc
n retary would redeem the greenbacl
l. in silver, if he would do his duty und
II the law, this raid upon the Treasul
n would stop, and stop at once. l cha
q, lenge any Senator on this floor to COZ
It tradict this statement. In short, Il
1 Secretary of the Treasury has the O
% tion of redeeming every one Of the
l. notes in either gold or silver coin, an
s, therefore, if, any speculator or car
70 talist gets single dollar of gold out
p the Treasury it is the fault Of the Sc
j. retarY, who is the sworn officer OF 4