The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-03-16

uP ChO1A O1CC dAO III 0IA W COAA-
NIT political suicide in the face Of the
country. loud applause.)
ShylOck Enactins the Role of Patriot.
Russell Sage, who has accumulated
millions by practicing Shylock's meth
DDS, Is attempting to enact the role of
patriot. His voice is for war with Spain.
The longer and the more expensive the
war the better pleased would be Russell
and his fellow Shylocks. Fighting, they
believe, would entail big bond issues
which would place millions in the pock-
cts of these worthless, who act and talk
as if the United States government had
been instituted for the purpose of aiding
them to pour money into their already
overfowing Golfers. Il propose to stand
by the flag" is the way in which their
leader, Russell Sage, informs us that he
has an eye on the profits that will accrue
to him and his fellow-usurers If this
country and Spain should come to blows
AS specimen of Wall street patriotism,
Sage's words are worth quoting. Here
they are:
From all the information received
there is little doubt in my mind that our
warship was blown up by outside
agencies, and if the naval commission so
reports the time for action has come.
Thoro CHI h~
ernment must demand the fullest rep
aration, and that without delay.
Whatever action, war or otherwise,
President Mckinley may take, he should
and will have the fullest support from
both rich and poor, Republicans and
Democrats. There is no question as to
where the rich man stands. In the Civil
war, when it broke out 1 brought govern
ment bonds, and 1 did the same in 1864
So did other rich men. We had conf
dence in our government.
''If the necessity arises now I will do
the same again generously. So will other
rich men know Of l am an American
first and last and propose to stand by the
flag"
The language addressed by Prince Hal
to Falstaff can be applied to this ''patri
otic" note-shaver: Mark, now, how
plain tale shall put you down." You,
Russell Sage, and your fellow-usurers,
refused to lend one dollar of your hoard
ed wealth in the early days of 81. APP
peals were made to your patriotism. Not
a penny could that appeal wiring from
you. You had the government in hole
and you were ready to exact from it
terms almost as hard as Shylock, your
prototype, would have wrung from An
tonic.
In se1f-defense the government at
Washington issued demand notes which
were full legal tender and which the
people gladly accepted. From the mo-
ment these notes were issued there was
no time when each of them was not ex-
changeable for dollar in coin, whether
the coin represented gold or silver. The
usurers saw then the government could
get along without them and their money
bags. 1t was then that they f1ocked to
Washington and offered financial assist
ance If the government would consent to
deprive it's own notes of their full legal
tender character.
Unfortunately these terms were ac-
cepted and the greenback was born with
that unlucky word except" stamped on
it's back. After the bargain was entered
into the governments notes were not
acceptable for payment of duties at the
custom house nor in payment for inter-
est on the public debt. In this way an
artificial demand was made for coin
gold and silver-and the patriots" of the
Russell Sages sort were enabled to prac-
tically place their own price on the hard
money they had locked up in bank vaults.
The bonds which Russell Sage says he
bought during the war were paid for in
the unnecessary deprecated greenbacks,
and at the time it was understood they
would be redeemed in the same kind Of
money that was paid for them. Three
years after Appomattox the usurers
thought they had made mistake in not
having forced the government to bind
itself to the payment of the bonds in
coin and so they went to work to have
that ''stipulated in the bond" They
succeeded in making congress enact their
wishes into law. They took care, how
ever, to leave a loophole by having the
act of congress declare that the bonds
should be payable in coin. Silver was
at a premium and they did not wish to
be forced into accepting gold of which
they are now so enamored. Silver is
now at discount as compared with the
yellow metal and they now declare that
coin means gold and nothing but gold.
While camoring that the English Ian
yuage shall be distorted to add mil
lions to their profits they at the same