The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1911-12-09

William Allen White, in the Amer
ican Magazine, discusses the present
political situation; says that after
the war the United States senate was
called the "Millionaire's Club" but
that times are changing; that the
senate may in four years more be-
come progressive, and by progressive
he means, may adopt the Roosevelt
Pinchot and company ideas, and the
people may obtain their rights.
That only shows that Mr.. White
may be ever SO bright man and
charming writer, but that he is a
poor reader of history, and that he
has kept but poor watch over the
events of the last half century.
The trouble began in the very midst
of the Civil war, when the few men
who owned the bulk of the gold of
= the country exacted from the govern
ment the national banking laws.
There was but one thing then be-
tween the people and the cormorants
the silver money. They worked
through congress bill to make all the
debts created by the war payable in
specie. AS they and their kind in
Great Britain and on the continent
owned more than $2,000,000,000
interest-bearing bonds of the govern
ment, and as those bonds had been
purchased, in great part, with green
backs worth not to exceed 60 cents
on the dollar, they made by that
probably $4OO,OO0,O But they
were not satisfied. If they could re-
duce the real money of the world by
half, it was clear that, measured by
gold alone, it would require twice as
much property to buy dollar, or a
hundred, or a million of dollars as it
then did.
Their first move was to induce
congress to draw in and retire all
the greenbacks except the $374,OOO,-
900 which still remain. This caused
the panic of 1873. The greenback
was all the medium of exchange
which the people of the east had to
do business on, and the result caused
their business to die through a money
asphyxia. In the same year, by
stealth, they caused the demonetiza-
tion of silver. At the same time they
obtained control Of some powerful
newspapers, some learned writer's
to portray the necessity of such legis-
lation; and though it was a reversal
of the wisdom of the ages; though
property began to fall in value
measured by gold--as much as silver
seemed to fall; they kept their news
papers going; their Summers, Atkin-
sons and McLoughlins talking and
writing and bulldozed congressman
until after 20 years they succeeded
in stamping out half the real money
of the world. One result is that the
people are still paying interest on 400
millions of the old war debt; another
is that our export trade with half the
world Is killed, and a more fearful
result than any other Is that bunch
of gold kings, less than sixty in num-
ber, own sixty-six of the great banks
of New York city. and all the busi-
ness of the United States is subject
to that band Of thieves.
Now, the idea of those progressives
which Mr.. White is so much in love
with, Is to permit those gold abb
sorbents to continue their work, but
to- attack all the Industries, the rail-
roads and great producers in the east,
which give so many men employment,
and to pursue the settlers in the
desert and on the frontier. and to say
to them: Go ahead, we love the
hardy frontiersman, but be careful
not to cut timber, nor open coal
mines, nor bore for oil, nor utilize a
water power. for all those things be-
long to all the people Of the United
States, and they will want the pro-
ceeds Of them in the next generation.