The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-05


terles running under full pressure, COM
merce crowded with demands. bank vaults
filed to overflow with money seeking bor-
| rowers.
| The states that had comprised the con-
federacy We're ruled out of the govern
ment, absolutely. for more than three
years after Appomattox except the quasi
representation permitted to Louisiana
and Tennessee, and were practically ta-
booed in the government for several years
| lorger.
Within the era of northern sectional
| usu.pation, what is known as ''commer-
ciaiism'' gained control of the state gov
eminent of the north as we'll as the gov
errment at Washington. Not only so,
| but this new influence ingratiated itself
| into general conditions of society," where
by wealth accumulated rapidly in corpora
| ton form as a necessary result, and a
| vast class of breadwinners. out of work,
sprung up, never before known in Amer
| lea.
| The Order of Patrons of Husbandry
was an organized protest against the
| oligarchical presence of commercialism in
| political affairs. In order to form a Just
conception of the desperate expedients of
| this bastard political force, let us recur
| to the skill with which it fixed its ten
tacles upon the federal constitution itself
at the outset.
| The first session of Congress after APP
pomattox prepared and submitted to all
| the states, the states lately in rebellion
| not excluded, the fourteenth article of
amendment. The fourth section of that
article establishes a theory of federal
government new in the American system.
| Up to that time it had been the ambition
of the federal government to pay off its
debts as speedily as possible. When Mr..
| Lincoln entered the presidency, March
| 4, 1861 he found empty public purse
and no debt practically. The debt of
| the revolution had been paid, the debt
| of the second war for independence,
| 1872, had been paid the debt of the
war for the annexation of Texas and for
| the acquisition of a vast area of Mexi-
can soil had been paid
The fourth section of the fourteenth
article provides: 1.-THE validity of the debt
| of the United States authorized by law,
| including the debts incurred for payment
| of pensions (sic) and bounties for service
| (sic) shall not be questioned (sic).
The intent of the proviso was to arrest
| a movement, led by President Johnson, to
F, scale the funded national debt and then
| to pay it, A large part of the face value
of the government bonds had been bought
! from the government at 10 cents on the
800. The proviso forbids the debt to be
| Questioned A motion to scale would
question the debt Claims to pensions and
| claims for bounties had been bought by
| spectators at sacrifice and the markets
were stocked with fraudulent claims for
pensions and bounties. 1t was to be
expected southern men in Congress would
81 1Al%t y, ,fn hni
constituency were overtaxed to pay the
| interest.
The intent of the prOviSo was to prepare
the public mind for the perpetuation OF
| the public dept as against the ancient
democratic practice of paying it off. The
effect of the proviso was to concentrate
| ownership of the debt in the hands of a
few individuals. The special privilege
conferred by Congress upon the few own
ers OF the debt was to set up national
banks of issue upon the foundation OF
govern ment bonds.
| In practice the operation may be ex-
planned thus: Richard Roe and John Doe
comprise the First Ma tional bank, "a tor-
poration of Billville. They Jointly pay
$4,000 to the government for 100000 of
per cent non-taxable 20-year bonds.
! Under the national banking law, already
in existence when the fourth section is
prepared, the oorporators of the First
| National bank of Billville deposit their
/ purchase of 100000 bonds with the treas
urer at Washington, from whom they
| had just received them. They receive a
charter. The bank issues as fast as the
press can throw off the bills, $4,000 in
currency. The expense is in the press
work and the paper. In the twinkling OF
an eye as you may say, the $4,000 orig
| inal cash outlay becomes 100000 gov
| ernment bonds. drawing, say, 5 per cent
| interest to the credit of the First Ma
| tional bank of Bllyille, plus $4,000 cur
rency issued by the bank on the basis OF
| the interest bearing deposit of bonds. The
| 800 600 currency under the banking law is
at par with gold, circulates in every nook
and Corner of the union and endures just
as long as the deposit of bonds is left
! in the treasury.
| To state it differently, indirectly under
| the protection of the fourth section, an
| original investment of $40 swelled by
quick, secure and easy way to $3.50.
| The aggregate interest bearing debt in
coin at the time of the adoption of the
fourteenth article was the almost incon-
ceivable sum of S1,267, 972, $50.
This monster sum, payable in gold or
silver or both, bearing interest, was the
banking right of the country, and upon
it commercialsrn took its stand to direct
the government.
Not only was the funded debt sought
to be fostered and protected by the gov
ernment, but the paper currency of the
government the greenback money that
could be used by the masses to cheaper
the value of that debt was put in the
furnace, in the treasury, prepared for the
purpose. and there burned to ashes to
the amount of hundreds of millions of dol
lars.
In the national campaign of 1876, the
Patrons of Husbandry as an order SYM
pathized with the national greenback
party A, convention of this party was
held at Indianapolis on May II of that
year. A platform was adopted incor-
porating the theory of Thomas JEFFERSON
that 'bank paper must be suppressed
and the circulation restored to the nation,
to whom it belongs" The system OF
currency recommended was briefly stated
the government should issue greenbacks
4 to the exclusion of all corporation OF
4 bank currency; that the greenbacks
should be legal tender. In order to pre-
| vent the evil effects of an accidental re-
dundancy of government currency, the
bills should be convertible into govern
ment obligations" bearing interest at
cent day on the $780, These govern
ment obligations must be redeemable In
greenbacks at par
The convention nominated the vener-
able Peter Cooper of New York city for
President.
This party met again in quadrennia
convention June 9, 1880 at Chicago. The
resolution or platform then adopted de-
clared: Corporate control of the vol
ume of money has been the means 81