Year: 1878

The New York bankers have held sew
eraI meetings recently, having for their
purpose the agreement upon a plan of
action with which the southern and
western states are to be threatened un-
less they withdraw their support Of the
reconciliation of silver The plan in
cludes: l. No more sale Of goods ex-
cept on condition of payment in gold; >
No credit or discounts to any western or
southern banks, merchants or corpora
tions. or municipal governments, except
on contracts payable in gold; 3. The
refusal of all dealings with persons who
viii not make contracts to pay past and
future debts in gold. This threat is to
be sent all over the country as the de
termination of the men who claim to
represent the center of capital Do
these gentlemen think that the center of
capital" Is immovable? Within the
memory of even young men and mer-
chants New York was the " center of
trade in the United States, and every
man who dealt in dry goods or groceries
ali over the land had to 90 to New York,
or send to New York to purchase his
stocks. Times have changed. New
York was once the center OF the provi-
sion trade, and every pound Of packed
beef pork, lard, bacon and cut meats
had to be sent to New York to be sold
both to the foreign and domestic mar
kets; but the center Of the provision
trade has moved a thousand miles west
ward


The day has long since gone by when
the west and the south depended on New
York city. That city might be buried,
and the business of the west and south
would go on Just the same. If the banks
and merchants of New York shall insist
that the capital gathered there shall not
be employed il trade with the west or
south, it IS possible that that capital VIII
quietly find its way to the productive
centeTs, and be invested directly among
those who produce to sell and who buy
to consume. There is no law that can





one hour after the trade of that city
with producing sections of the country
shall cease or be suspended, and if the
city of New York proposes to suspend
or refuse further commercial or financial
dealings with the exporters of $3.50, ,000,-
600 surplus products of their labor, the
latter viii probably End some otherroute
TO market, some other route to the open
sea, some other point from which to OBJ
tain what they need, and some other
part Of the world in which to obtain the
capital they may need TO handle what
they produce.


Now, if the New York banks and mer-
chants want to get out their "black list,
let them do it. If they will not sell
us dry goods. there are other places where
we can buy them; if they will not buy
our bread and meat, let them 60 hungry.
The people who produce more than they
consume of human food have an
epen market the world over, and can
find elsewhere all they need in ex-
change. Let New York get out its
"hlack list; )" it need not be at trouble
to select the names let it put down the
people of the West by acres, townships,
counties, congressional districts, and
states let them put the peopleof twenty
six states under a commercial and fDan-
cial interdict; let them advertise to the
remo@st part of the earth that New
York holds no commercial intercourse
with the south or west; that the people
of these sections refuse to pay any more
debts@or interest than is called for by the
letter and terms of their contracts, and,
when the railroads to New York shall
become bankrupt, and the Erie canal
become stagnant from disuse, and the
banking buildings in Wall street will
have inscribed in chalky whiteness over
their doors the legend, "To Iet," then
perhaps Mr.. George w. Coe and his as
sociates will discover that any attempt
to bulldoze or intimidate a free and in
telligent people must prove a failure
Chicago Tribune.


WHICH IS THE MORE HONEST?


IF Mr.. Belmont was asked what money
he rendered in purchasing United States
bonds, he would of course acknowledge
in the cheapest currency then in vogue.
1t Is his business as banker, as indeed
it is of every other purchaser, to make
the best bargain he can. Previous to
1873, when these debts were contracted.
paper money was in universal use. But
the value of the paper was measured by
the gold standard. Now, it happens that
the gold standard, previous to 1873, was
lower than the silver standard. Silver
was at premium of three per cent.
Even the gold papers viii not call Nh
Belmont a swindler and knave it he
paid for his bonds in the cheaper metal,
or in paper that was convertible into It.
that is-goldp The bankers of the world
did not insist upon paying for their bonds
in the dearer metal. But having pur-
chased, as they had right TO do, in the
cheaper metal, they now clamor for pay
ment in the metal which has been arti-
ficially enhanced In value by the de-
monetization of silver. There is certainly