Press enter after choosing selection

The Iowa Campaign

The Iowa Campaign image
Parent Issue
Day
14
Month
September
Year
1877
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Ff.i.low-Citizens : As the country plodded arougli a luug-drawn settloinent of tho qncaions out of whieh grow tho war and which rew out oí the war, it yearly bccamc plainor liat tho oíd strings liad beeu harpod until they ero out of tuno. Tho sympathies and impulses f tho Nortli, so of ton mclted to tcars by the lavory qneátton, stning to a high koy for no ong, had lost their tone, and the wuisperts of ovo and mercy drawn f rom them by the roal nd fancicd wrong of Blavery had changcd to coarso twang of vengoanco and vulgar rercnge. The noo 1 of the national soul had long been he text of the agitator and the theme of the ihüanthropisL but, as a settlement of entimcntiil imlitical questiojos waa rcachcd, he wr.iiU of the natiunal body were asserlcd. Jebt was ujioii ïls. caiTying au interest charge annually npon the labor of the land doublé ,ho volume of the entire national debt in 18fiO. l'ho management and payment of thisdebt becamO in tho eyo of the publicist and statcsniau atonco the leading iuostion in American pouics, for in ite management atad a proper ystem of rovcnuo liiy cvery economie interest of tho wh'ólo country. As a few wise mcu were scokng to put thcre practical ruiestions forward, zhcro arose anothor schoolof jxliticians hcadcd jy Jay Cooko and commi.ssioned to teacli the 3eoplo that a national dobt is a national blessmg, and frow tliis gfenü grew finaneial fungi of uil orto, until it i 110 wonder that the ideas of ;ood and ticnsiLilc men have grown into autaginisiii lo the sound principlpá of [lolitical cconomy - tho laws of iinanee anil conmicrce. I tliink the great need of the duy irt a freciucnt rocurreneu to fundamental principien ; aconotaut teaching ol tlio Irutii in rcupeol to inoiiny and its relations to tho. wel f aio and liappinen of civilized poopje, 'J'lic Republicon party has taken gooi ore nol su to tcach. It ha kopt tho public niiucl DÜay with other tbings. Tho negro voU and voter, nogro ecjuality, tho rebel aebt aiu claims, the bliwly shirt, eaóh háí bad it brie day on the stngo i iiekie Úir. i. pnlar fancy or fun tlie popular ii:rn]Hr into a roaring tKe wbile (hu proprjtx of tlio country was beiiif, sajiped. and we heemed content to romain : natiou produciug more i)f gJl and uilver thai any other rVn the planet,ahd vil do all oui grëat trado in a, lliKtuatíng, iinocrtain pnptT curivucy. , t'i'oiu this eondition of inationtioi to !iir material intoroets wo wero aroospd for a timo liv tire panic of 1873, wluch nunca thouBands mn every mfefiM wns gorged with crcditeuriv.ne-y. und le.lt mlossal entorprises luco tlio North l'iu'ilic roaá ia sprawüng rain. Agaiu Republieatt politiciuns drcw off public attentioli by tho olil wfir crios, and earried the party through tUo last rrosidoutal olection to a f rauduh'nt Bciziiro of the l'rc.sidcncy lost by it at the polls, and w.is í 1 1 tlie act of further dlverting public attontion bypomling with pritlo to Gen. Grant tsnoring uiukr a, silk QOi)t at Wjpdgor Cafltlo, tho éíated recípiont of tbc; lirst JBiitish honor béKAwed hpon an American Gun-ral siuoo Jíenedict Arnold's day, when wiÜ) a soundjn crash carne tho August strikes which clouded seven States with anarchy for a week, aud so jatred the whole country as to set every man looking for tlio causo and curo of an evil which could uo longor bo ignorod. WjUi the national nnancea, the labor aud trade questioiiB, the Iowa Democracy has dealt ii itö platform, and lam here to construo that platform and defeud it within the limit of its om lauguago and give each part au iuterpretation consistent with the whole. Tb.o Democratie party of Iowa declares for a rovoinie tariff ouly. This dcolaratioii is con-, sistent with the delivery against subsidies, siuce a pvotective tariff - the Itepnblican plan - is bilt' a tas levted on the poople, not to support the Government, but to fatten tho manufacturen:. It is a tax on the many for the benefit of the few, and is the basest form of mibsidy bccatise of its iudirection. It isrobbory of the peoplc ui sueh a way that tliey noto tlie theft only i their pöverty and nakedness. aud caunot read ily iix the.responsibility for the crime. Amor: eau manufacturen) fattened by this tax levie upou othn1 industries are to-day exjiosing their wkr'cs in England, payiug freight and sellin them to Englishmen for less than they sell the samo goods here at home, witliin sight of the factory smoke. We rcad of this drivmg Englishmcu out of Knglish marketö, and are expected to go into palriotic ecstacies over it, aud forget that ií our manufacturera do this at a prolit they aro ablo to soll at tlie samo ates a homo, less the freight aeross the Ati&ntic, plu tlie carriage to whatever American marUet the choose to sell in. I believe John Itandolph de fined proteclion to mean paying a New Kn glander $2 for what we can buy o( an Oíd En glander for $1. Tbis may now be paraphrasec into asking $2 at homo for what we sell at a pn iill abroad for $1. We next pass on to our children the warninf, that carne to us from oui fatlu-re!, and declare further supremicy of tho civil ovor tho mili tary power. It needs no argument. The liepublican party rulod tho South through elrvc yoars of peaco by tho aimy. For eleven yoar the Democrats protosted igaiusl this almac and last year carried tho couuti'y upou tha protest by a majority so emphatic that an acl mg President, who usurped without shame a oftice that belonged to another, and striick down without pity or remorso tho foul instrumi'iits of his ínuidulent lrv:ition. dared no disobey thu majesty of a white majorityof 1,000,001 votes ; and so we iiud Mr. Hayes Htibordinatiug ihe military to the civil power, and rctuniing tho anny o ils proper functious. We declaro for piu-Htioji of church :inil stide : a principie so Kiluuny that the times in which wo livo are Baunzea in tlio apparent uocessity for its reitoration. Wc ailirm tho eiual rihts of all citizens before the law, luider whihh principie tho Democratie party took shapo uuder Jefferson's mastcr hauj Tlio Federalista dunied tbc eiuality of forei;;n lnnr 'iti.i'iis. nu mattor what their charactor, culture, or palriotic BpNMaa wero, and. the pd Jiticy.1 li(;irs of tlie Fedenüiati, the Ropuhlic&u of to-day. put foreign-loni citizens unflor th pamoban byexolnding in at least one liepub liean State in the Union the voto of a foreigi er unless he has a property juali(ication no cxactod of a nativo, o, agaiu, the Iícpvib lieiuiá conipel us t n;iil to our mast thiö trit (ïeclaration, which we will ropoat so lOQg a they uo auyH'iii re in power and continue t persecute aud oppross men l'or their birth u rcjigion. OpK)rition to nulisulies is another Domocratic principio, fuully violated by tho Ropubjj eau purty and in nood of ugitation now bei-uus it is understood tlmt Mr. Hayoe rode to office 1 Torn Scott's car, on the tibck of a grand gift en terpriüe which reaelied fiom tho corpso of th North l'acitic to the eradle of its Huiith l'.iciü twin, showeriug oilices, jobs, and juicy tbing betweon, and reaching iuto u sliiny oblivio to materializo the gliosL of doad Whiggcr Sc declare Hepublicau class legislation to b resjionsiblo for tlio pauperism oï liibyr. It 1 trae. Every strilcer struck becauso for scvlti teon years there luid been a Itepublicanf pH in this country. Wherever a mob ruarud, it lMS0#á8 notioolb tlieworldof the pn of Üic pest yf lie]iublu-in püityisin hero. Kvtr. iocondiary who pid ar.on viü the. emboilici consoqu'ouciB of a Kèpubnffiui party; EVer murderer who shxl blmid was a red-hnided witness that tho BepnbliCOD party had been i power in thu land. Kvory rioter who groans li mn a jail is in ]irisou for the crinies of Uu party, Evury murderer who will swing from scaffoUl dimgles thor to expíate crimes done by Iiv]niMii';i)i party. ïhere is no evasión of this. Jf Ulereare broad riil,s ín JI:inehester. Paris, pr BrusSols, we chargo them uxjii nial '.duiinistralion of tho (oveniinent. ;ni'l bj this juflf;inent we must be judgod ourselves or no looger assnnic to sit in the judgmynt seat. To the vioious laws whieh bear this bad re sponsibility refercuee is' alrcady made. Tiio tariff andsubsidy legislation have, in part, done tho work. The demonetizing of silver was acconiphshed bj pcouliarly lteuublican mrthods, in tho dark and seoroüy, so that even thopo who voted for it were wwnn of tho effect of the bill. It is no wuuder the peoplo should reject scientilic dificiltisjion of the propriety ot' a mensuro pasüed in that way, aud should indignantly deiiKind the reinxtiiteiiièiit ui' silver as a legaí-tóniJof coin before exSmtHh'lg into tho menta of the singlo or doublo standard. Tho reiriptatement I favor in tho conviction that scientilic eonclusions will bc reached that will coudetun the emplovnient of any anstablo Standard of value, add tt'at tho Democratie party wil] bring legislatiou tipon tlie subjeet out of the dark corni into which liirpnlilicauinn Iihs erowiled it. If it provo that the doublé standard will not work, tluit tlie silver will iloat lbo gold out of the country and leave us to bear the load of oastofl silver from Gennany and tho other singlestandiird couuti'ies, an mtelligent adjnstnieut will soon relieve us of the oils which would follow. U[kíh tlio genwal mattt-r of curreney and rcsuni))üon tho Democrats of Iowa declare: ' We favor tho retention of a greenback cmv rency and declare against any further contnmT tion. and we favor tlie substitution of greenback for nalional-hnnk bilis." The legal-tender law, under which tho greenbacks were issued. flxe volnmo at i4OO,OOO,OO0. This law wat donouncod as uneonstitutional by the I)emoeracy of this country when it was passed, and a Kepublican Supreme Court bas since decidid mat in time of peaoe it would have been uneonsfitntional, but was all right in wur. That law nearly doublcd tho oost of tho war. Grnback8 feil as low ag 8$ oents on the ollar, so that tlic Oovermncnt paid íiearly $3 r evcry dollar' worth of material it nsed. 'hoy ralued a Uttle, but averaged so low that , is fair to 8ay they doublecl tho cost to tho eople of a war of which tliev rank among the Hout troublesomo relies. The Government lumld liave (sanea treasury noten, and, iromptly cuforcing its taxing ' power, should lave maintained a credit that wonld have tloated :s bond, by their ealo raising mean far more heaply than by thc costly and uuconstitutional xperhncni of a forced loan, for the greenback -i a forced loan in all its ehamoterlMfta s wg told the truth in deeïaring the issue unonstitutional, and as the Kcpublicaus only jusify it as a war mensure, it is plain that Hiere au be no f urther asno of grecnbacks unless ve ;o to war for the authority. There can bo no objection to the retention of the greenbacks as a permanent paper currency, in proforence to he national-bank notes, whicli have not the egal-tender quality, so I talte oiir declaration 0 mean that, as tho national-bank charters ex)ire - and wo cannot dinturb them short of heir expiration- these mstitutions should not e re-chartered, and, as their circulation shrinks with each Qying charter, the greenbacks are to take its place. The roimlt will be a constant appreciation of the purchasing power of the greenback and a constant ipproach oí that currency to par in gold ; eo that if no other cause operated wo would reach specie nayments over tho dcad vaults of national baukn, which [ am suro tho poople of this country will never consent to recliarU-riug, ns lanko of issue. I íave n!ver seen a inore intelligent and compact plan for bringing greenbacks to par than s propoecd by this plank in our platform, and 1 commend it to the attention and examination of financiei's Eaet and West. I discus onder thifl head tho general question of rcBUmption. Jet uw remember that the bank noto and bank check- couKideriiig for tho purpose of this i;xtmiuation tho greenback to be a bank note esnob it performs tito same ófrico - aro substautially tho samo thing m the Bense that neither is in itself value, but oach implies the presencc somewhere of value upon whicli it is au order for payment. If no deposit lie bchind the bank check it i worthless. If no depouit (ir power er disposition to pay in value lic bbhind the greontaok it is worthlos. Ilesuni]tion tlien nieans that tho Government shall have the aliility to pay its checka, notes, grceiibacks, on demand in valuo ; that is to say in geld. When that tune comes private debtora will have a ])lacc at which to buy the gold called for by imüvidual contracU, and the differencc between gold and paper will be a thin margin of one-fourth of 1 per cent., with a )x)ssibility that occasionally the paper niay cummand a jiremitim over the metal, because of convenieuce of carriago aud cciiaiuty of rcTi'iivi T-ion at par. I may bo askud why repoal the r88tnnttion date, January, 1S70, if it is desirablo to rcKunïe at all V ïhe Democratie party demand a repeal of the date, becausG the ])emocratic party has common fiense on its sido and is guidcd by tho examplc of natioiis that havo trodden Jiard the pathwcarenoivin. England oxpqnmentea vdtb Uit finalices during a long grapplo with the first Napoleon, and at the closo of her complications on the continent wan l'inancially )irostrate ; witli Hjeofa ]iyment to all áppeárauce hopelossly suspended. During uearly a quarter of a centurj' tho Britleh l'arliame'nt atteruptcd to resumo by lixing datos at which to resumo eleven different timos, aud at last, aftcr ten rèpe'ils, rosumption occurrcd ii adTanco of the farthest date rixed. You m:ij qucry why thu date nhuiilil hmdcr. XI is beo:iusi: rcsumption is iu the ïuiturc of payniont oí S dubt. No debt ia t;v(;r easy to pay whou the debtor is in puverly and distress, groabing umk-r tho piuch of hurd times. laynient is vohmtary and easy when Uincs are good and prosperity is the rulo. llesuntption ík au event wbich excites apprehension, it ia waitcd for willi td expectatiou of great chango iu all commercial and financia] relations, It i gettiiu; down to hard-pán. If a date is fixed peoplc watt rather than work. It will not do to mako tbis investinent or start tbat enterprise, for tbere is no telling what effect rosuniptiou will have upon it, so we wait :ud wdlt, a íiíiticu of Mieawbers ; DuSilkóSfl is paralyzed and times grow bard. Men think it is a kek of punepcy, aml clamor for ïuore. If 0)0 erv is lucded and iniialion oceurd resumptioi'. is posCpoued. If the paralysis continue aud reMunptinn is attempted at the date, without the degrec of prosperitj and coufidence to warrant it, death follows paralyais and ruin whelras the couutr.-. As soon as the Kesuniptiou act of 1873" passed tiines bcgan tightening. EotoiTMisb coased. Keal estáte cannot be sold. Manufactures are idie. Kailroad building stopiod. aud we all sat down to tvait. Iu 1876 the Democratie party, dosiring reaumption, demanded tho repeal of the dato as a hindranoe tbereto. The Democratie House repealed the date. Men bogan to venture upon business operations. Thd Itusso-Turkish war gave na dominion of the graiu market of tbo world. Ci'ops at home are good. Kopublicau Senators, like Allison, of Iowa, aro joining the Demócrata in tho cry for repcal, and greenbacks, feeling the impulse of thisucw-born prosptrity, have crept up to 'J7. I am uot sure tut we wül resumo before 1879. If I kuew the Senate would join the Dcinocratic House in the repeal I would confidently predict reenmption before that time, as the natural result of a prosperity ■rhiob grows uj to the volume of currency, hsing all the circulating medium, and demandiug an invariable standard of valué, into which tho paper currency is convertible at par, and by which the products of the country are ïm-as1110(1. Above all, we want an end to tinkeruig. No business can grow, based upon tho fluctuations of an irredeemable paper currency, or tho play of shifting Congressional policies. The business men of the country want tability. John Kherman is no guarantce of stability, nor is Morton, nor Hayes, nor Stanley Matthews. Thoy shift with tlic tide. Tho Demócrata offer tlieii' past finaucial record as proof that stability may bc expectod under their domination. Our party first torced the payment of the poor man's wages and the rich man' proüts in the same kind of money - gold; and nnder that policy our growtli was the world's eighth wonder. "Here was the world's labor market. There were no tramps, no bread riots, no war for wages degenerating into a base assault upon property and a bloody attack upon Uffc. Te tako tho country far from the evils of a mixed and lluctuating credit currency, from trade destroycd and labor tnrned beggar, out of tbc troacherous quicksandt) of üopublicau iiuancia! folly to the solid ground of aafety and eoniidence, wjiere waving lields and rattling millh on eitlier hand lift high the yellow oanners ain' sing the glad song of plenty aud prosperity, is our ruission and púrpepe,

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus