The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 1895 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THI HOUR HAS COMB FOR THI PEOPLK TO ONCK MORE KIHOkl THE LIBERTY PIRE .
m
\
in i
I
U
y
j
V
E
VOL. XIV, NO. 6.
DALLAS, TEXAS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1895.
WHOLE NO 682.
GROYER'S WALL ST. MESSAGE
ONE OF THE MOST INFAMOUS
DOCUMENTS EVER SENT TO
CONGRESS,
He Demands the Issue of Gold In-
terest and Principal Bonds,
and the Retirement of the
Greenbacks.
The message sent to congress on
Monday of last week, which appeared
in the last issue of the Mercury,
should be classed as the inost infamous
document that ever eminated from an
American executive.
Coming, as it did, at a time when the
country was threatened with disaster,
and when the masses were suffering
from debt, a resuit of financial infamy
on the part of the government, and
bearing a burden of poverty too griev-
ous to be borne, gives it an additional
weight of infamy by adding a grave
insult to a patient and long suffering
people.
Mr. Cleveland has the effrontery and
audacity to state, at the outset of this
Wall street shiboletb, that "the real
trouble is laak of confidenca." In the
name of high heaven! who is it that has
a lack of confidence in the govern-
ment? Is it the wealth producers, or
the wealth destroyers? Verily, there
Is no lack of confidence by the people
who bear the actual burdens of the
government. They have the utmost
confidence in the government, and full
faith that every dollar issued by the
government is as sound as though it
possessed the metalic ring of gold.
Who. then, lacketh confidence? The
gold gamblers, who are just now loot-
ing the public treasury, at the sanc-
tion of Mr. Cleveland and his man Fri-
day, Secretary Carlisle, only lack con-
fidence! When Mr. Cleveland says a
lack of confidence is causing the trou-
ble, he simply lies! It is rather a lack
of common sens6,and common honesty!
Mr. Cleviand further says:
"The most dangerous and irritating
feature or tao situation, nowever, re-
mains to be mentioned. It is found
in means by which the treasury can
be despoiled of gold thus obtained
without cancelling a single govern-
ment obligation, and solely for the
benefit of those who find a profit in
shipping it abroad, or whose fears in-
duce them to hoard it at home. We
have outstanding about 1500,000,000
currency notes of the government for
which gold may be demanded and,
curiously enough, the law requires
(that when presented, and in fact re-
deemed, and paid in gold tbey shall
be reissued. Thus the same note may
do duty many times in drawing gold
from the treasury; nor can the pro.
cess be arrested so long as private
parties who profit, or otherwise use
the advantage, repeat the operation.
More than 1300,000,000 in these notes
have already been redeemed in gold,
and notwithstanding such redemption
tn -yaie still outstanding."
Tha Merccry, right hero and now,
denies that there is a single obligation
of the government outstanding, save
and exoept the gold certificates, that
are, by law, payable in gold alone. The
government has never issued a bond
payable in gold. Then, why this con-
dition? Why this endless draining of
gold out of the public treasury? Why
Should our government not.follow the
wise example of France? Congressman
Hendrix, of Brooklyn, eaid in the
house a few days ago:
"If you go to the bank of France and
ask to have a note of that bank cashed,
if it is of small amount, and you are an
American traveller, they will be very
glad to hand you over the counter the
few Napoleons you require; but if you
send in a large amount of notes aud
ask for gold, they will tell youlhatthe
rules of the bank of France forbid them
to give you more than 5 per cent of the
amount in gold, and they will pay you
the rest in silver."
France is now the only prosperous
nation on earth. Why? Because it
carries out a sensible financial policy,
and defies the robbers and gold gam-
blers who attempt to loot the treasury,
and, instead of conducting the Anances
of the government exclusively for the
benefit of the money power, makes su-
preme ¿he interests of the government
and the people. Hence France is pros-
perous, yet is claimed tobé on a gold
basis.
Again Mr. Cleveland says:
"Financial events of the past year
suggest facts and conditions wnicn
should certainly arrest attention.
More than $172,000,000 in gold has
been drawn out of the treasury during
the year for purposes of shipping
abroad or hoarding at home. While
nearly $103,000,000 of the same was
drawn out during the first ten montha
of the year, a sum aggregating more
than two-thirds of that amount, being
about $69,000,000, was drawn oui
during the following two months,
thus indicating a marked acceleration
of the depleting process with the lapse
of time."
The only answer necessary to all of
this sort of rot is to obey the law. Re-
deem in coin, as the law directs. Mr.
Carlisle says in his last report that he
has $504,035,453 in silver on hand, and
silver is coin, and, according to law,
can be used to redeem these coin obli-
gations.
Then, a little further along Mr.
Cleveland states: 4 Of the treasury
notes, which certainly should be paid
in gold,amounting to nearly $500,000,
000, there will fall due in 1934 $100,-
000,000 bonds issued during the last
HISTORY OF PAPER MONEY.
HOW IT PRODUCED PROSPER-
ITY IN THE COLONIES IN
EARLY TIMES.
The Prohibition of the Issue and
Use of Paper Money by the
American Colonies by Eng-
land Kindled the Fires
of the Revolution,
Continual on pegs 8.
In view of the fact that the president,
his cabinet aid congress, as predicted
by the mercury, have practically
agreed to every demand made upon
them by the national bankers, and that
these banks now assert that the gener-
al government has no legal right to
issue paper money of any description,
and at the same time demand the gov-
ernment shall farm out the issuing of
all papar money to these banks, we
deem it timely to present a short his-
tory of paper money in this country,
beginning from the early settlement of
the colonies up to the present tiun.
We do this because these combined
banks now openly demand that the
gov ernment surrender to them all the
powers under the constitution to pro-
tect the liberties of the people, thus
destroying the last vestige of the Jef-
fersonian and Jacksonian ideas of gov-
ernment, and riveting upon the people
the old plutocratic Ilamiltonian policy.
In 1690 paper money was first issued
by the colony of Massachusetts. This
was one year before the establishment
of the bank of England. Thirty-five
thousand dollars, the amount issued,
was made a legal tender, and for twen-
ty years It circulated at par with coin,
until it was absorbed by taxation. In
1703 South Carolina also issued paper
money. In that year Massachusetts
made another issue of $75,000 in paper
money, which was also made a full
legal tender. None of this money ever
went below par.
In 1716 Massachusetts again issued
$750,000 legal tender paper money, and
loaned it to the farmers of the colony
on their land. Another issue of $250,-
000 was made in 1720, and loaned out
the same way, which resulted in clear-
log the colony of debt by 1773, and
placing the people in the highest con-
dition of prosperity.
The colony of Connecticut issued pa-
per money in 1709,whieh always passed
at par, because by the laws of the col-
ony it was a legal tender.
In 1720 Rhode Island issued the same
kind of money and with the same re*
suits. Later on, however, a few un-
scrupulous speculators started what
they called the Rhode Island land
hank, obtained a oharter and issued
their promicos to pay "money" bated
on capitalized lands. This bank pre-
tended to have a epccio basis, and of
course failed as soon as it had put
enough of its notes in circulation to
satisfy the greed of Its projectors. The
failure of this bank, like all of Its kind,
enriched its owners, but robbed the
people, a thing a full legal tender pa-
per money, issued by an independent
state, colony or nation, never did.
In 1723 Pennsylvania issued full legal
tender paper money, and loaned it to
farmers on their lands, aa had beeu
done in Massachusetts.
Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiog-
raphy, says: "I remember well when
I first walked about the streets of Phil-
adelphia, eating my roll, I saw moat of
the houses of Walnut street, Second
street and Front street, with bills on
their doors 'to let?,' which made me
think that the inhabitants of the olty
were deserting It. Oar junta debates
posssessed mo so fully of the subject
that I wrote and printed an anonymous
pamphlet on 'The Nature and Neces-
sity of Paper Currency,' but the rich
men disliked it, for it increased as well
as strengthened the clamor for moro
money; and they happsned to have no
writer among them who was able to
answer it. Their opposition weakened
and the point was carried by a major-
ity in the legislature. The utility of
this currency became, by experience,
so evident as never to be much dis-
puted, so that the issue soon amounted
to $275,000, and by 17-J9 to $400,000,
finally to $1,75),000—trade, building
and inhabitants all the while increas'
lng." Again ho said in 1764, when in
Eagland, "that the paper 'money' of
Massachusetts. New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania was the chief cause
of their great increaso in settlements,
buildings, improvements, agriculture,
shipping and cammeroe."
Maryland issued paper money in
1733, North Carolina in 1727, Delaware
in 1739 and Virginia in 1755, though
Eogland had prohibited such issues in
1751, because "such phenominal colon-
ial growth in numbers and prosper"
would cause the colonists V
against the mother country."
lia was sent to E jgland in 17
test against this "great tyrf
he stated to the British
that before the issue of
the colonies were stripp3d of _
silver * * * that the introdSTj
of colonial money had given new
business, and promoted greatly
settlement and development of the
country.
On the whole, no method has hither-
to been framed to establish a medium
of trade in lieu of money ( :oln) equal
in all Us advantages to bills of credit,
founded on sufficient taxes for die-
oharing them, or land securities of
OoBtloosd on page &
i ■ i 'fiiaíÉiaáátfímÉf^-; ii&ritfftiitri
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Park, Milton. The Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 7, 1895, newspaper, February 7, 1895; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185598/m1/1/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .