GREENBACKS AND BONDS. 553 



States, chosen for two years, coming directly from the peo- 

 ple and directly responsible to them for their conduct, are 

 not to be trusted! But the bankers of the country, who are 

 not chosen by the people, or elected by them, are to be 

 trusted with the great 'power involving the happiness and 

 welfare of fifty millions of people, and their countless pos- 

 terity, without a murmur from the gentleman and with his 

 express approval. Let me repeat it again, so that the 

 American people may fully understand it. These bankers 

 are to be trusted, says the gentleman, in preference to the 

 people and their chosen representatives ! 



Is there no centralization, no Csesarism here? In the 

 name of public peace, in the name of honesty and fair 

 dealing, in the name of the laboring millions, who toil and 

 dig, and pay the taxes of the country, I invoke the soft 

 money Democrats of the United States, and the hundreds 

 of thousands of Republicans who have been long looking 

 in vain for economic reform within their party, to join 

 with us in a death grapple with this corporate monster. In 

 the name of the humble poor who struggle not for office, 

 and who simply want a fair chance in the race of life, I ask 

 you to give one vote for the Republic. Let there be no 

 dodging to-day, no hiding in the cloak room; you cannot 

 serve two masters. You cannot avoid the issue if you 

 would. It is vital, permeating all classes, and engaging 

 the attention of the people as never before in our history. 

 This is a supreme moment in the history of men and of 

 parties in this House. Reflect well before you vote. 



I ask the Congress of the American people to stand up 

 and assert with Thomas Jefferson that the issue of the cir- 

 culating medium should be taken away from the banks 

 and restored to the government, to which it properly 

 belongs. [Applause.] I ask my Democratic friends to 

 stand where Jackson stood when he said in his farewell 

 address that the banks could not be relied upon to keep the 



87 



