248 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
gress which is arranging these things for us, so far as I can judge, 
and to suit their own convenience and interest. 
Mr. Dwight: It seems to me that the difficulty with this inter¬ 
convertible scheme is, that the interest is not high enough. I sus¬ 
pect if the interest was seven, eight, or ten per cent., all the bank¬ 
ers would be in favor of it immediately. This currency that could 
carry this country through the great rebellion, the greatest known 
in history, should certainly be able to run it in a time of peace. 
Can a people be said to be free whose currency is dictated by pri¬ 
vate individuals, by Wall-Street roarers, by caucuses packed by of¬ 
ficials, links of the same sausage, from the same dog, from Wash¬ 
ington to Madison? It is my misfortune to be related to wealthy 
persons on both sides of the house, and they are not any of them 
farmers. I have talked with these gentlemen. They are deter¬ 
mined on specie payment. They say if you western men are lame 
we are sorry for it; you have no business to be lame. You should 
have lived within your means, and you would not be in this un¬ 
happy condition. We are determined to know whether specie pay¬ 
ment will come. I have no doubt that it will come, and I have no 
doubt that the Potter-law will be repealed because of the influence 
of these men. The question is whether wealthy bankers, and a few 
other men, are to govern the people of the United States. We had 
better hold on, hold what we have, for that is about all that we will 
get at present, for the whole money-interest of the country is ar¬ 
rayed against you, and it is a power that controls Washington to¬ 
day, and that controls Madison. It is my opinion that you had 
better hold what you have, and not try to get any more at present. 
Put off specie payment for a little longer. The banks in Wiscon¬ 
sin have loaned to the farmers the rag-baby, and now they want 
the golden-baby. They have loaned to you a depreciated currency, 
and now they want a gold currency. Is it fair to say that gold is 
as fair a standard as the yard-stick? All bargains are compromises. 
There is no such thing as a fixed standard of gold; for it measures 
a bushel of wheat one day and three pecks the next. The yard¬ 
stick is thirty-six inches, no more nor less. I never heard a man 
go into a store and say, I want thirty-five inches of cloth. We 
want more currency than any other people in the world to do our 
business. Look at our large domains, how much is being cleared 
up, and fenced. The government-sells four and one-half and five 
