People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1896 — Page 4
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The Pilot. BY F. D. CRAIG, (Lessee.) PILOT PUBLISHING CO., (Limited,) Proprietors. David H. Yeoman, President. Wm. Washburn, Vice President. Lee E. Olazebrook. Sec’y. J. A. McFarland Treas. The People’s Pilot ;s the ofUcial organ of *ke Jasper and Newton County Alliances,and .• published every Thursday at ONE DOLLAR PER ANNUM entered as second class matter at the post office in Rensselaer. Ind.
National People’s Party Ticket
For President, WILLIAM J. BRYAN, of Nebraska. For Vice-President, f THOMAS E. WATSON, ' of Georgia. Indiana State People's Party Ticket Governor, REV. THOMAS WADE WORTH. Raglesvilie. Lieutenant-Governor, A. P. HANNA, Waveland. Secretary of State, N. M. JENNINGS, Franklin. Treasurer of State. F. J. S. ROBINSON. Cloverland. Attorney-General, D. H. FERNANDEZ. Anderson. Reporter of the Supreme Court. THOMAS FORCE. Loogootee. State Statistian, J. S. McKEVEVER. Third District. Superintendent of Public Instruction. J. B. FREEMAN. Gdy. Judges of the Appellate Court, • NELSON J. BOZARTH, Valparaiso; ADAM STOCKINGER, Versailles; I. I. PIERCE. Terre Haute; JOHN TORNBURG, Anderson.
Congressional Convention.
A convention of the Peoples Party of the tenth congressional district of Indiana is hereby called to meet in delegate convention at Monon. Ind., on Thursday, September 3, 1896, at eleven o'clock a. m., for the purpose of nominating a candidate for congress, and transacting any other business which may properly come before the convention. Said congressional convention to be composed of one delegate from each township and one additional delegate for each fifty votes cast for Dr. Robinson for secretary of state, which will entitle the several counties to representation as follows: Benton 12, Jasper 24, Lake 19, LaPorte 23, Newton 13, Porter 15, Tippe-, canoe 16. Warren 13, White 16. F. D. Craig, Chairman Central Committee P. P. 10th Congressional District of Indiana.
The State Convention.
The platform adopted at Indianapolis this week by the state convention of the peoples party will be published next week. It embraces the national platform adopted at St. Louis last week, with several state paragraphs added. The convention endorsed Bryan and Watson and telegraphed the fact to the Tennessee conyention which was in session at the same time. An excellent ticket was named for state officers and the party enters at- once upon a vigorous campaign. A committee was appointed by the state convention and clothed with special powers to place electors upon tho ticket and there is every reasen to believe that a harmonious arrangement will be made by which every patriot will be enabled to vote for Thomas E. Watson without dividing the total vote for that peerless re-
William J. Bryan.
former.
CLOUDS ROLLING BY.
TUe bow of promise is set in all its beauteous fainment in the fast clearing political sky; the straggle of the patriotic “old |ruard M to maintain the integrity of their organization has been successful and the great silver
cause that seemed to hang in th* balance has not jeopardized; divine inspiration is again radient in every line of the renewed declaration for human rights and by the grace of Providence the people of free America will marcti forward to such signal victory this fall as will place them far on the road to a complete realization of their fondest hopes. There met in St. Louis last week a mighty contending host that seemed, at one time, to be beyond th£ power of mortal man to harmonize; the prayers of a despairing nation were uttered for omnipotent aid and it seems that those prayers have been answered, for stubborn men have ceased to be deaf to the,appeal of their brothers, and they have reasoned upon the mighty matters at difference. The alliance which has been formed between populists and the silver forces for this campaign will be maintained; the power of British gohd will be unable to divide the masses of free citizens who demand with one vbice those reforms so fittingly represented by their chosen candidates, Bryan and Watson. The editor wof the Pilot has been so , busy during the past two weeks in attendance at the St. Louis convention and at the state convention in Indianapolis, that he has been unable to do justice to the work upon the paper. Now that the excitement of convention is over the real work of the campaign is on and the Pilot will be in the fight until the last ballot is cast in November and the already demoralized gold standard forces are utterly routed.
i'aper money bottom'*, d oh taxes is tlie safest and most convenient money for the people. The trouble with the democrats is that they are better reformers out ol office thap in office. The democratic party ha 3 attracted attention to itself chiefly by the blunts rs it has committed. A.jout the only enthusiasm in the old parties now is from the fellows who draw the salaries—or expect to. According to old party logic God 'r- J de the earth and the good thinsa idareof for a few human hogs to enjoy The constitution denies to the stateright to issue money. Then wh-‘■'’'-nld the privilege be granted to th banks? Have you the names of the populist who tried to steer the democratic co vention at Chicago? Put them dow for future reference. !_ The record of the derra-ratic p*- 1 H against free silver, and •hffir pr :i i es have been violated so often rlr v • y amount to nothing. V party that has thro vr. tp its o r'. amiscs eleven times c:n hardly is .rett Ihe populists toswallor- ;he p:or isf-3, party and all, at one gulp. The political pot boiled over a *:**.: at St. Louis— and it is ge'tir.g b - . f ’ r hp time, '"here’s s- --•- • - old party potatoes get bur-ej his % The gold power is n pulous, and wi!l hes!ts>- -- no b ■ continue its clutch upon the threat r labor. When you vote with eitl.-r party you vote with it. There is no longer anv doubt as - th° he’nr in f->vor of a ? ’ s*sndard. There is no Lincoln re” iilifanism in this. Now let the + rv<> re publicans come otv of that party. According to rep-V'ea- ’ • r""‘ , egf!y proper to print pn p « r to men to shoot other men, bit* i would be all wrong to p-‘nt it. to r>' for constgucting public highway. Nice logic, that! * Where is the democrat who said feu years ago that if his party got a chanto relieve the people and did not do i* he would never vote the ticket again? Most of them are ea’ing their word? and chewing a tree silver cud. The success of the anti-gold standard men would of course result in a panic, as Jackson’s veto of the United States bank bill did —tout that would only prove the power and unscrupplousness of the banks and the necessity ol their abolition. VWhen you hear a democrat trying to lay the blame on Cleveland for his party not passing a free silver measure Just remind him that a democratic congress never gave Cleveland a free colnage’blll to sign. That knocks the wind out of them. Besides that, the democratic party gave us Cleveland
THE PEOPLE'S PJLOT, RENSSELAER, IND.. THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1896.
THE CURSE OF USURY.
A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE SUBJECT. Tb« Qnaattoa Considered from « Bib Ileal, Literary and Historical Standpoint —No Place o n Earth Nor In Heavnn for Interest grabbers. Robinson’s Bible Encyclopedia defines the word thus: “Usury, a premium received for the loan of a sum of money, over and above the principal.” The Bible dictionary gives the same definition. Leviticus, xxv 36, says: “Take thou no usury of him, or increase, but fear thy God.” Here the Bible itEelf defines usury to be increase above the principal. Same chapter and 37th verse says: “Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.” It seems that Moses in writing this law foresaw that this word usury would some day be misunderstood or abused, so he took the precaution to define the word by using the words “or increase,” the same as a man speaking of the Christian church in a community where he was not certain the people would ]fnow his meaning, would say Christian or Campbellite church. Webster’s dictionary defines the word usury thus: First definition: “A premium paid or stipulated to be paid for the use of a sum of money lent, interest.” Second definition: “The practice of taking interest.” Third definition: “American Law, a premium or compensation stipulated to be paid for the use of money borrowed beyond the rate of interest established by law; Jllegal interest.” In making dictionaries the best definition of a word is always given first, second best next, and so on. Webster in defining the word usury placed the American law definition third on the list. We will here state that the American law dictionary is the only authority on earth that defines usury to be illegal interest. All other authorities on language in the world define the word to be interest in any amount, without recognizing any legal interest in it.
Lord Eacon, writing upon the subject of usury more than two hundred years ago, said:. ‘“Usury bringet.h the wealth of realm into few hands.' On this subject we find in the laws of Moses: Exodus, xxi, 25: “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” Leviticus xxv, 36 and 37: “Take thou no usury of him, nor increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.” Deuteronomy xxiii, 19 and 20: “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother: usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury.” Nehemiah, who was a man of God and a noble prince, while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, his people, whom he required to work upon the walls, became indeb’ed much after the fashion of today. He was so interested with the work of rebuilding the walls and the city that he took no notice of the condition of his people for a time: but after a few years they began to complain, much as the people are doing today. They said: “We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards and houses, that we might buy corn because of the dearth. Neither is it in our power to redeem them.” “We bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to'be servants.” Nehemiah v, 6,7, 10 and 11: “And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.” “Ye exact usury every one of his brothers. And I set a great assembly against them.” “I pray you leave off this usury, and restore I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards and their houses, also a hundredth part of the money, and of the corn and of the wine ye exact of them.” Nehemiah saw at a. glance the trouble with his people, and he knew the injustice and robbery of the mortgage and usury system, and he repudiated the whole business and compelled the usurers to return a part of their illgotten gain. Read the fifth chapter of Nehemiah. Psalms xv, the prophet David asked the Lord: “Who shall abide in the tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill, and the Lord answered:” “He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” Here we have the words of God that he who lives by taking interest from his fellow man shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ezekiel 8 and 9: “He that hath, not given forth upon usury, neither has taken increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true Judgment between man and man; He is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.” Same chapter, 12 and 13 verses: "He that hath oppressed-the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence: He that hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken Increase: Shall he then live? He shall not live. Ha hath done all of thoee abominations. He shall surely die." Here we have the moot soettlve.
dear and unmistakable language against usury. We have also the highest authority in the land establishing the fact that any increase above the principal is usury. There are many other passages condemning usury and the oppression of the poor, too numerous to quote, while there is only one that seems to in the least tolerate it. That is in Deuteronomy, where it says:: “Thou mayest lend to a stranger on usury.” “Stranger” in this case has been construed to mean foreigner or enemy. Robinson’s Bible Encyclopedia on this subject says: “In this place the Lord seems to tolerate usury toward strangers; that is the Canaranites and other ifeople devoted to subjection, but not toward such strangers against whom the Hebrews had no quarrel. To exact usury is here, according to Ambrose, an act of hostility; it was a kind of waging war with the Canaanites and ruining them by means of usury. The true inference seems to be that God did ip-deed tolerate, but not approve, the usury which the Hebrews received from the Canaanites. because it could not be entirely prevented. Our Savior, however, has revoked all such tolerations which obtained under the old law.” King Pompillius made his laws so rigorous against usury that men who lent money for interest were not allowed to testify in a court of justice. He did not consider them honest enough to give testimony in disputes between man and man; and when they died he did not allow them to be buried in the same graveyard with Christian people. King Henry 111 forbade his subjects to borrow money from foreign countries, because he knew it would enslave his kingdom to another power, and thus destroy his kingdom. It seems that the ancients understood the evil influences of usury much better than the people of today. The first law ever passed by any ruler giving any recognition of usury was passed by the English parliament in the year 1300. According to Rollins’ history in that year parliament passed a law substituting the word “interest” for the word “usury” and made it lawful under certain circumstances to take interest to a certain amount. Rollins says that the word interest was substituted for the word usury because the word usury was odious to the Christian world. From his statement of the transaction, and from our knowledge of the character of the Jew, we are thoroughly convinced that Jews bribed a portion of the English parliament to work that measure through to enable them to rob and enslave the people. The cunning device of changing the word was done to deceive the people and keep them from revolting against the law-makers. From that day to this the Christian world has ceased to oppose the evil of usury, because the odor was taken away from the onion by calling It a rose.
Goed Times.
Good times are not far ofT. Everything political points to their being very near at hand. In 1860, while commodities were not so low as now, labor was very much lower and there were as many out of employment. During that year parties broke up into fragments; thieves fell out, and laboring men soon after got their just dues. Slaveholding was beaten at the ballot box and then at the point of the bayonet. In 1861, in less than one year’s time, wages jumped from 50 cents and $1 per day to $3 and f 4 per day, add then the price remained until 1869. At this time the bondholder superseded the old slaveholder, and still rules the nation. In 1873 the bondholders demonetized silver, and as a result a panic followed and prices of commodities fell 70 per cent and wages dropped 60 per cent, and 3,000,000 of men were thrown out of employment. From 1869 until the present time both old parties have been in partnership, and have worked together in introducing every system to bear down the price of commodities and labor to the point reaohed before the war, and in that they have at last been successful. For twenty years these old parties have been shaking their fists at each other, each accusing the other, when in public, of being the thief; but as soon as the election was over and the curtain dropped they at once banquetted together upon the spoils. To-day the American people see through'this fraud and deception. They are mad through and through; they are resolute and determined. Already the old parties are breaking up as in 1860. Both these old frauds will be beaten at the ballot box. They will then fight as did the slaveholders, and thsy with their bondholding system will share the same fate as that which befell the slaveholder and the slave system, and once more the people will get control of government; then the people will issue their own money, as in 1861, and once more prices will go up to the point reaohed during the 60’s. 1 Had the slaveholders unloaded their slaves upon the government for money they would have saved their holdings. Now, in the face of the coming storm, let us see if the thieving bondholders will profit by the slaveholders’ experience. We will soon have good times again for the working people—Vermont Kicker. We presume that ihe reason the republicans expressed "sympathy" for morality at St. Louis, was because of thejf own shameful abuse of It. Morality certainly suffered.
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