ch by the fruits of their
toil. Yet these classes of society form the great body of the people of
the United States; they are the bone and sinew of the country--men who
love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws, and
who, moreover, hold the great mass of our national wealth, although it
is distributed in moderate amounts among the millions of freemen who
possess it. But with overwhelming numbers and wealth on their side they
are in constant danger of losing their fair influence in the Government,
and with difficulty maintain their just rights against the incessant
efforts daily made to encroach upon them. The mischief springs from the
power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which
they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with
exclusive privileges which they have succeeded in obtaining in the
different States, and which are employed altogether for their benefit;
and unless you become more watchful in your States and check this spirit
of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges you will in the end find
that the most important powers of Government have been given or bartered
away, and the control over your dearest interests has passed into the
hands of these corporations.

The paper-money system and its natural associations--monopoly and
exclusive privileges--have already struck their roots too deep in the
soil, and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth
and to eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire
to perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in
the General Government as well as in the States, and will seek by every
artifice to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves
that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuating
your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the
sovereignty of the country, and to you everyone placed in authority
is ultimately responsible. It is always in your power to see that the
wishes of the people are carried into faithful execution, and their
will, when once made known, must sooner or later be obeyed; and
while the people remain, as I trust they ever will, uncorrupted and
incorruptible, and continue watchful and jealous of their rights, the
Government is safe, and the cause of freedom will continue to triumph
over all its enemies.

But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part to rid