Then I “rested.”
Then Jim Patrick got up and made a short speech, statin that “gold was God’s money;” that He had hidden it away in the vaults of nature for the use of mankind as money. He showed how Banker Vinting was a Christian and one of our leadin citizens, and all he asked the court to do was to inforce his contract agin Jobe Gaskins. He showed how all the bankers and bondholders and other money-lenders was in favor of gold and gold contracts; then he showed that it was dishonest for Gaskins to attempt to pay that interest in any other kind of money than gold as stipulated in the contract.
“It is in fact repudiation,” says he, and he made sich a fine argament for gold and agin other money that I put on my specks to make sure it was Jim Patrick, the same Jim what argyed so loud and long for paper money and agin gold the other day, in our case agin Billot for wheat money.
His argament was so fine and patriotic that I felt half ashamed for askin the court to make Banker Vinting take the same kind of money for interest as the law made Jobe take for wheat.
“He made such a fine argament for gold and agin other money.”
Well, arter Jim got done I riz up and stated that we was aware that the interest was due and unpaid; that I knowed the contract called for gold. I told the court how I kicked agin signin the mortgage last Aprile, when it was made, jist for the reason that it called for gold. I showed how it was the banker’s doins, and not ourn, that it called for gold. I told the court how Jobe and the others laughed at me and called me an anacrist and all sich names for refusin to sign a gold mortgage. Then I told him about havin to raise the money then to pay Congressman Richer to keep from bein foreclosed at that time, and about my succumbin to their ridicule and signin at last, hopin agin hope that in some strange way we might raise the gold and save our home.
I told the judge that I dident believe “gold was God’s money;” that I dident think God would make a metal to be used to turn people out of home with; that if it was made for any sich purpose it must a been the “other feller’s” doins.
I showed how government officers, through the influence of the rich people, had called in the paper money and burned it up; how they had issued bonds agin Jobe and his likes to git it to burn. I showed how the same men had demonitized silver and brought us to a “gold basis,” all of which had reduced prices, made money scarce and hard to git, and kept up interest. I showed him how sich laws had throwed people out of homes and turned all their earnins over to the money-lenders and sich.
I showed him how we had paid $3,800 toward our farm, and how, if he dident make the banker take Jobe’s wheat money, we would be sold out, and, at the low price land is sellin for, we would have nothin left in our old age.