Dakota farmers' leader., February 05, 1891, Image 3

About Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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WEALTH.
{A PARTIAL. LIST OP AMERICA'S
MILLIONAIRES.
Tile 1'oIIoy or Fooling Issues to Rob the.
People Has Gone on Long Euougli—
TVlao StateHmanshtp Needed—A Subject
to Think Over*
The following is a partial list of the
millionaires of the United States:
John D. Rockefeller $125,000,000
William Waldorf Astor... 125,000,000
A Jay Gould 100,000,000
Cornelius Vanderbilt 80,000.000
JWiMam Iv. Vanderbilt 75,000,000
Oollis P. Huatlugton 40,000,000
Bussell Sage 35.000,000
John I. Blair 30,000,000
William Rockefeller 30,000,000
Iceland Stanford 30,000,000
Jsftis. Hetty Green 30,000.000
^••william Astor 30,000,000
^jPirius O. Mills 25,000,000
I'Ulip D. Armour 25,000,000
Mrs. Mark Hopkins 25,000,000
Charles Crocker estate 25,000,000
Henry Hilton 20,000,000
E. 8. Hlgglus estate 20,000,000
George Westinghouse, jr 15,000,000
Anthony J. Droxel 15,000,000
J. Pierpont Morgan 15,000,000
Andrew Carnegie 15,000,000
Oliver H. Payne .15,000,000
FrederickIV. Vanderbilt.. 15,000.000
George W. Vanderbilt 15,000,000
Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard 12,000,000
Mrs. William D. Sloan 12,000,000
Mrs. Hamilton McK. Twombly.. 12,000,000
Mrs! W. Seward Webb 12,000,000
George M. Pullman A.... 12,000,000
John W. Mackay 10,000,000
Uobert Goelot 10,000,000
Ogden Goelet 10,000,000
Percy R. Pyne 10,000,000
Mrs. Moses Taylor 10,000,000
David Dow estate 8,000,000
James G. lfair 8,000,000
Weld estate (Philadelphia) 8.000,000
Miss Mary Garret. 8,000.000
Robert Garret.. 8,000,000
John T. Martin 8,000,000
Amos B. Eno 8,000,000
Cheodore llavtmeyer 8,000,000
|jes estate (Providence) 8,000,000
'-•JIMjfown estate (Providence) 8,000,000
tfiilry A. Taylor 0,000,000
Mis. Robert Winthrop 6,000,000
Z. Letter. 5,000,000
Marshall Field 5,000,000
William X. Scott 5,000,000
•George Bliss 5,000,000
James M. Coiisteble 5,000,000
H. H. Cook 5,000,000
Mrs. R. It. Stewart 5,000,000
Mrs. Bradley Martin 5,000,000
Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes 5,000,000
Henry G. Marquand 5,000,000
Henry Hart 5,000,000
Edward Cooper 5,000,000
Abram S. Hewitt... 5,000,000
WiJUam Stein way 5,000,000
George Eliret 5,000,000
Jacob Ruppprt 5,000,000
George J. Would 5,000,000
A(ldi£eri Canintaek 5,000,000
Afirikn Isolin -5,000,000
Henry Clews...-.... 5,000,000
Mme. de Barrios 5,000,000
John II. Inman 5,000,000
R.T.Wilson 5,000,000
E. D. Morgan 5,000,000
James M. Brown estate 5,000,000
11. Heber Bishop 5,000,000
Thomas Garner estate 5,000,000
J&jjia'.n E. Dodge 5,000,000
'litis James 5,000,000
John C. Green. 5,000,000
V. A.^SLow 5,000,000
(!i0rge W. Childs .... 5,000,000
John Wanamaker. .' 5,000,000
Gen. Samuel Thomas '5,000,000
Jfred L. Ames 5,000,000
Oliver Ames -5,000,000
Beniamin P. Hutchinson 5,000,000
Charles L. Tiffany 5,000,000
Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt.... -5,000,000
Levi P. Morton. 5,000,000
August Belmont estate 5,000,000
James B. Colgate 5,000,000
Jolra it. Trevor 5,000,000
.Eugeno Kelly 5,000,000
AVm. Rhinelauder 5,000.000
H. O. Havemeyer 5,000,000
Austin Corbin 5,000,000
Robert. Bonner 5,000,000
Bayard and Robert L. Cutting.. 5.000,000
James and Townsend Burden... 5,000,000
Edward Shermerhorn 5,000,000
S. N. L. Griswold 5,000,000
Wilson. G. Hunt 5,000,000
Mrs. Josephine Ayer 5,000,000
i'liiueas f. Barnum 5,000,000
David W. Bishop 5,000,000
Henry A. Oram 5,000,000
Samuel Sloan 5,0(j0,000
William l'eabcdy Wetmoro..... 5,000,000
El bridge T. Gerry 5,000,000
Robert L. hivingstou 5,000,000
Jesse Seligman 5,000,000
William Seligman 5,000,000
Sidney Dillon 5,000,000
E. S. Jaffray 5.000,000
John Olafitin 5,000,000
Mrs. Edward Stevens 5,000,000
lie Grand B. Cannon 5,000,000
ffm. C. Scberinerhoiu •. 5,000.000
'SKV Chides Hoffman 5,000,000
Hoffman 5,000,000
Sums K. Jessup 5,000,000
James M. Waterbury 5,000,000
Paran Stevens estate 5,000,000
Abraham R. Van Nest estato... 5,000,000
The above list is given as it appeared
in the New York World a few days ago.
The one, two and three millionaires are
not mentioned, only those who are
known to possess upwards of $5,100,000
are included in the number. Beginning
with the man who possesses $135,000,000
the list tapers gradually down to $5,000,
000 owners. Therev are 133 names on
the list, and their total wealth foots up
the sum of $1,553,000,000. About thirty
years ago the old Drake well was tapped
in western Pennsylvania and the oil de
posits began to empty themselves into
the laps of the owners of the farms in
that section. Thousands were benefited
by the discovery of coal oil, and utilized
it.soon earned the title of "The Poor
Man's Light." Soon after that, a sharp,
shrewd business man, who kept store in
Cleveland, O., opened up a re
finery, then a barrel factory,
and immediately after the
monopoly of oil began. Once the oil
went to the world from many hands and
competition made it cheap. The Stand
ard Oil company was formed, -and com
petition, except among those who barn
the oil, is dead. To-day the consumer
otpll pays just what the Standard com
lflvf demands. About, sixty years ago
Sfbld wagon roads of the land lost in
terest for the people, and in their stead
the railroad began its triumphal march
across the mountains, valleys and plains.
Then the government became interested,
and gave, with a lavish hand, of the re
sources of the people until the railways
were placed on a sound basis financially
and otherwise. Soon after the govern
ment gave its millions of dollars, and
millions of acres of land, to the rail
roads the watering of stocks began.
Those who owned the fictitious
stocks outnumbered the representa
tives of the people and voted the
railways into other hands than those
over whom the government had control.
Then the pooling of issues, the wrecking
of railroads,'the robbing of stockholders,
the wholesale cheating of the gorern
ment Mid every other device known to
the rogue began. The many stock
holders offered up their possessions to
the few, and to-day we havfe the man
with 9100,000,000 dictating to the entire
-vilway management of the United
v*tes
what it shall levy In tribute on
the people whose money and lands wore
taken toconstruct the railroads. Frank
lin and Morse bottled what the Indians
onco called "God's wratli." Wires were
strung from place to place to carry the
news. The government of the United
States gave its aid, put up the first tele
graph line and set it in motion. It then
surrendered the rights and franchises of
the people to private concerns, and to
day the entire telegraph service of the
United States is practically owned, and
absolutely controlled, by the same man
whose ukase decides what the railroads
shall carry and what they shall sidetrack.
The lands of Now York city and vicinity
were not always so valuable as now, but
the older Astor became possessed of vast
tracts of land in that neighborhood, and
when the population increased the value
of the lands kept pace with its growth.
Other investments judiciously husbanded
made up the fortune of the man who to
day owns the second $185,000,000 on the
list. Hero are three illustrations which
demonstrate that the bounties of nature
are worth something to the shrewd specu
lator. The oil that for centuries lay be
neath the surface of the earth, the elec
tric influence now under scientific con
trol for the use of the human family, and
the surface of the earth itself are all
made ta yield revenue' to three men
who did nothing to create the earth or to
people its surface, and who depend upon
the labor of the masses to cnhance the
value of their possessions. When Knights
of Labor call attention to the evils of the
systems that make monopoly possible in
land and its treasures they are scoffed at,
but a
4
moment's serious reflection will
sluw that the 122 persons who own
$1,552,000,000 worth of the resources of
this nation have it in their power at any
time to turn enough of their possessions,
into cash and withdraw from circulation
the greater part of the floating currency
of the United Statos. The three who
head that list may decide at a moment's
notice to bankrupt the nation, and if
they so decide they have it at the option
of their own sweet wills to shut down
the railroads or turn them agafnst the
government. They may use the only
telegraph service we have against us,
and may dispossess hundreds of thous
ands of men, women and children who
now live on mortgaged lands. The
American Federation of Labor lays claim
to a membership of over 600,000. The
announcement inspires a hope, in the
breasts of thooe affiliated with that
organization, that it will be able to rem
edy many of the ills they bear, and we
hope thiA their wishes may .become verit
able realities but wo know that their
united strength, thrown in the scale in
favor of the United States government,
would not preserve it if John D. Rocke
feller, William Waldorf Astor, Jay
Gould and Cornelius, Vanderbilt should
come together and decide to hand the
reins of government over to the czar of
Russia. These four men can do it
throu'gh tho wealth they possess, and so
proud, so independent and progressive a
people as we call ourselves should bo
ashamed to acknowledge such masters.
Are we aiarmists for pointing this out to
the people? We simply stato a fact, and
in doing so ask in all candor how the
trade- unions of the land propose to reg
ulate their wages and hours of labor
when the majority of their employers
are as much in Dower of these dictators
as they are themselves. Think it over,
brothers everywhere, and tell us if an
advanco in wages only will remedy the
evils-wo have pointed out.—Journal of
the Knights of Labor.
USURY.
Usury, or high interest, has been .con
demned from time immemorial. Tho
Jewish lawgivers and prophets were par
ticularly severe in their denunciation of
usurers. It has been shown from a study
of history that tho exaction of high rates
of interest contributed largely to tho
downfall of nations. When it is consid
ered that money produces nothing what
ever, that it does not feed, clothe, house
or supply anything that the human fam
ily cannot do without, it is easy to see
how it may be made a parasite with
which to suclc the life blood of society.
The man who pays interest is drawing
upon his brain or muscle, or past ac
cumulations. In either case it tends to
exhaustion. What goes out in interest
gives no return.
It is claimed by money lenders that
money is a commodity, as horses or
wheat, and the rate of interest should
bo governed by the law of supply and
demand. The as'sumption is incorrect.
Congress alone can crcato money. There
is no competition, no matter how great
the demand. There is but one source
of supply. Every family in the nation
may want money and not have tho power
to create a cent. The supply may be in
adequate. It is inadequate. The mo
nopoly of money power and money, by
congress, has created a money famino.
Tons of thousands of homes are en
cumbered because of money famine.
Interest must be paid, or all is lost. A
small draiu is bad enough how much
worse a large drain. The people are
asking in no uncertain tones, for relief.
One of the ways in which it can come is
in lower rates of interest. If congress
will not loan to the people at low rates
of interest, then the law should be that
those who have money should not be per
mitted to exact high rates of interest.—
Oarnett (Kan.) Agitator.
CATTLE IN THE CORN.
facta Are What Burt—G. O. P. Editors oa
a Uho*t Dance Labor Commissioner
Sovereign Stirs Up the Animals.
During the past week the callers at
the labor commissioners' office havAeen
numerous, occasioned by the recently
published reports that corn had been
raised during the last five years in Iowa
at a loss. No sooner had the statements
fallen from the lips of Gov. Boies in
New York and heralded over the coun
try than the Register, Sioux City Jour
nal and scores of lesser lights pounced
upon the governor and the labor com
missioner with that fierceness that would
indicate that the work of crushing them
would be bat a day. They somehow for
got that the figures were those of the
farmers themselves, and they know what
they are talking about. It is amusing
in the extreme to see them flounder, now
that the real evidence, so overwhelming,
has been made public, which gives the
average cost of producing and markets
ing an acie of corn to be $10.67. This
result is ascertained from reports from
nearly 1,000 farmers from every part of
Iowa, and is going to waken an interest
among all classes that will be nation
wide in its effects.
When Mr. Sovereign entered upon his
duties as labor commissioner, he did so
with a purely non-partisan ambition.
The work of gathering correct statistics
is far above partisanism. The following
from his first circular sent out to the
alliances. Knights of Labor, labor
unions, granges, etc., reveals the plans
which he adopted, and to which prompt
and multifarious replies came:
To secure a sufficient corps of voluntary
correspondents, representing the various
industries of Iowa, who are thoroughly
competent and reliable, is no little task. I
therefore appeal to the various labor or
ganizations of tho stato for assistance, and
I humbly ask you to select such corre
spondents to this bureau,
as you desiro to
represent your interests. In making these
selections, two important qualifications
should always be considered:
X. The correspondents should be compe
teut to collect tho desired information.
2. They should be persons who will not
permit their enthusiasm or their preju
dices to sway them from tho truth. Labor
is justly entitled to tho truth and it has a
right to expect tho truth from this depart
ment. So long as I am at the head of this
bureau It shall bo strictly non-partisan.
Please discuss this matter at tho
meetings of your industrial or
ganizations, and as early as possible
send to this office the name or
names and address of persons to whom I
may send blanks, with assuranco that wlxon
they are filled and returued to this office
they will contain a truthful and impartial
statement.
What is most desired at present are tho
facts, without regard to our personal theo
ries or political proferment. It is not the
wish of your commissioner of labor sta
tistics to report a collection of oj)inions,
but to make a compilation of actual condi
tions.
If an Iowa farmer can produco corn and
market it at an average price of 30 cents
per bushel, and save money each day, the
world should know it. If a laborer can re
spectably feed, clothe and shelter his fam
ily, and educate his childreu, with wages
rangiug from SI to 51.50 per day, the whole
world ought to know it. These' and a vast
number of other important questions, will
command my most earnest attention. And.
if I succeed in obtaining a few reliable
correspondents in each county in the state,
I may bo able to render a report which will
run the gauntlet of public scrutiny without
just criticism or impeachment.
He followed the above circular with
another from which we take the follow
ing extract:
I will also send this blank to other recom
mended correspondents, as most of them
are so situated as to consult farmers in an
swering the questions herein contained.
Hie conditions of indolent and lazy farmers
sfcail not be considered in formulating an
answer to any question I have asked. I
mention this hero because it is charged that
only lazy farmers are not prosperous, while
iny observation convinces me that it is only
by the shrewdest possible labor that any
are paying taxes and actual expenses of
farming.
The name of no correspondent will be
given to thejpublic, and therefore neither
tne pride nor the modosty of 'any should
influonce them to
give their answers a color
ing not warranted by facts. Thanking tho
Farmers' alliance of Iowa for their generous
contribution of tho names of selected cor
respondents and all other Industrial organ
izations in Iowa for the prompt and liberal
aid given me in this work, I remain your
obedient servant.
J. R. SOVEREIGN, Commissioner.
It will be observed that the instruc
tions and recommendations contained in
these reports are far from any partisan
motives. None could state the matter
more patriotically. These reports are
from the best farmers of our state, and
a largo per cent, of them are from alli
ances or were submitted to them, and by
them approved before they were sent
to the commissioner. Wo have room to
give only a small portion of the reports,
but they are sufficient to convince all
who are convincible.— Des Moines (la)
Tribune.
WHY BANKS DON'T WANTCOLD.
"Do you know that gold is tho most
unwieldy of all the different kinds of
money now in circulation?" said a prom
inent banker to a correspondent of the
Indianapolis Journal.
"Why?" was asked.
"Because it ts not bankable without
careful scrutiny."
"How is that?"
"Simply this. Talco a greenback, a
silyer certificate, a gold certificate, or a
national bank note to yohr bank and it
is receivod and placed to your crcdit
without a moment's delay. Not so with
gold. A few days ago a gentlemen
brought to our bank upward of $3,000
of gold of different denominations and
was much provoked because wo would
not receive it forthwith and give him
credit with the amount the face of the
coin represented. This wo could not do,
because the law requires that gold shall
be redeemed only at its actual value.
Coins carried in the pockets for
any length of time naturally lose
something in weight by abrasion,
probably but a fractional part
of a cent on a ten dollar piece, but itjis
a loss, nevertheless, and therefore bank
ers cannot give crcdit for gold deposits
until the coins shall have been weighed.
In the case in point my friend .took
his gold to the treasury department and
was compelled to wait there nearly an
hour before ho could get notes for it.
Every coin had to bdr passed through
the scales, and after the weighing pro
cess had boon completed three coins,
two $5 pieccs and one $10 piece,
were returned to him as short
in weight. Before returning short
weight coins the department stamps on
tho face of each a cross. The owner is
left cither to send the coin to the United
States mint for redemption or to again
put them in ciieulation. Eventually the
coins with crosses on their faces will go
to the mint and be redeemed at their ac
tual value. In many instances there
may not be more than several cents
shortage on $50 worth of coin. Busi
ness men, however, object to the incon
venience, and get rid of their gold as fast
as possible."—JFarmers' Voice.
JAY GOULD is rapidly consolidating all
the railroads of the country under one
management. Unconsciously he is
doing the country a great service. When
he has succeeded in robbing everybody
else, the people will have but little
scruple about giving him a dose of his
own medicine, and confiscating the
whole railroad system under the right of
eminent domain.—Winfield (Kan:) Non
conformist.
aoir WIT COMEST
"Weren't you surprised to find." said Joe,
"Miss Sallie Boyne so witty?
She has the dullest face I know
Of any In the city."
"Not In the least," quoth Tom, "for It
Quite definitely tallies
With my experience, that wit
Oft comes little Sallies."
—Boston Courier.
Domestic Economy.
Young Mrs. Fitts—"Do you remember
the nice little luncheons we used to have?
But you never treat me to one now."
Mr. Fitts—"But I am so busy,- I
hardly have the time. I am willing to
give you the money, though, anytime
you wish to give yourself a treat."
Mrs. Fitts—"Yes, I know that. But
you see when I have the actual money
for myself, somehow I never feel as if 1
could afford just what I'd like.''—Indianr
apolis Journal.
GOVERNMENT LOANS.
LELAityp STANFORD'S SHEECH
IN l^HE SENATE ON HIS BILL.
Money ^Exists, Not by Nature, but by Law—
The 'Government Reserves the ltleht to
IssurfnjHoney, and Its Duty Is to Vurnitili
Whales Necessnry to tle Prosperity of
the People.
From the Congressional Kecord—Part of
senate proceedings of Dec. 1!), 1-800.
Mr. Jptanford-^Mr. President, the bill
I intrc&luced a few days ago and that I
propose now briefly to consider, is
substantially the same bill introduced
by me May 23 of this year. I havo
not very much to add to what was said
upon the subject on a former occasion,
but I find that the bill has been very
imperfectly understood even in this
chamber.
The subject it proposes to deal with is
a very important one and, if the bill is
correct in principle, is calculated to
affect in a most substantial manner the
general interests of tho country. Money
is the most important factor in the busi
ness relations of tho country and the
exchange of commodities, except pro
duction itself to which it is essential.
Gold and silver are used as material
in the manufacture of money through
out the civilized world, so much that
there is confusion in idea between their
value as metals and their value as coin
age, and they are sometimes regarded as
money itself. There is a limit to the
quantity of those metals, and the
amount cannot be increased by any ef
fort on the part of- the government.
Thus the government, confined to
these metals, is unable to supply money
for general circulation except as individ
uals may from time to time furnish metal
and ask its coinage. In consequence,
whatever may bo the want of money,
the government is unablo to take the
initiative and supply it. For the gov
ernment to confine itself in the coinage
of money to a material outside of its
control and limited in quantity, seems to
me clearly to be a great mistake which
cannot be too soon corrected. The gov
ernment reserves to itself the right to
make money it is therefore its correla
tive duty to furnish an ample supply.
Money is entirely the creature of the
law, and is valuable according as the
government may desire it, within its
own jurisdiction. Gold, silver or any
other metals used as money are legal
tender within the jurisdiction of tho
government that stamps the metal. Out
side, whatever may be its material,
money ceases to be money, and if it has
any value at ail it is simply as material
that may be useful to mankind in vari
ous ways.
The fact that the stamp makes the
money has been recognized since the day
of Aristotle, who said that money ex
isted not by nature, but by law. On the
testimony of Thomas Baring (as ap
pears in an article on money'in tho
American cyclopedia) it was found im
possible during the crisis of 1847 in Lon
don to raise any money whatever on a
sum of £60,000 pounds of silver, and in
1864, in Calcutta, during a similar crisis,
it was impossible to raise a rupee on
£20,000 of gold.
In England silver was not a legal
tender for any amount above 40 shillings,
while Calcutta gold was not a legal tender
for any sum at all. Tho same authority
informs us that in 1855 Holland adopted
silver as the only legal tender as a fixed
value, but attempting to coin gold hav
ing no legal tender value, the value of
the coins being regulated by tho market
price for gold from day to day. After
200,000 florins of gold had been coined
the demand entirely ceased, for the want
of legal tender quality.
At different times many things have
been used as money. Cattle served as
such in ancient Greece and Borne. The
Bomans used wood, leather and tin as
well the Greeks have used iron in India
at this time cowrie shells are Current
coin, and in Africa we know that cocoa
nuts, beads, cotton plants, etc., pass as
currency. The importance of money,
whatever it may be or in whatever
shape, in the transactions of the civilized
world cannot be over-estimated. On a
sufficiency of money depend very largely
the industries of the country. An illus
tration of its importance is to be found
in the present depressed financial condi
tion.
Never was there so great an accumu
lation of wealth as now, never was the
country more prosperous yet, owing to
the want of money, upon a slight dis
turbance of credit there is distress all
over the land. Business is affected, and
so general is the uneasiness and appre
hension that money which ought to be
in circulation is being. hoarded. Credit
is shaken to such an extent that the de
mand for money is continually on the
increase, and there appears to bo no
power anywhere to furnish tho necessary
amount. Eyen upon the best securities
money can oi*ly be obtained upon call.
The distress consequent upon this con
dition of affairs is general throughout
the land, and this in the face of inex
haustible supplies of perfect securities.
The bill I am now considering pro
poses to put the government into a con
dition to issue a supply of money equal
substantially to the general demand,
and to erect a standard by which the
government may determine up to a use
ful value of 2 per cent., what is the
amount needed. This has never been
attempted by any government. The
money (legal tender notes) will be issued
under the provisions of this bill upon
unimpeachable and practically inexhaus
tible security, and its supply is ascer
tained and determined by the rate which
the borrower can afford to pay.
Two per cent, is the amount to be paid
to the government tor the loan of its
money, and so long as the money is
worth more than 2 per cent, the security
being practically inexhaustible, money,
will always be borrowed from theA gov
ernment, and thus the government
will be Able to discharge its
duty and supply the general
want. As borrowed money is not ex
pected to lie idle but to be used, it goes
into general circulation to supply the
needs of business, and its abundance
stimulates not only the larger but the
smaller enterprises and industries on
which so largely depends the steady em
ployment of labor with its natural conse
quence, general prosperity.
The importance of the government
putting its stamp upon a material inex
haustible is best appreciated by consid
ering the vast volume of the internal
business of the country, and the fre
quency of exchange as compared with
the foreign business, whose volume is
easily ascertained and is mainly settled
by the products of the country, only a
•mall percentage of foreign business be
ing transacted through the medium of
(Old and silver.
£utside the jurisdiction of this conn-
try our coins, gold and silver, are but
commodities, as wheat and other
products, which wo send abroad. For
our gold and silver money is not sent
abroad as legal tender, but as a
commodity which will be thrown into
the scales and weighed just as wheat,
corn, beef, mutton, or any other prod
uct. But even if our coined gold and
silver were a legal tender in foreign
countries, compared with the amount
needed for our home transactions, or
even to tho agricultural and other prod
ucts which we send abroad, it would be
comparatively insignificant.
The matter of immediate and over
shadowing importance to us is to supply
our own industrial wants. For this
purpose we must have more money,
money based upon perfect and unlimited
security.
Henry Clay said:
"Anything the government will re
ceive in payment for public dues is
money, no matter what its form may be."
No government can afford to issue
money except upon a valuable consider
ation. The value of government paper
is its quality as legal tender, and the
proposed bill would strengthen this pa
per (if the credit of a government of 65,
000,000 of people., with all our vast re
sources, is not perfect) by the particular
security which tho government would
hold for its return at tho expiration of
the time fixed by the loan.
The principle of our government loan
ing money is fully established by the ad
vance it now makes upon its own bonds,
which, while entirely good as between
the banker and tho government, does not
strengthen the security of the bill holder,
which rests at last upon the authority of
the government. Bank of England notes
are at par and sometimes above par in
almost every part of Europe, yet the
Bank of England is a private" institution
owned by individuals, and its bills
are not national (and, of course, are not
legal tender outside of Great Britain).
A £5 Bank of England note is as valu
able in any part of Europe as £5 in gold
coin, yet a Bank of England note can
not bo as good as would be a note issued
by the government, for the reason that
a part can never be equal to the whole.
That there is something radically
wrong in the present system of finances
of all countries is evinced by the fact
that governments-jjj-practically the own
ers of all a nation's property, possessing
the right of taxation and sustained by
the entire people—constantly borrow
money from their private citizens to
supply their wants.
It is true that during our last war
government papers fell below par value
of gold, but that is an extreme case to
quote, as the war threatened tho stabil
ity of the government itself moreover,
government discriminated against its
own paper by refusing to accept it as a
legal tender, thus first discrediting it by
establishing a distinction between two
kinds of money that bore its stamp.
I remember while I was governor of
California, in 1863, the legislature passed
what was known as the specific-contract
act, which provided that parties might
specify between themselves what kind of
money they would receive in payment of
debts. I wrote a message vetoing the
bill, taking the general ground that it
was our duty to support our government
in its extremity, and that one of the
ways to do this was to take its money at
par and pay it out accordingly but be
fore my message went to the legislature
the news came that the government was
discriminating between its paper and
gold in paying its employes at the navy
yard at Mare island.
I realized at onco that if the govern
ment was thus discriminating it was use
less for me to attempt to sustain its
paper money. I accordingly tore up my
veto message and signed the bill, which
was In itself fair as between individuals,
as it provided only for carrying out a
contract according to agreement. When
at this time we needed gold for purchases
abroad I believed, and believe still, that
the government could, by issuing its
bonds for gold needed, havo maintained
its paper at par within its own jurisdic
tion.
The scheme of this bill is to supply an
ample amount of money for all business
purposes. I have mentioned lands as se
curity because they appear to be the
best and most certain of all security,
and are sufficient to furnish all the
money that is needed. The people, I
think, will have more confidence in a
financial measure that is new and radi
cal if it has at present land only for a
basis.
Tho rate of interest on these loans on
real estate is fixed at 2 per cent., in the
bill, but in time may be reduced as ex
perience shall teach. As I have re
marked on a former occasion, money
should only be considered as an import
ant tool in the production and exchange
of commodities. It is a tool universally
needed, and has no other value except
as a commodity, and the latter has noth
ing to do with its money value. Fortu
nate indeed area people who have an
unbounded supply of such imperishable
security. Tho power of money is only
to be measured by the extent to which
it is used to the extent of tho credit
given on property the value becomes
energized as illustrated in the govern
ment on its own bonds.
Ono hundred thousand dollars in
United States bonds are worth to the
owner in his vault and to the owner only,
say, $4,000 per annum, the interest they
bear, but when the owner receives the
90 per cent, of the money in legal tender
the latent force is energized and the
$90,000 in its activity may create in a
single year a value equal to the entire
amount advanced. The same energy can
be imparted to the latent value of the
land by a loan, as in the case of a loan
upon bonds. Money is only valuable in
its activities, and to the extent that it is
in activity there will bo production and
corresponding benefits to the laboring
classes, who, after all, are the great mul
titude of our people, and as such they
involve the greatest economic consider
ations.
To illustrate how far the activities
may determine the values, suppose A
borrows $100 one year at 6 per cent., and
employs 100 men to work at $1 per day.
With the sum of $100 he is able to em
ploy them one day. If he can
convert the product of their
labor into cash at the close of the day,
he can employ them the 'next day, and
so on for every workday in the year.
The $G interest on the money in the
presence of such activity becomes incon
sequent.
The rate of interest charged by the
government under the provisions of this
bill will not necessarily fix the general
rate of interest for business purposes.
That will always bo determined by its
value in use. The farmer having this
best security will borrow for his own
use, or the use of others who may be
willing to pay him a satisfactory inter
est. The banker borrows monev of the
'^-''-.^ '^t-.. ••'vif.^
•'•..•••.•:' ••'•••, .-•• :.'^ v* '.'••'/•/
government free of interest, and loans
it at such rates as its use commands in
tho market.
This measure has been compared to a
plan adopted in the Argentine republic!
for loans on lands, but there is no anal
ogy between the two, and to compare
the working of a measure of that repub
lic of, say, 5,000,000 population to that
of our country with its enlightened 02,
000,000 would be like comparing the
methods of some irresponsible banker to
those of the Bothschilds.
So far as I have been able to ascertain
the h^tory of this Argentine land loan
is substantially as follows:
Somo years ago the Argentine govern
ment conceived the plan of raising real
estate values by what might not inaptly
be called "booming." The better to
effect this it authorized two banks,
called the National and Provincial banks,
to issue a species of land bond callcd
cedula, or certificate. These bonds wore
issued in return for land mortgages of
50 per cent, on appraised value of tho
land. The mortgager received no cash
for his mortgage, simply the bond of the
bank, which he then had to negotiato on
the street for what it would fetch. The
borids'bore 8 per cent, interest in paper,
and mortgage was redeemable at, the
bank on presentation of bonds for tho
same amount. About $400,000 worth of
these ccdulas were issued.
The difference between this scheme
and tho plan embraced by the bill under
consideration is so wide and marked that
I need hardly point it out. The cedula
system provides for no increase of
money. The bank was merely author
ized to give a bond, and the bond was
exchanged for a certain amount of money
already in circulation.
I shall not at this time consider tho
details of this bill. The machinery for
putting it in operation can best be deter
mined by experience.
But the bill provides how it may be
put into operation with safety to the
government.
The amount needed will be determined
by the uses to which money can be put
at a profit of above 2 per cent. Should
the value of money for use under any
circumstances fall below 2 per cent., iit
that c» se the money would bo restored
to the government and tho mortgages
released, until the money could readily
command 2 per cent.
So far as I can ascertain no govern
ment has ever attempted to furnish an
adequate supply of money, or establish
any standard by which its wants could
be ascertained.
This bill fixes a standard for the
amount so long as money can be used at
more than 2 per cent, per annum. The
ability of the government to make
money unlimited upon good security,
and the lauded security of the govern
ment being substantially unlimited, the
real wants and necessities of the people
can be determined and met.
The foundation of the whole matter
and the real question to be considered is
that inasmuch as the government re
serves the right to issue money, it is its
duty, tho means being provided, to furn
ish what is necessary to the prosperity
of the people.
"THE FIAT DELUSION.'
We have received from our friend,
Rev. A.' H. Blackmer, of Peoria, a
clipped article under the above title, in
which we find the following sentence:
"No paper promise to pay, whether
issued by a man, a corporation or a gov
ernment, can be worth any more to the
holder than the value of what he is en
titled to get in exchange for it."
The above is true, and in saying it the
writer gives away his case entirely. If
the promise was to pay gold it would be
worth the amount of gold promised.
Tho gold would then be worth what the
government had enacted it should bo
legal tender for—no more, no less. If
tho "promise to pay" was by law a legal
tender for a certain number of dollars,
it would exchange for that number
of dollars, or it would liquidate
debt tQ that amount—that is "exchange
for" the obligations of its holder to that
amount. Thus, under the eperation of
the "fiat delusion" a silver dollar worth
intrinsically only 85 cents exchanges for
a gold dollar worth intrinsically 100
cents. Tho paper promises to pay now
in circulation get their value from the
fact that they will exchange for their
face in the obligations of their holders,
and not from the fact that there is
about" one-third of this amount in exist
ence in the country which might be
used to redeem them.
The clipping sent by Bev. Blackmer
is from the Chicago Tribune, a rabid
gold bug concern, whose editor is incap
able of grasping the idea that all money
receives its value from tho power of the
government issuing it, more than from
the intrinsic value of the material on
which it is stamped.—Lincoln (Neb.)
Farmers' Alliance.
INDEPENDENT politics a failure and
the man a fool who cast his vote with a
third party? Ah, no! The influence of
the alliance victory at the polls is visible
already. The republican and democratic
statesmen and writers are advising con
gress and the legislatures to frame laws
in harmony with our demands. The er
ror'of the policy of contraction Js ad
mitted. Many are advising the issuance
of greenbacks in the place of the with
drawal of the national bank currency.
All advise a more strenuous supervision
of railways and telegraphs, and the bit
ter opposition of all our presidents to the
free coinage of silver is condemned by
the toilers and tillers. A step or two
more and each of the old parties would
endorse our whole platform, which is
just what we desire. In fact, tho al
liance people are the only ones who
gained a safe and reliable victory. The
g. o. p.'s are now on probation, and un
easy and unsteady sets the crown upon
thoir heads.—Batesvllle (Ark.) Alliance
Voice.
UNLESS the government soon returns
to honest moorings the love of country
will almost die out in the breast of the
farmers and toilers. Passing strange
indeed that in this the boasted land of
liberty there are millions of men who
have passively worn the collar of the
worst kind of slavery. It has been of a
kind that was alike abject and degrad
ing. Their agonized cries of distress
have cleft the air as wild as the accents
of freedom's farewell. But a battalion
of mute congressmen, standing rigid and
statute like, point to our magna charter
and for answer to these piteous appeals
utter the one word—unconstitutional—
Farmers' Vidette.
Ethel—"I think I ought to tell you,
Edith, that I met your fiance in a dark
hallway last night and he kissed me."
Edith—"Indeed! Tho hallway must
must have been very dark."—Munseu'%
Weekly.