Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-03-07
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CAPITAL AND Labor.

$ The speecho Mr.. Kuykendall of Illinois,
in Congress ON the 18th of January, con-
4 tanned many ideas, and statements VIII which
will be new, if not positively startling, 10
most of our readers. 1t was made in sup
port of hYIbilj introduced a few days pre-
vious, entitled " An act to 2'rooade true
lfnatio,saI ca,7epcy, and to prooidetor the COZ
lection, and dis5u1i'senaeat of the reoeaue, and
the Iiquidation of the national debt, and Jpr
other PURPOSES and assumes that the present
4 system of our monetary laws IS ra4dicaAy
4 wrong. pom a subjeo of such Vital mo-
ment to, the welfare of the nation, tran
scending in Importance ordinary plans OF
philanthropy and REFORM, we believe any
4 new light or suggestions will be perused
with lively interest. "A true system Of laws
which should prevent financial crises, give
the working man his due, and provide for
theseasy removal of the national att "a /, debt,
j would. indeed be desideratum, which, If
i attainable, mi ght wen command the atten-
tion and energies Of all lovers of their
country, irrespective of party. The length
of the spe ech precludes more than fewlof
the more striking passages, to which we
invite especial attention.
r Among the chief objects forwhich Gov
ernments are Instituted, Is that OF project
inc the rights If property and securing its
ennitable distribution, according to the
labor or service performed in its produc
ton. And no, Government, whether re-
publican or not, that fails to effect these
important ends, can permanently secure the
prosperity and happiness OF the people, 1t
cannot be successfully denied that physical
and intellectual labor employed in produce
ton. and in the distribution of the products
l of labor. is the true and only source OF
4 national wealth, and that laborers, as
whole, are poor Look where you will
upon society, you will see those who build
palatial residences, living in novels; those
who manufacture the finest apparel, clothed
lin the coarsest fabrics; and those who pro
duce in abundance the most wholesome
and delicate food, subsisting upon the poor
est diet all deprived of the time and means
necessary for social and intellectual culture,
and to great degree destitute OF the or
binary comforts and convenlences OF LIE !;
condemned to lives of unremunerated toll !;
while another Glass; few in number, not
physically, intellectually, or morally better
) than the average of society, acquire the
Ilarger portion Of the products of labor, live
in comparative idleness, surrounded with
all the comforts, convenience, and luXurles
of life. Besides this evil of centralizing
wealth in the possession of the few, every
few wears our country is visited with a
monetary crisis, -prostrating all branches OF
productive industry and legitimate enter
prise, deranging commercial operations,
ii retarding the development Of our natural
resources, preventing us from becoming
self-sustaining and Independent as nation.
This disparity in, the conditions OF society,
these monetary crises and disasters, are al
one time attributed to over-productlon,
Eanother time to short production again
4 they, are assigned to the want OF suiflclent
tariff on imports or duties on foreign
manufactures. We have greatly increased
+ production Blythe in vention of abor1saving
machines, have raised and lowered tariffs
without producing any permanent bene-
fetal effects, unless it be the building UP
Il cotton mill oriron aristocracy. The wealth
continues tocentralize III fewer hands the
number of industrious poor who own no
\ real and little personal property, continues
4 to increase. None of the causes assigned
Il have ever satisfactorily accounted for these
wrongs or pointed tot remedy, because
they do not reach the true. source OF the
evil, which will be found in the unfair dis
tribution OF the products OF Labor between
non-producing capital and producing labor
caused by the institution OF money onna
wrong principle and with too great power
Hover labor and property. Money is the
i medium. of distribution between nOn-pro-
i ducing capital and labor, the rate Of inter
I Fest determining what proportion OF the
products of labor shall be awarded to
capital for its use, and what to labor for its
use, and what to labor for its productions !;
and the law instituting it is the most i'm.
a portant fundamental law in any nation; ii
established upon wrong basis 1t cannotabe
rightly governed bysubsequ ent laws, az e
As money exercises a wonderful power
in every departments business and in
i dustrial occupation, and as its nature and
i regulation appear to have baffied the Wis
dom of political economists, and, led them
to the conclusion that it's alternate abund-s
ance and scarcity and the fiuctuatlng rates
4 of interest are iriemediable evils, full
b and clear knowledge Of It's nature and
properties, the functions it performs In
business transactions, is an indispensable
prerequisite in order to its institution upon
true principles. Money then is the legal
medium for the exchange OF property and
:. products; the legal tender in the payment
of all debts, public and private, and legal
lien on all the property In the nation. 10
he fitted for the performance of these func-
tons, it must be endowed with the follow
ing properties or powers, to wit power
Ito represent, value, to measure value, to
exchange value, and to accumulate value
by inter sst. <-''a3 t4 bir-
These properties or powers are inherent
in no natural substance, and must be con-
ferred on the material used for money by
national law. Money has no material
value, only an immaterial or legal value.
The material of money, gold, silver,
paper, or any other substance, is a legalized
y agent made to express the form, properties
or powers of money and render them
| available in business transactions. Com
mon usage has applied the term measure
to the material by the means of which
length, weight, etc., are ascertained. 1t
matters not whether the yard stick or
pound weight be of wood, iron, or gold /;
length and weight are the only properties
necessary to be expressed by them, and
possessing the standard limits, their ma
terial Is matter of indifference. Of conrse
some material is indispensable; but the
only thing that makes one substance pre-
ferable to another is its superior convent
lence So of money; it is q matter OF