The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-03-12

interest AZ ok psbT esaC per amman; and
this, too, without taking the interest in ad-
taases Ekhh 81 uspsIly done = caes Of
chin nainsS In a thest a e4ee. 81
which thirty-six millions OF dollars would be
taken from producers and distributors. and
transferred to'cspitalists, these, would be 20
exchange Of prodpets, aud sheEpsoPle would
receive no consideration for their money
Besides the suffering cs~sed by the increaas
of Indebtedness upenc looms Of money, thel
prices ofpnauctHwan be greatly diminish,
ed. Those sold would not, perhaps, cancel
more than one hatf TIN dshts that they would
If the rate of interest haa not increased.
Therefore. the> moeey ensrosssd by the
capitalist would be worth 20 him double the
same sum ut the usual interest. for he could
purchase with it nearly double the guam
Tity Of producrs thai he could under
ordinary rates.
A man who owns farm cannot rent it
for Thirty or SIXTY days, and force It's return,
and keep constantly reletting 1t, 50 as to IN
convenience his tenants because, in these
short periods the farm would not produce a
crop; but money will gather an income
when it is loaned for thirty or sixty days, or
for one, two or three days. Many men now
devote their time TO the loaning Of money
for one-eighth, one-quartsr, ene-half, and one
per cent day. liking . higher or lowe:
rate, according to the necessity Of the Dor
rousru In tins veg hey sxtSr che largest
possible interest This they say they do
& to keep people from breaking" Doubt
less many Of those engaged in brokerage are
ignoFant Of the effects Of their stock jobbing
and loaning operations upon the welfare Of
their fellow1nen. and not any Of them fully
appreciate the evils they occasion, or, it is to
be hoped, they would cease to pursue an
employment 30 blighting to their own moral
characeers, and 10 psrnicious 10 the welfare
Of others.
In 1897, rents on stores fell to one-halt
or oue-quarter Of their former prices, and
many stood untenanted. At the same time.
bank-notes which year or two before could
be rented at but six or seven per cent. per
annum, were rented at from turee to ten
times more than before, although at the
former time the bank-notes were professedly
based on specie, and at the latter, no pre-
tension of this sort was made. Was the
rise of interest on the bank-notes, or money,
caused by an increase Of labor to engrave
and secure the notes, or was the fall Of rent
on stores caused by elimination ofthe num-
Der of bricks, or the amount Of labor necss-
sary to build them I No it was an arbi.
trary rise Of interest to increase the gains
of banks, brokers, and capitalists Our
producers were not idle /: we had super
abundance of products for our market yet,
strange as it may seem, thousands in our
midst were suffering for the very things Of
which the abundance was the subject Of la
mentation. One had raised surplus Of
some products, and was in need of surplus
products owned by others. But il was
nearly impossible to effect any exchange Of
these products, on account Of the scarcity Of
money. At this juncture, the situation Of
the producers in Europe was similar to that
Of the producers in the United States. The
Bank of England was openly authorized to
increase the rate of interest," on its loans in
order to check oper1prodnctiOn and over
trading.
How different would hSve been the con
dition of the producing classes, if the banks
had pursued an opposite course. II, instead
of raising the interest on their loans, and in
creasing their dividends to double theiI
amount in previous years, they had lowered
the rates of interest so as to diminish theil
dividends to one.half their previous amount
the prosperity of the producing classes would
have as greatly exceeded their prosperity il
former years, as it was By the rise of interest
diminished below their former prosperity
The amount of bank loans would have beer
less Probably money would have circu
lated with more than double its former ra
pidity. One million of dollars circulating
rapidly will accomplish as much in giver
time as two millions will if the latter cir
culate but half as fast. If in January
1886, the banks throughout the Union had
reduced their rate of interest to four per cent
and had lent their money to business men fol
good Endorsed notes, if they had made nc
loans on pledge of stocks as security, or tc
any one who they knew desired to lend their
money again at an advanced rate of interest
business would have been attended with in
creased prosperity; country products would
have maintained good prices; the State
bonds of every State in the Union, bearing
an interest of five per cent. per annum,
would have been above par every State
would have Paid the interest on its bonds
promptly, and in January, 1887, the people
would not have owed as much BY very
large amount as they were compelled to owe
under the actual circumstances. The pro
ducing classes would have been comparative
ly well of, and large Capitalists would not
have become so immensely rich. State
stocks would not have been crowded upon
the market, nor would capitalists have be-
come competitors with the business com
munity for loans at banks. The producing
classes cannot afford to pay even four per
cent. per annum, but there would be less
distress among them at this rate, than at
six per cent, or higher rate. Their sub
sistance will always become scanty in pro-
portion to the increase of the rates Of in
terest.
TO BE CONTINUED.
! T~ssh nG;uA.