Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-12-07
BURLINGTON. Iowa.
Nov. 20. Il

Nov. 20, II
When Falstaff sent his page To Master
Dumbleton for a satin cloak and offered
his Bond and Bardolph's for payment,
the answer brought him was that the
tailor "liked not the security" Ihe
Knight enraged at his lack of credit, nat
nrally wished that "Dumbieton' tongue
might be hotter than that OF Dives, CALI
ed him a rascally knaye to stand upon
security, ard cried, Il would as lief they
would put ratsbane in ny mouth as to
stop it with security" Never did Shake
speare hold the mirror up to Nature more
truly than in his picture of the credit
seeking Knight Always and every
where, he who goes borrowing, goes
sorrowing. Not only Shyloeks--snd the
Bank-which is properly spelled back,
ward as ''the Knab, = bat most capitalists
are deaf adders to most borrowers, be-
cause they, as well as Falstatf's tailor.
like not the security" Capitalists will
not lend poor man money. They de-
mand mortgage or endorsers. As he
cannot endorse, others will not endorse
for him. He has no lands, or chattels,
Oh Which he can give mortgage
Where he is sanguine that he can doub.
lie the money he wishes to borrow. they
say TO him, you may be robbed or cheat
ed, or your investment may be burned up
and Your insurance worthless, or you may
abscond, or your death may blight the
brightest business prospects like
not your security Ii is nothing but the
moonshine of hope, or a "castle in the
air" Hr t-s'ua
Again. capitalists shun putting their
investments of almost any kind into the
hands of any poor stranger They are
distrustful of his honesty, when there is
a chance for fraud, Of his competence,
where skill is demanded, of his zeal,
where he has no interest at stake, and of
his vigilance where there are temptations
to negligence He might carve out his
fortune, hut no one will trust him with
the tools.
Such as these are the relations Of capt.
:llists 10 laborers who are ambitious of OBJ
tanning the use of capital, and thus be-
coming capitalists themselves. These re-
lations must result from prudence on the
part of moneyed men Yet they natur-
ally provoke those aspiring but needy
young men, whom they hinder from ris-
ing to higher plane.
But must capital and labor needs be
hostile? Is there no way in which cap
italists can be just to themselves and yet
generous to borrowers? Yes, they can,
by selling them unimproved prairie farms
on long credit and low interest, Such
prairie is equivalent to loan of its full
value.
! The borrower cannot be cheated out of
it for ii is not decided to him till he has
finished paying for it.
He can not run way with it. No fire
can burn tsup. He cannot lessen its
value. The labor and money he lays out
on it will increase that value. He can
not strip it of timber more than he can
pull he hair on a bald head Nor in
such loan is his honesty, competence
zeal, or vigilance distrusted He is stinl
ulatcd to the exercise of them all both b.
his fear of losing the sum he paid in ad
vance to bind the bargain, together Will
whatever he lays out to improve his farm
and BY his hope Of making that farm
both pay for itself and support him ant
his dear ones as soon as possible Othel
borrower dllls the edge of thriis~=thi:
oll;,5 pens it.
We may not believe railroad corpora
tons to be more benevolent than othe
capitalists, and yet the policy of some Q
them in selling their lands is specimel
just that kind of loans which we hav.
seen TO be most generous to borrowers
building for them, as it were, an inclinet
plane on which they can rise easiest from
laborers to landlords. 5..., 81. f..,
The Burlingtonl& Missouri River Rail
road Co., within eighteen months on
ward from April, 1870, sold in Iowa AM
! Nebraska 304,S47 acres to 1881 purchss
ers, mostly on ten years credit and at si
per cent. interest. A large portion o
5 these purchasers had before been only la
/ borers or tenants. Their purchases ave
rage one hundred and two hundred acre
f apiece. Judging by experience .wher
/, similar experiments have been made, n,
more than five per cent. of them will fai
, to finish paying for the farms on whicl
they have at the time of purchase adyal
6 ced ono years interest.
/. The devil says the proverb, is not $
. black, as he is painted" So, when me
/ dscla:m against, railroads, lett be remen
bered that the B. & NJ, road has furnisI
y ed 2621 loans amounting in the aggregat
c to S3,l19,o72. 90, TO men most of whoI
1 would haze been unable to borrow 5
4 much capital from banks, capitalists, .
Eany other source, It's long credit sale
!, will prove to, most of those borrower
J, that tide III their affairs,which taken q
c it. flood leads on to fortune. 1t ha
y given them tools to work with. Thus
5 has rendered tho relation between bo
c rowers and lenders more friendly, afford
: ing lenders security and borrowers all tn
c loans they can use, and those such as wi
Q in most cases be, made 70, pay for then
bselves. OF all helpers whoiis best VII
but he that gives us. a chance to help ou,
6 selves sai ~ is4 .s,sa
: Railroad trains flying like shnttles frol,
i far cities to far cities weave them into
web of union, and a railroad policy lik
that of the B. & NJ. links together class
ess often called antagonistic with a bon
;, lighter than air yet stronger than iron
: A Democratic official in one of the ad