The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-12-09
Well there Is one thing more which has

great deal to do with your crisis. You
have gone on like wild gamblers, borrow.
ing, borrowing, and paying your interest
out Of borrowing. What does that mean
You have loaned to the Germans. you sold
your bonds and all sorts ofthings. Mind,
loans Away come to countries not in mon
ey but in goods. Always. Do you suppose
| if the nation borrows $40, 100000 or $780,
OOO, 900, that the foreigner sends 100000
600 or $30,000,000 of paper notes or SOW.
ereigns2 What you borrow is goods, and
of course you have jolly time over goods
and the gap you make in yourselves is not
perceived. All spendthrifts-that is just
what they do. Sufficient for the day is
the evil thereof. You have been living pu.
on loans and loans and loans Of goods.to ill
| up your destruction, and and then when you
can get no more you are in very bad
way, Your laborers must go home.
| Then. as the paper said this morning, the
people are starving, and God knows what
they will all do.
WELLS there any remedy? My answer
is that there is, only before you give physic
let us know what the disease is. Don lis
ten to the English Chambers of Commerce,
to those fine takers in Parliament. Don't
think that any questions about bits of pa
per will ever feed man or cothe him, or
replace the food or clothing which is mis-.
sing. Recognize that you are short of
things, The question is how is that gap
to be restored: 1t must be result OF
time. Just as the French people did in
the late war. The French people starve
themselves, 60 into thrift, give up their
meat, their butter, give up their delica-
cies live upon less That is one Of the
great ways. and that is the swiftest and
greatest way, and if each man would do
that for himself America would come round
in very rapid tune. Another is trueahty.
Learn to save. | don't want to say hard
thing. 1t is very natural in a country en-
dowed with prodgious powers like this
that such thing as saving, as in England,
is rare. hope | am mistaken. believe
that saving, as understood in England and
in France, is not virtue practlccd IN
America. There is great accumulation OF
fortune, great adding TO the wealth, but
what | mean by saving is for man OF tix-
ed income deliberately to say, Il will live
at lower rate THAI my income. That Is
form Of saving believe uncommon here;
believe there is great accumulation ana
fortune making, but the man who IS not
making fortune. the men OF wages, they
cat il and drink il to the very last penny |
Of their income.
ltneed not show that if every man will
practice that virtue Of saving, the mass OF
goods saved, leaving them to cultivate
more fields, leaving them to employ the
laborers who come to your shores. That
Is saving.
Then of your banks. Make them more
after the tune of the bank of England and
less after the tune of many other banks. -
| wish could impose the responsibility
upon bankers to understand these matters;
to ask themselves oftener atter the respou
sibil'y of the men they loan to. A bank
err may help, with perfect safety to hun
sell, man to ruin himself. But the ma
ton loses | need not say to You, abolish
| incpnvcrtIo!e currency, : is to take it gu;
! of the power ui the people who wish t. get
more through the banks, to destroy it
/ Auy imitation | consider to he only Il de
struclion Of your capital to the amount ct
the Imitation
Finally, let me surak of the usury laws
in this country, | believe you can't tut
your banking rate beyond certain sum.
GIN this state, said Mr. Dydge) think
that is ii misfortune. Ia England We have
learned at any rate some wi,dum.aud when
borrowers begin t. be too Abundant and
the means Of lending become less the
natural effect takes place that the thing
borrowed becomes GGarcr. What is the
usury Law here? 1T SHALL not be dearer.'
1t is learer because the means OF lending
have diminished. which meuuo that there
are lever goods sold and that the banker
has less means to lend 80 other people and
if you tell the banker You shall not lend
at the dearer rate, you say he shall not
take any steps which shall prevent the de
struction What is the effect if dearer
rate is allowed, as in England? That
many spcculations, many sales, many con
sumptions, that would go on if you 90 on
borrowing at per cent or per cent, are
instantly prevented. 1t is quite clear that
when the country is already beginning to
consume faster than il makes, there must
| be a terrible tendency to borrow among
those vino suddenly find themselves short
of the means to go on.
Therefore, it is "A valuable thing if Wall
street could say to you, You have been
OVERRIDING it, you have been eating and
drinking too much, wasting TOO much prop.
erty. | will make it difficult for you to 60
on that way, and will check you" Then
the poor unfortunate trader says, "Ii,w
hard upon me- | reckoned to get my
loans at per cent when | am obliged to
pay 10, to which my answer is, if the
calamity is coming the sooner we face it,
the better. Applause. If there are
some victims it cannot be helped. 1t is
only the question, will YOU have ten to day
or fifteen three months hence?