Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-09-09
THE MONEY TRAFFIC.
r. I. SMITH, J
c. A. ROY, : Co
IL. i. TANNER

The present year is one in which money
is in great demand. Several things con-
spire 10 make it so, but the chief and con-
trolling cause is found in com binations
formed by men engaged liz different kinds
Of speculation. One man goes into mer-
.chandizing and fails with million dol
lars in his till,-so much taken directly
from the pocket Of the manufacturer, and
indirectly from the backs and mouths of
his employees. Another, under prctensc
of doing legitimate banking business,
amasscs deposits, and the savings of poor
people to large amount, and invests them
in stocks, which under the influence Of
conflicting interests rise and fall for time
in the market like the tides On the sea
shore, and then their money value is dis.
sipated leaving their holders bankrupt,
and the country PROSTATE from the effects
Of the calamity. Witness Jay Cooke,
Duncan & Sherman, and the California
Gold Kings, lately dethroned- running
thousands ofmcn and disturbing the fnan
cial equilibrium Of the Whole world. If
a man goes into saloon and stakes $50
Of his own money upon dice's throw, or
the result Of game Of cards, the world
calls him a gambler, and he IS one on a
small scale, but if banker takes the say
ings Of his depositors, to the amount Of
million dollars or more, and going into
Wall street exchange, enters the bear or
the bull ring, and fights to make or pre-
vent corner in stocks whose value is
chiefly hypothetical and there wages the
varying contest until he has lost the last
dollar, and beggared the thousands who
confided in his integrity, he is said to be
unfortunate and entitled to sympathy on
account of his losses. We say that
man is gambler of the worst class, and
more too-he is a th;ef!-he embeZzled
the money which he put to such all unhal-
lowed use, and he should be imprisoned
at hard labor like a common felon. The
produce business of the country, and es-
pecially the trade ID wheat is transacted
upon similar plan. A large quantity is
purchased at very low rates by those who,-
possessed Of all the surplus capital in the
East and in the West, stand between the
producer and the consumer, and it IS held
until a scarcity makes it in demand at al
exhorbitant price, when the wheat goes
for ward, and the want is supplied. There
being then no scarcity, the buyers turn
again to the growers, who must realize
something upon their labor, and take two
thirds of their surplus at price scarcely
more than sufficient TO defray the expense
Of raising, and this pra ctice is repeated
year after year, under pretensc oiconform
ity to the tiuctuating demands of the for
eign market, when in fact these fluctua
tons arc created by dealers with periodi.
cal regularity, and made to promote tiieil
own schemes. TO produce this result, il
Is interesting to see how all collateral in
tcrests conjoin. If the farmer could hire
money at reasonable rate Of interest he
would not he compelled to sell his pro
ducts at two-thirds their value, and he
could thus to a reasonable extent, demand
his own price for what he raises, but no.
the money lender comes in and supple
ments the efforts Of the wheat buyer, and
compels the grower to sell his grain at {
very low price, or to pay for the use O.
what money lie needs, twice what it is &C
tually worth, and it matters but very littl'
which alternative is chosen. If the whoa
is sold at starvation prices, the banks fur
nish the money to buyers, and share th'
profits by discounting collaterals, whil
if the wheat be held and the money loaned
to the farmers, it comes back to the bank
directly in payment Of prior obligations
und is furnished to the buyers at price
that enable them to hold their bread accu
mutations until the foreign demand take
it at advanced rates, and then rcactin!
touches low figure, at or near which til
producer is compelled to sell at last, ate
having paid cxhorbitant interest durin!
six months or year.
What the west needs then is that tn
price for the use of money should be regr
lated by law. Moncy-that item of c>
change which was ordained and establish
cd merely as convenience Of commerce
has become the test and the measure of al
value, and the arbiter Of the pecuniary fat
Of all classes, and 1t is the great duty o
the present age to reduce the Taught,
monarch to its true rank,-to make it