The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1876-04-01
Gold. from the Garden Of Eden 90 the
Discovery Of America


il il weakness in our government that
compeis 10 TO offer from ten to fifteen per ,
cent. discount to secure a !, an that will re- |
move from CIRCULATION currency that does |
not cost The government or people any |
thing, but will, if removed, ruin the bust |
ness 81 the country pr 10 IL weakness
in Senator Sherman that induces him to
advocate the payment IT such enormous
discounts to still further Increase the b..
eel debt If the country
Senator Sherman is man Of acknowi-
edged abilities, and he deserves to be Sc
verely rebuked for advocating the perpe
tration OF so paIpab.e fraud upon the in
dustries of the country. The people Of
Ohio would deserve the thanks Of the whole
nation il they would retire tits champion
OF a money o!isarchy to private life. Gen
eral Grant also bids for the support OF the
money oligarchy, by recommending Con
gress to repeal the legal tender act, and
thereby force the fuuding of the currency
at stu greater discounr, and with cor
responding increase in the profits Of the
bondho.ders. II General grant was an ex-
pert in financial matters, his recommends
lions on financial question would be
worth criticising however, the people will
alton Of his financial abilities at our next
presidential election, for he will undoubt-
eddy be the candidate of the money oligar-
chy.
Within the present century the leading
commercial nations OF the world have con
tracted debts amounting in the aggregate
to $40, 0O0, 0OO, 900; or in other words,
money oligarchy, chiefly through class leg
islation, has succeeded in securing bonds,
against the chief commercial nations Of the
worry. covering this enormous amount
and the producers are now compelled to
, appropriate the profits of their labor to
pay the interest thereon.
How long this state Of affairs will con-
tinue, in orr country, depends entirely
upon the wisdom of our legislators. If, by
their greed to gain. they swell our debt to
an amount that the profits on the indus
tries of the nation will be insufficient to
pay the interest thereon, then revolution
will wipe out" the debt as all national
debts have been "wiped out when they
become too great a burden upon the peo-
plr.
To live comfortably, or luxuriously,
without labor, is the problem that large
portion of the people are trying to solve.
Those who have large capital in money
or land generally succeed in solving the
problem, with little or no labor but poor
man must procure life sustaining
commodities with labor and
his labor, must necessarily
command price that will purchase suffi-
cient quantity Of those comodities to sns-
] tain MT only his own life, but the lives Of
family of two or three persons depending
upon him for support this is a fundamen-
tai law Of nature, and without it life could
not exist. If laborer produces no more
than he consumes, his labor, and the pro-
duct Of his labor, are Of equal value but
generally the products of the labor of one
man are sufficient to support five or six
persons.
The profit in free labor regulates its
price almost exclusively, ana the price Of
labor regulates the price of its productions
to a great extent. The nonproducer can
not legally secure any Of the profits Of free
labor except through a system of exchange,
and if the medium used for exchanging
products has shifting value, those specu-
lators who deal exclusively i'll exchange
secure very large portion of the
of the profit Of labor. If the measure Of
value is gold, its scarcity admits Of sudden
changes In its own value which, with an
arbitrary rate OF interest, legally robs pro
ducers Of their profits.
La some cases the nonproducers secure
the entire profit of labor, and the pro-
ducers are barely able to exist. This state
IF affliTs causes large decrease in con.
sumption, and a coDst quent stagnation in
trade and commerce VIII languish.
| If nnnnrndncpr apct,r. TN. antlra rrofsta
Of labor, leaving producers barely enough
- sustain life, then surplus productions
must be consumed by the nonprolucers or
remain IN their hands without profit
We have daily examples of the evil of
under-consumptIon in the disposal If per
lshable products. Spectators generally
| hold those products at such high value
that the labOring classes are unable to pur-
chase them for consumption, the result is
that considerable portion Of those pro-
ducts are entirely lost; the spectators
making up for the portion lost by large
profits received on what is consumed. A
tair profit would probably lead to the con-
sumption of the entire product, thereby
giving to the spectators an aggregate pro-
mt greater than the profits received from a
partial consumption.
Tae moment that the profits in produc-
ton are unequaliy divided, that moment
uHder- consumption commences, and a gen
eral arrangement in trade follows. L. is
clearly evident that middlemen and mer-
chants are necessary, especially in a coun
try like ours, where large quantities Of
produce are consumed from one to three
thousand miles from the place Of produc-
ton. Merchants are just as necessary As
mt chanics. If q Kansas wheat-grower had
to bring his wheat to Massachusetts, to ex-
change it for cloth, to supply mis- family
with clothing, he would find that the cost
of the trip would amount to considerable
more than the profits that merchant
would receive in exchanging those comodi-
| ties.
Legitimate mercantile business is indis-
pensIble in a true system Of political econ.
omy but gambling in produce is = curse to
the country, and should be prohibited by
stringent laws.
Capitalists should be allowed to estab-
lish banking houses and loan deposits Of
National currency at legal rate Of inter
est but no other system Of banking and
lOaning the currency Of the country should
be sllowed-any other la,cfGl system is u
legslized fraud upun the people.
ECONOMY IN CURRENCY.
If a mixed currency Of gold aud silver be
again established, 1t would require at least
$500, 0OO. 900 in gold to properly balance
the paper and as gold coin, when kept in
circulation, loses over one per cent. per
annum by abrasion, the loss annually
would amounk 70 over $500 300, and la
less than one hundred years the whole
$500. 000, 600 would become total loss to
the people. Gold is very expensive cur
rency, compared with paper, which loses
nothing by abrasion and q total l. 90 Of
paper currency by individuals, produces .
corresponding gain to the government.
Gold should be used only as q comm, d.