The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-09-25
The People Create the. Wealth OF the
Country

Country.
Labor and patient industry create the
wealth Of nations, not the governments.
The province of government is to insure
peace and protection to the citizen in the
pursuit Of lawful avocations. But govern
ment cannot prevent a citizen from spend
ing his own as be will, nor can it prevent
The people as a nation from being wasteful
and extravagant in their mode Of life. When
unthriftiness.. or wasteful prodiGality among
the people themselves have produced their
Legitimate result and hard times prevail
the government cannot make good times
by mere legislative fat The idea of fat
il pernicious one and should be dispelled
instead of propagated. 1t teaches the
people to .ook to the wrong source for re-
lief, it is invoking the aid of the creature
instead of the power of the creator. The
people created the governmeDt-in this
country such is the literal fact-and the
government is simply the thing created,
All power is in the people, the gov
eminent only has such power as has been
bestowed-it is merely their agent, their
machine for governing the body polite,
the means of obtaining an expression of
the voice of the people and of exercising
the Joint authority which proceeds from
the will of the people. The government
in no way possess or can exercise any
authority or any power to create wealth.
Wealth is material substance; it comes
from what is grown or produced, OF from
production changed and transformed by
multiform industrial agencies; no mau
says let there be wealth and there is
wealth unless be adds to his fat the neces-
sary labor, economy, and skill to produce
it; and if the individual is powerless tc
create by fiat, the aggregate Of individuals
comprising nation are equally impotent;
wealth is the excess of the fruits of labor
over the amount used for the necessities
and Injuries of the worlds inhabitants.
The man who has given to his neighbor
his note for one hundred dollars for q
horse has added nothing 10 the actua
wealth of the country-all the wealththe
is in the case is the horse which by the
operation has undergone merely trans
fer Of possession. Neither does the gov
ernment create any wealth by giving it,
note. It does not make the people richer
by multiplying it's paper. IL con
gress should pass an act authorizing
the issue of large amoun
of treasury notes or greenbacks the couu
try would be none the richer for it, be-
cause such an issue would not add an iott
to the actual wealth Of the country, or t
that Of individuals. The government can
not create-nothing short of Omnipotenc'
can exercise an absolute fiat. The issue
Of any amount, say 5000. 100000, of green
backs, if made redeemabIe by the govern
ment and the means of redemption be actu
ally provided, that would give credit to tbs
issue and introduce the paper into circula
ton, but 70 make an irredeemable issue OF
a fat would be an absurdity-an attempt
to make something from nothing. The
plain fact is this, if an issue Of paper IL
o. made and it is to be redeemed, theI
sooner or laterthe whole issue will cost the
same amount in coin; If it is never to bsre
deemed it will ultimately become worth
less, and the loss mIlfall upon those who
are so unfortunate az to have it ia posses
sion.