Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1880-07-08
Unmasked Robbers.

% ucCusUOmed naS society bcCOme 10
bear unjust burdens and to suffer oppres.
sion, that it is almost impossible to make
men believe that one-half of the people
were not born with saddles on their backs
TO carry the other half through the world
in ease and luxury.
We need not 90 beyond the limit Of our
own personal observation to see industry,
skill and frugality linked with poverty,
want and destltution on one hand, while
ideness aud prodlgality clothed in velvet
and fine linen, and faring sumptuously
every day, stalks abroad on the other side.
The latter weave not neither do they spin,
still Solomon in all his glory was not ar
rayed like these social leeches.
How do they obtain their wealth?
They do not produce it, neither do they
give farthing in consideration for it.
They obtain it by a system of robbery,
handed down from ancient bandit chiefs
10 modern monarchs, and engratted upon
the tree OF Liberty by the British tories
and incenniaivs OF the Revoluion-a sys-
tenn of robbery cursed and denounced by
Jehovah, and forbidden by all Christian
and humane statutes of ancient times, and
now made respectable by its magnitude
and by the glitter Of its display.
To call a usurer robber, to be Classed
with ordinary freebooters and highway
men, may CRATE harshly on the ears Of
those hardened in the crime, or accus'
toned to pull pit apologies from the lips Of
those who are supported on velvet cushions
from the spoils Of the system-but custom
cannot make wrong right, neither can
tradition or human statutes change vice
into virtue.
We think we can prove to the satisfac
tion OF any intelligent, unbiased mind
that the English and American finance and
monetary systems Are systems OF outrage
and robbery, conceived, put into practice,
and maintained, not Of necessity or for
the public good, but as machines and ap.
plianccs to enable one class OF society,
without labor, consideration or remunera-
tiOn, to absorb and appropriate to their
own use the wealth products Of the other
class. To illustrate, let us suppose the
existence Of a community Of one hundred
men with families, each engaged in pro-
ducing different products, but an assort-
ment or a variety Of the combined produc-
ton is necessary for the needs and com.
forts OF each family, so while each man is
producing of his kind for every one Of the
other ninety-nne, each Of the ninety-nine
is producing for him to the extent of his
requirements. In making these exchanges
atdifferent times, and IN unequal amounts,
difficulty arose in settling balances (for
very seldom could equivalents be so Cx-
changcd) hence an artificial medium, for
temporary convenience, was found ncces-
sary. Again, in constructing their public
buildings, building bridges, school-houses,
churches and highways, purchasing and
improving parks and fair grounds. 1t was
found impossible for each to contribute his
proportion of tax in his specific kind. So
the community got together and ascertain.
ed that the public works necessary to be
constructed and the public expenses neces-
sary to be betrayed would aggregate $780,
900 or 81 900 per capita. II was therefore
agreed by the hundred men that the conf
munity should elect a board OF managers
and issue hundred thousand tickets, or
tokens of value of the face of 81 90 each,
and pay them out for the necessary labor
and materials to make the improvements
agreed upon, Each man agreed to receive
them at par for any labor or material he
might have to spare, and all agreed to
adopt, receive and pay them out at their
face, in the settlement of all bllancHs and
claims between one another. Under this
solemn compact and agreement the tokens
were issued, the public work constructed,
and $4,000 of actual wealth added to the
public property Of the community.
Each man produced n surplus of $1,000
each year, which WAS divided among the
other nncty-nine, and for every cents
worth any one received Of the products OF
another he gave in return full equivalent.
Their wealth consisted of their labor pro-
ducts, while their domestic medium of
token money afforded ample and ready
facilities for every exchange.
Uubounded and uninterrupted proSperi-
ty prevailed, as every man received the
iui benefit of mis- skill and labor.
Onc day couple Of robbers came into
the community, attracted by the evidences
Of wealth and thrift on every hand, and set
themselves to the work Of devising ways
and means Of securing as much Of this
peoples property as possible Without con-
sileration, One, the bravest and most
reckless, resolved 10 take the highw3yy 2RGGc
waylay and rob every man he might meet
of the money tokens in his possession, and
with them purchase their face value Of the
peoples wealth.
The other, more cOwardly and shrewd,
but none the less base and wicked, pro-
posed to introduce among the people a
finance system, which, while it would not
jeopardlze his safety and liberty, would
more surely and effectively rob the COM
munity of their wealth than that proposed
by the highwayman.
So he went to work upon the credulity
ct the hundred toilers. He explained to
them that as other nations and people used
real genuine hard money, they could never
realize genuine prosperity until they
abandoned their worthless check system
and adopted the money Of the world. He
informed them he would supply them with
an amount equal to the amount of their
checks ii they would destroy the latter,
and give him their joint bond payable in
coin hundred years hence, with per
cent annual interest, then they would have
something genuine, something Of value,
something real, instead Of trash, worthless
and visionary. His proposition seemed so
generous, so sensible and so fascinating,
it vas accepted. Time passed on but as
six per cent of the community's money
was withdrawn every year to go into Shy
locks interest-hoard, money began to be
scarce. Every year it grew scarcer, and
harder to get. Prices began to decline
labor began to suffer for the want Of en-
ployment. Only one man in the commu-
nifty had money to spare. The hundred
men began to borrow and mortgage their
property. Soon the individual interest
going to Shyock amounted to more than
the public interest.
After few years the second loan all
found its way buck into the usurer's hands
again in the form of interest. Then peo.
pie had to borrow again. They were
obliged to submit to exorbitant discounts.
Values continued to decline Real estate
became valueless as security. Mills
closed for the want Of patronage. Work.
men were idle for want of employment.
Farm products would not sell for the cost
of production, Still twenty-five per cent
interest due the usurer on the second and
third loans must be paid, or securities
would be confscated. Everything in
the community was paying tribute to the
usurer.
Twenty years had passed. The robbers
met again. The highwayman had Just
been released from long term of impris-
onment in the penitentiary for knocking a
man down aud robbing him OF thousand
dollars. "Wel," said he to his old friend,
"how have you succeeded in your cowardly
scheme of finance?"
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