The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-10-06

The following letter from James X. Magic
to the Chicago Times speaks for itself:
There is an idea abroad that II you would
thrive and prosper you must sell more than
you buy. | read yesterday int morning
paper, edited by a postmaster, the follow
Ing wonderful and startling statement:
"An income is as necessary to nation as
to private Individual and the income Of a
nation is the moneyit gets by selling more
than it buys So then our national exs-
tenoe, it would seem, depends upon import
Ing little more money than wa export.
In that same paper | have read from time
So time of a "balanCo of trade in our
favor" This favorable balance is
figured out OF the fact that this nation is
exporting more commodities than it in-
ports | am puzzled. ! am all mixed up
over this halance-of-trade theory and this
doctrine of selling more than you buy if you
would be happy. In the first place, can't
understand how, !! two men or two nations
trade with each other, the one gets the ad-
vantage over the other unless oneis cheated,
Are we cheating the old country whereby
we are securing the balance Of trade in
our tavor?" And five are do they know it,
and what will thoy do about it when they
realize it? would write to the editorial
postmaster and ask him few questions il
| | thought | could get intelligent answers.
| For instance, | would ask him where the
profit comes in when we send out of this
country an excess OF over $20O,000,D00 of
commodities and import an excess of only
500, 900, 900 of gold How, when, or where
do we get pay for that $l00,OO0,(0) of conf
modities? / find that our exports
over imports for the last dozen years are
over Fl 000,Oo0OOO, inCluding money as
well US commodities. | find that we are
pouring into the countries OF the old world
constant stream of our products for which
We seem to be getting no pay, and this is
called selling more than you buy" and
we are told to be happy. | have two neigh
| bors one sells much more than he buys,
and the other don't sell anything that can
discover and yet he is buying himself rich,
while the other ncighbor continues TO grow
poorer and poorer under the operation of
selling more than he buys. Sometimes he
sells TO dead-beat, and when he does much
Of this kind of business, he supports the doc
| trine of selling more than he buys. But even
when he gets pay for all he sells he is still
forced to buy less than lie sells, for the man
| is unfortunately in debt, and bcsd pays n
high rent. When he sells all hi, PRODUCTS,
One-third goes to rent and int i, leaving
him only two-thirds of tn ,atal to buy
| things with. He has the ISOLATION, how
ever, if it be consolation, OF moving that
he sells more than no buys, and, according
to the logic of our editorial postmaster, he
ought 10 be happy.
| Myothcr ucighbor who buys more than he
| sells, was heir to an estate. He was shrewd
enough to put it in bonds. Now he drives
| his fast horse, and lives in marble front
lie is liberal patron Of the stores
lie buys meat aud furniture, dry goods
and groceries, and occasionally he buys a
new corner lot, and never sells It until h,
can take the money andbuyt two corner lots
thus preserving his principle Of buying
more than he sells, He continues to pros
per, and is even growing in wealth; and al
The time he is buying more than hc sells.
notice that the imports of Great Britain
largely exceed her imports, aud yet he
statesmen all rejoice in the situation. II
this country our exports exceed our imports
and our statesmen rejoice Some day
either the statesmen ofGreat Britain or q
this country will have been discovered to b
fools. JAMES X. Magic.