The Labor enquirer., 1884-10-18

u ABOR I'm d fR|ER q
I'm. wiIf take tase pIace Il 20 mueh .guad u
6n omux into other countries. and thus keep
the quantum Of medium at It's salutafy
/ Win add tho testimony Of Henry Clay to
he same Import isWhatevcf the govern
ment the people -agroe to receive as pay
ment Of public dues, Is medium of circuIa-
ton ION. iMsmcney, g current money a. ns mater ., sss
etc: such notes, bills, or PAPER Issued under
authority of the United States, are money.
/ conceive the establishment OF this bank
NattOnal bank) as dangerous to the safety
and welfare of the republic. /"
Them0St important issue wnucn now con-
fronts US as people is, shall banking oli-
garchy issue our currency and exact double
interest for every dollar and dictate, in their
own interests, the volume we may use; or
shall the people through their representa-
tiyes issue 1t in payment of the expenses of
the government, and regulate the volume IN
their own interest? We have both systems
now, but between them there is an irrepres
sible conflict While legal tender treasury
notes circulate, they menace the National
bank issues. The people are learning that
while each has given the same amount OF
currency, the National bank notes have cost
enormously, and the greenbacks have cost
only the expense of printing, There is dan
ger that they will choose the latter and the
bankers understand this full we'll. They did
from the first One of their European organs
was foolish enough to state it in the following
language: Slavery is likely to be abolished
by the war power, and chattel slavery 6e de-
stroyed. This, and my European friends
Of labor, and carries ri s' with it to care for the
laborer; while the European plan, led in by
England, is, capital CONTROLS labor by con-
trolling wages.
ttThis can be done by controlling the money
The great debt, that capitalists will see to it
is made out of this war, must be used as the
means to control the volume of money.
To accomplish this, they (the b0nds) must
be used as the banking basis. 1t will not do
to allow the 'greenback, as it is called, to
circulate as money any length of time, for
we cannot control them. But we can control
the bonds, and through them the bank ISSUE"
THassard'S circular, 1862 This awful state
ment is as true as it is frank. 1t puts the.
real issue between capital and labor, clear as
the light. The robbery of labor by capital is
mainly accomplished by, control OF the
medium of exchange.
As long as capital does this, so long labor
is hOpelessly enslayed, so long will poverty
they cause, blight our civilization.
& That the enormous debt scored against the
nation was thereSult of deliberate conspiracy
limited in this statement, is demonstrable. 1
have in my possession figures taken from the
books of the treasury, which show that If the
government had iSsusd non-interest-bea
full legal tender treasury notes, to meet war
lop, inn hnf ciyo ArIr.
ing the war, and had paid no shave or interest
on bonds, the amount at its close would have
been only about 81, ,35S 600, 600. That in
debtedness would have been in circulation as
needed currency, and need never have been
called in, but, instead, increased annually, as
population increased. The money power
has controlled the currency of civilized peo-
Piles, by the specious pretense that all money
must rest on gold.
Allison, in his History of Europe, says, "In
every one of the great monetary crises,
which have occurred every five or six years
during the past thirty years, from $50O, ,000, 600
to $3.50, 600, 900 have been destroyed. Is the
retention of gold worth purchasing at such
price ? What is the use of it, if it can only
be retained By making the capitalists richer
place the experience Of Of Great Britain during
the French war demonstrates that by means
of an adequate paper currency not only can
calamity be averted but the highest degree of
prosperity and national glory can be attained
without any gold. To put this domestic cur
rency on proper footing, it is indispensable
that it should be issued by the government
and government only, and on the national
security; and that every banker who chooses
to deal in notes, should not be permitted to
usurp the kings prerogative and issue the
current coin of the realm. And itmay safely
be affirmed that if the requisite changeis not
made, the nation will continue to be visited
every four or five years by a periodical
calamity which will destroy all the former
fruits of prosperity" gE.5s ----.,-.-z..- rs, q.
To prevent results thus clearly stated, we
would have the government supply the people
directly with full legal tender currency, in
the form of treasury notes, and have every
dollar issued meet dollar of the legitimate
expenses of the government. ;,
We would have an amount per capita fixed
by constitutional provision, sufficient to in
Spire and maintain the maximum of industry.
Then we could use all the bullion received
from mines and foreign exchange, to balance
these exchanges and for other uses; instead of
locking millions in the treasury to be guarded
at no little expense.
have not time to discuss the silver ques-
tiOn as | had hoped. | have time only to:
state that while we use specie for currency or
for its base, the larger the coinage of silver
Tile better. .-'-i.. IT,.
This question of finance is the main ele-
ment in the great revolution pending between
the producers of wealth and the power which
has hitherto absorbed it. The late DR.. Peck,
bishop of the M. E. church, among his last
utterances thus characteriZes this conflict:
SAT the beginning, the conviction must be
profound and pervading that a great reform
Is imperatiyely demanded. Itakeit that the
great revolution which has just revealed
itself is the concentration of the general
feeling that in some way reform must come
But the thinking, talking, writing and acting
must go on, which will harden this conviction
and feeling into durable organic unity. Agi-
tation and conflict are Inevitable. This is no
child's play. 1t will be the attempt of moral
principles to assault and break down the
power of untold consolidated millions of
money, to challenge and defy the most enor-
nous class interest which ever trampled
upon free people. 1t will be the most ter
rife conflict ever known on this continent. "
These words, voicing as they do our actual
condition, and coming from one Just on the
border of the spirit world, seems almost like
the voice of God. Will our statesmen heed
it?
HOW TO ORGANIZE.