Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1888-01-12
The Cause of Hard Times.
" .. II. b." in Des Moines (Iowa) News

indt llueS are udTu, is nOC eQlS-
puted. but the cause is not so evident;
and some ascribe it to one thing, others
to another.
When peace and plenty reign times
are good We haye peace but not
plenty. There is plenty of cattle in
the country. plenty of corn, plenty of
oats and plenty of wheat We mean
by plenty enough to meet all the
demands of the country. Cattle and
horses nave not been so cheap for
twenty OF thirty years as now. Wooden
goods, cotton goods, silks and shoes
were perhaps. never cheaper. OF all
these things there is plenty, and still
times are hard for want of plenty.
The abundance we see is not distri-
buted. There is bread stuff enough for
every man. woman and child in
America, but much of it is stored in
mills and warehouses. There is ma
terial for clothing sufficient to cloth
everybody, but the merchants hold the
most of it in store. Because people
want food and clothing and fuel and
comfortable houses and luXuries which
they cannot get, they say the times are
hard.
If there is abundance OF everything,
why are times hard?
Simply because that abundance is not
distributed. Why is it not distributed? :?
VIII not those who have more than
they can use part with the surplus :?
Certainly they are anxious to sell, but
those who are in need have not the
money to buy. Why hayent they the
money; haven't they anything to sell? ?
Yes, they have property of various
kinds, but the people who would buy 1T
also lack money.
So there seems to be plenty Of every
thing but money?
Yes, there is not money enough
among the people to move the surplus
products of the country from those who
do not need it to those who do. There
is plenty of everything but money.
But there Is plenty of money in the
bank?
Possibly; but the rate charged for the
use of money by tfe banks is so oppres-
sive that but few persons can afford to
go to them for it. If you have a big
crop of corn but no horses and wagons
to take it to market with, and your
neighbor has a corner on all the means
of transportation in the country, he
can charge you what he pleases fol
transportation.
If he asks you half the value OF your
crop Tor the use of his wagons, you
would hesitate, would you not before
going to him?
Well; money is a means of tranapor'
tation of the surplus products from
one place to another, or from one mar
to another, and nothing more; anc
there should be enough of it to effect
this without increasing debt.
Debt is the direct evidence of a wan
of money; the amount of debt wortf
its face and collectable measures ap
| proximately the amount of none,
needed more than is in circulation t.
do the business of the country.
| Some people talk of over-productiol
as the cause OF hard times. That i
sheer nonsence. Could man have s.
many provisions about his home tina
the surplus would starye his family
Can you have SO many cloths that yo'
will freeze to death for want of them
How then can the world have so mucl
as TO make hard timesY 1t is absurd
because impossible.
It's the want of money to effect eN
changes with that to-day is making
hard times. We have plenty of almos
everything else. The fact that ther
is money in the banks to be had by pay
ing for 1T Is no answer any more tina
to say there is gold in the mountain
to be had by paying for it. The pric
asked for the use of money is NOR
than the country can afford. tits simpl
ruin to those who continue long to bo
row.