The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-02-08
How Money Accommodates and
Where il Goes.

In Mulhall's Balance Sheet of the
World" the interesting fact is noted that
every day that the sun rises upon the
American people it sees an addition OF
$2,500,000 to the accumulation of wealth in
the United States, which is equal 10 one
third of the daily accumulation of all man.
kind outside of the United States"
In view of the pinching economy the
producing class who wiring from nature
daily this vast sum of wealth, the question
arises. what becomes OF the surplus after the
daily necessities of producers are supplied
They certainly do not have the surplus
which the active brain and hands aided by
the wonderful labor-saving machinery now
in use, daily produces. He who dares 60 in
debt in sum ever SO small can hardly hope
ever to accumulate sufficient of this surplus
wealth to liquidate the debt This is es-
peclally so among farmers, who are the
great producers of wealth. Half the farms
IN Cecil county, probably, are under debts
OF greater or less amount. Four-fifths OF
| them in the Western States are reported to
be in this predicament. And but few of the
owners haye any hope of rescuing their
property from the star fish, capital, which
hovers over them sucking away their sub
stance.
Debts that were contracted years ago when
money was plenty and necessarily cheap, or
the products of industry high, which is the
same thing, retain still the face value of the
obligation which binds them with its rate of
interest, while the value of money has
doubled, measured by the amount of labor
and property required to secure it, which
condition of affairs has to all intents and
purposes doubled the original sum, and thus
intrenched and protected, capital is enabled
to haul in, like drag net which nothing
can escape, all the earnings of industry,
not necessarily consumed in keeping the
industrial machinery in motion.
For the last quarter of century eyery
step taken by state or national government
has been in the direction of fostering, pro-
tecting and favoring capitalized wealth and
discriminating against Individual enterprise
and industry. Telegraph, telephone, cleo
trio light, gas, street railway, steam railway
franchises have all been recklessly and
literally given away, with the requirement
of scarcely a dollar in compensation for
these and other invaluable franchises. from
the corporate companies which received
these incompatible sources of wealth, the
rlghtful property of the people. These are
all natural monopolies, which when deliy.
cred into the hands of combined capital. by
the state is as complete transfer of the
Liberties of the people into their hands by
the deed or articles of incorporation, as it is
possible to conceive, and leave with people
the shadow and name of liberty. These
privileges called franchises, now control
every avenue of industry. They lie across
every man and woman's pathway in life and
business; and exact such toll as the vic; in, is
capable of paying and live. Their power
is almost unlimited and unrestricted. The
corporations not only capitalize the amount
CT money required to utilized the privilege
granted by the state, but they immediately
proceed to double the amount, by what is
termed watered stock, and collect toll to
pay interest or this fraudulent capital
forged notes-which the public are daiIy
paying interest on, at rate of 5 to ~ per
cent and in many instances still higher
When we consider that the country is COW
cred with net work of these tax gatherers
can there be any surprise that the whole In.
dustrial, producing class is daily growing
poorer, tnat debts contracted years ago are
unpaid and unpayable, that farmers are
drifting toward theshoals of tenant farming,
the same as the Irish tenant farming svs-
tenn? When thousands of farm mortgages
are forclosed and the property goes into the
hands Of the capitalist what is left to the
farmer but 10 become tenant?
These valuable franchises named above
belong 10 the public and should never be
given ir fee simple to combined capital be-
hind which to establish fortified monopoly,
that reaching out its Sucking tenticles,
draws into lis capacious NAV the wealth of
the people as fast as it is developed.
Last year these artful vampires started the
whole nation on false scent after the tariff,
while unmolested, and unobserved they
continued to ilhten their grasp and quietly
suck its life blood away. So great was this
craze that even farmers never stopped to
ask themselves the simple question-"Wel