The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-01-14
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
On the Monetary System which was
Adopted by the st. Louis.
x Convention.

OONC1 A14OAAG 0SSAA4O SS-NHJ
iarly adapted to further the interests
of the specializing class, at the expense
and TO the manifest detriment of the
productive class, and while there are
MANY forms of relief offered, there
has up to the present time Decn no
true remedy presented which has Sc,
cured a support universal enough to
render it's adoption probable. Neither
of the political parties offer a remedy
ADEQUATE to our necessities, and the
two parties that have been in power
since the war have pursued practically
the same financial policy. The situa-
ton is this: The most desirable and
necessary reform is n that will ad-
lust the financial system of the Gen
eral Government so that its provisions
cannot be utilized by a class, which
thereby becomes privileged and is in
consequence contrary to the genius of
our government, and which is today
the principal cause of the depressed
condition of agriculture. Regardless
of all this the political parties utterly
ignore these great evils and refuse to
remove their cause, and the Emporium
tiles of the privileged class have no
doubt often led the executive and leg
islative branches of the government to
believe that the masses were passive
and reconciled to the existence of this
system whereby aprivileged class can,
by means of the power of money to
Cypress, exact from labor all that it
produces exact a bare subsistence.
Since then it is the most necessary of
all reforms, and receives no attention
from any of the prominent political
parties, it is highly appropriate and
important that our efforts be concen-
trated to secure the needed reform in
this direction, provided all can agree
upon such measures. Such action
will in no wise connect this movement
to any partisan effort, as it a be ap-
piled to the party to which each mem
Der belongs.
In seeking a trus and practical
remedy for the evils that now flow
from the imperfections in our financial
system, let US first consider what is
the greatest evil, the Sne that out
strips all others so far that it is in
stantly recognized as the chief, and
known with certainty to be more op-
pressive to the productive interests of
the country than any other influence,
is that which delegates to a certain
class the power to fix the price of all
kinds of produce and of all commodi-
ties. This power is not delegated di-
rectly, but it is delegated indirectly
by allowing such class to issue a large
per cent. of the money used al the
circulating medium of the country,
and having the balance of such circu-
lating medium, which is issued by the
government, a fixed quantity that is
not augmented to correspond with the
necessities of the times. In conse-
Gu6nce of this the money issued by
the privileged class. which they are at
liberty to Withdraw at pleasure, can
be, and is, so manipulated as to con
troll the volume of circulating medium
in The country sufficiently to produce
fluctuations in general prices at their
pleasure. 1t may be likened unto a
simple illustration in philosophy: The
in6exible volume of the government
issue is the fulcrum, the volume Of
the bank issue is the lever power, and
price is the point at which power is
applied, and it is either raised or low
cred with great certainty to correspond
with the volume of bank issue. Any
mechanic will instantly recognize the
fact that the quickest and surest way
of destroying the power of the lever
to raise or lower price is to remove
the resistance offered by the fulcrum
the infexible volume of government
issue. The power to regulate the
volume Of money so as to control
price is so manipulated as to develop
and apply a potent force, for which
we have in the English language no
name; but it is the power of money to
Cypress, and is demonstrated as fol
lows: In the last four months of the
year the agricultural products Of the
whole year having been harvested,
they are placed on the market to buy
money. The amount of money neces.
sary to supply this demand is equal to
many times the actual amount In cir
culation. Nevertheless the class that
controls the volume of the circulating
medium desire to purchase these agri-
cultural produce for speculative pur-
poses, so they reduce the volume of
money by boarding, in the face of the
augmented demand, and thereby adj
vance the exchangeable value the then
inadequate volume of money, which
is equivalent to reducing the price of
the agricultural products. True agri.
culturists should hold their products
and not sell at these ruinously low
prices. And no doubt they would if
they could, but to prevent that, pr4c
tically all debts, taxes and interests