The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-01-24
THE WAY OUT-No. 4.
PROPOSITION CONTINUED.

Part Two.
PROPOSITION CONTINUED.
Kansas Farmer.
The people, through their govern
uent, should not only supply them
selves with money, bnt they should
also, provide for its use by the CITIZEN
OF just and equal terms. And it ough
not to be subject to taxation: Roads
are useful, but they have no market
value and are not taxed. School hous
es and court houses are not taxed, moi
are postoffices or government posta
railway cars. What the government
supplies to the people and manages
through its own officers is not taxed
and ought not to be, because 1t belongs
to the peopIe-to all the people-fol
their common use. So 1t ought to be
with money, except in cases where per.
sons use it unlawfuily, boarding 1t OF
leuding it on usury. 1t is the duty Of
the government to fix the rate Of
charges for the uso Of money quite az
much as to supply the money. This
; would do away with interest laws and
relieve the public from anxiety abo ut
papics and corners i'm the money mar
ket. because government and not indi-
vidual persons would control the mon
ey circulation.
1t is not proposed or expected that
needy persons will draw money from
the public fountain as they draw water
by simply turning faucet, nor that
any Utopian scheme of supplying indi.
vidual wants will be established. 1t
is not intended OF expected that any
, arrangement of business affairs will oc.
cur ry reason of the changes herein
proposed. Nor will there be repudia-
ton of debts. The change.will be easy
and without friction in business circles.
Banks and loan agencies will be as
necessary under the new system as un-
der the old; but charges for the use Of
money will be under control of the
people themselves in their common in.
terest. These charges will be fixed by
law, will be the came in all parts of
the country; every borrower will pay
like charges on equal amounts of mon
ey for the same length Of time.
1t will be necessary, of course, for
the government to own money enough
to operate the proposed plan, for mon.
ey owned by the people cannot be ia
ken from them lawfully by the gov
eminent without compensation. Ifit
were needful that more money should
be obtained than the government does
now possess in its own right, with
what it may readily and lawfully pro-
vide, it could be obtained by the issu-
ance and sale of bonds to the amount
needed. Fortunately there is no need
to resort to any extraordinary proceed
ings in this direction. Five hundred
million dollars is ample to set the
scheme in operation and obtain control
of all the money in the country SO far
as the matter of charge for use of bor-
rowed money Is concerned. The gov.
ernment may unquestionably regulate
charges for carrying passengers and
freight on railways, or for the trans
portation of mail matter or packages of
merchandise. The authority to reg.
ulate the value" OF money covers the
whole subject. Congress does not reg
ulate the rate Of interest to be charged
by national banks. States may, ifthey
desire, establish and maintain banks
of issue, but they connot lawfully
make anything but gold aud silver
coin tender in payment of debts"
States have all along had laws of their
own on the subject of interest; so they
have had laws regulating charges for
transportation on ferries. canals and
railways; but such laws do not exist
beyond the State lines. The inter-
State commerce law regulates COM
merce among the several States; every
railroad, short or long. now operated
in any of the States, is less or more
subject to the provisions of that law,
and it is altogether probable thae with
in few years the entire railroad bust
ness of the country will be regulated
by national law. The necessities of
the situation will bring about that re-
suit. Just so with the money and its
use. The government established a
national currency nearly a hundred
years ago, and added to it some $780,.
O00, 600 in the two years 1862 and 1868
Those troublous times brought about
many new applications of old princi-
pies. and.this isone of them-the provid-
ing of national currency for the use
OF the people. The thought is well ex-
pressed by Hon. James H. Huston,
treasurer of the United States, in his |
report for 1889, at the beginning of page
II. He says:
In becoming practically the sole is
suer Of currency, the government has |
assumed the duty of supplying the
needs of the public for a circulating
medium.
To suppose, then, that the govern
ment shall supply the needs of the
public for a circulating medium" is not
a new thing. That responsibility has
already been assumed. The only new
feature proposed is, that the "circulat-
ing medium" shall be supplied
tn the t:nnhl;..., at cost and NOT |