The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-12-22

of money, al-O conferred b. law,
ITS POWER TO ACCUMULATE VALUE BY
INTEREST
has made it, in all ages, an engine OF
oppression. We have already seen to
what extent, and the rate per cent. at
which labor can accumulate value by
saving its surplus earnings, IS we'll as
the enormous and vastly superior
power of money 10 accumulate value
by interest.
This unjust power of money was con
demued bY the law of Moses. "Incu
shalt not lend up II usury to thy
brother, " i pray you let us leave oil
thus uSury." are divine ~mJunctlpnS,
and ~ human law a Justify a rate
! of Interest greater than the net earnings
of honest labor. He who OverthreW the
tables Of the money changers ami de
u0IInccj Them rs thieves, set has seal OF
coudemu0'iouupon usury. A. WecoEl2
along down the avenues OF history we
see the greatest OF ancient empires tot
ter and fall under The enormous weight
If values accumulated by interest
The wealth Of the Roman empire con
! centrated in the hands o. the faW by
uSury. And then in the middle ages.
when the light of Christian CIVILIZATION
! Utmost became extinct; when the world
thought nothing was money but gold
and silver, and y pound Of flesh was eX
acted, for Il failure to return, with
Usury. q pound Of gold. During this
age Of gloom and barbarian misery,
when the mines Of the so called pre-
ciOus metals" were mostly exhausted
and abandoned, and when the metallic
cucui",iou of money had reached its
lowest "bb since the Christian era, there
was evolved Z system of feudaI service,
more oppressive than the long and
dark centuries Of metallic money
bondage. Still further on we come to
the banking era. when paper notes are
introduced and commercial commune
ties began to prosper. y century or
two later, fcu1al bondage begins to de
cline and the bondage Of money usury
again resumes lis sway. Coming along
down TO modern times we see bloody
revolutions in France and other Euro
pean countries. all caused by the same
greed which gives tt money its unjust
accumIIatiVe power. Later ON We see
! the enormous bonded Indebtedness Of
England, only another phase If f@udal
oppression securely Intronched IL the
laws and customs of that mighty en-
pre-, which loaded down the past and
stjIi increases to UnCumbrr and OIprtSS
/ jhe present generation OF English work
iHZnen. We see q beamiug star rising
il the distant west, AMI the young Te
public Of the new world. IN the mem
Orable Fourth Of July, I716, throws off
the yoke Of British oppression and dis
! cards the governmental theories Of the
past-ucarIy all-saVe one, but still
clinging to the dead money metals. and
giving them the same power to Cypress
! by unjust cXtOrJiun of interest which
they possessed from the dawn Of civil
ZatIOn. The unjust power Of money TO
accumulate by interest gives Us our
enormous national bonded indebted
ness. the great weight Of nine millions
of farm mortgages and corporation
debts. The great floods Of uSuryset ID
motion by the accumulative power Of
unjust rates Of interest are rapidly and
surely sweepng the farmers and labor
ers Of free America into the vortex Of
helpless and abject poverty. j..
Money should not and must not be
allowed. by law to accumulate faster
than labor. The law gives money the
power to accumulate value at the rate
of s per cent, while labor can, as has
been seen, only earn, after support, I
per cent. Thus the law enables money
to create value and usury the God
given and sole p~rerOgative Of labor.
Labor is thus dethroned by law, be-
cause it is unable to accumulate more
than l per cent-after suppOrt-while
dead metal-inanimate mOney-faIsely
called capital, takes its place, with the
favor of the law, to earn S per cent.
But an examination Of the methods Of
the
ANTE-BELLUM BANKS
will exhibit in a still stronger light the
power of money to accumulate by
interest, Unlike the present national
banks, the old State bOnks issued notes
at the rate, generally, of three to one,
Of specie dollars held by them, and in
many instances as many as eight and
ten to ne. In some Of the States
notably New YOrk-the banks were
allowed to issue notes, based upon de
pOslts-ln the State Trea3ury-Of State
bonds. Under this, as well az the
specie basis s. stem, a very large
amount of bank nOtes-mOnev-w0uld
get into circulation. while the banks
were liable, at any time, to be called
upon to redeem their notes in gold and
silver. This large issue O fnOtes by the
banks was called imitation, and a
knowledge of the fact that they would
not be able to redeem promptly their
notes, i'll gold or silver would cause the
money brokers to combine to obtain
the specie of the banks for speculation.
With this view they would buy up
large quantities Of bank notes and
make what was called "a run" on the
banks demanding Immediate redemp-
ton in specie, The banks being unable
to meet such a large demand for gold
and silver, would be forced 90 suspend
specie payments resulting in deprecia-
ton of their notes. This had the effect
to cripple the business of the banks
greatly curtailing their discounts-and
in order to quiet the brokers and stop