The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1891-11-20


80 adjusted as TO afford but a bare sub
sistenos for the wage worker. Why,
as Uncle Ben says, save something, IL
10 Is only ten cents week" Ten cents
q week will amount % the sum Of SI5d
at the end of thirty years. which
will at least pay for de-
cent funeral One might even
save one dollar a week, aud at the end
of thirty years unremitting toll have
the huge sum OF s., $50. just think OF
iti Almost enough TO buy the flowers
f"r an upper-ten banquet ] am speak
ing of savings, pure and simple, unaided
By that unholy and accursed thing called
usury or interest or by speculation in
Gods free gift and mans common her
itage-the ground upon which we live,
move and have our being. No man, as
a result Of honest toll, ever accumulated
in lifetime of effort more than few
thousand dollars at the most million
aires being a crime against society aud
a monument 70 legislative i'm becility or
, worse,
have given Uncle Ben the benehtof
doubt in assuming that ne is a satirical
humorist. who. taking the opportunity
afforded him, slyly pOkes FUN at the
moclling piutOcrais who invite labor %
save "a competence out OF the bare,
very bare, subsistence allowed IL by
capitalism 1t may be, however, that
Uncle Ben really believes the rot he has
written, ia which case may the Lord
have mercy upon his soul.
But the crowniug gem in this coIlec-
tion of sparkling sEtires, or the most
deplorabIe exhibition of the results Of
false teachings Of political economy as
the case may be, is the following state
ment with which the pamphlet closes;
when the many foolishiy spend ali
they earn, wealth flows into the Golfers
LOT sEsa Har nd q
to the state But when all the people
save, then all the people are prosper
GUS And the kindly blessing Of Heaven
rests upon that land
The above proposition, while it may
be fully in accord with the teaching of
the old school Of political economy, Is.
nevertheless. false and uutenabie in
fact failacious in it's theory, pernicious
in its teachings and disastrous in its
results I will now briefly submit
few arguments to establish the truth
Of the following PROPOSITIONS:
First-That nation attains to the
greatest degree ct prosperity, and Sc
wealth, in which each and all spend
their entire earnings
Secoud-The present system of saw
ing, supplemented as IL Is by "a system
of banks and loan and trust companies,
is as much as any other agency, re-
spOnsible for the hOw of wealth into
the Golfers of the few"
i wish to formulate few ideus upon
the subjects of money and interest
Money is not wealth; It is simply a
medium OF exchange OF material
wealth Money, then, must be dupli-
cation of existent material wealth so
that if all money was destroyed there
would be none the less wealth Even
intrinsic value lunatics will admit.
~
than that made of gold and silver, is
simply a duplication OF wealth IL is
upon this foundation they build their
specie basis theory Let us figure a
little. At the close of the year 1890
there was something over 81, 900, coo, 600
deposited in the various bank
ing institutions of the United
of which amount could be
redeemed or paid in gold or silver,
there being considerably less than
81, 900, 600, 600 in specie in the nation,
and most Of that is in such ownership
that the depositors would not be likely
90 get it in the case OF a crash. So that
the specie basis advocate Will readily
admit that four-ffths OF the deposits Of
the United States are simply orders for
certain amounts Of wheat corn beef,
land, cotton. etc But the s. OOO, OO0, 900
claimed to be on deposit is three times
as much as all the money in the United
States. So, then. these deposits are
reduplicatiou Of a duplication of ma
terial wealth
Moral: The amount of a nations
savings or deposits Of money is no
index or guide to the nations wealth
oF materi n prosperity. The true index
is the amount of It's material wealth.
Interest is simply rent or usage for
money, aud in its simplest analysis is
wages paid TO money. 1t gives TO an
inanimate substance the powers and
attributes OF humanity, and invests
money with q right belonging solely
to labor-tuat OF earning aud uccumu-
lating wealth II the wages of the
labcrer are upon an average $3.50
year, then every s., 900 loaned out
a. seven per cent represents an imma-
terials imaginary man, who, though he
tolls not, nor produces, yet draws his
wages from the total product of labor,
the same as 10 be really existed The
growth or increase OF money at interest
adds nothing 60 the wealth Of q nation;
1t sim ply transfers the wealth produced /
by the toll Of the many into the hands
OF the idle few AS interest must be
paid in the products OF labor. all inter
est is, in fact paid by labor; hence,
though labor, as a class. may save much
money and allow the banks TO put 10
out at interest. labor may rest assured
that it itself Is paying the interest e
thinks It Is receiving. as well IS the exc
cess charged by the banks above the
rate paid 70 the frugal, saving labOrer.
Let us figure little more We will
assume that the banks pay an average
of three per cent Tor the $1,000. 8O3, coo /
deposited vita them, although this I
estimate is much too high On the /
other hand, ten per cent Is q very con /
seErGtivs estimate Of the rate OF inter Z
est realized bg the nati0nal and saw I
iuEz banks and loan and trust con- |
paEies for the use of thsso deposits. I
Here, then, is @ dfEersucs Of seven per I
cent upon 81 COO OJO 600. which I
to $3.50. 600. 900 q year realized I
by these Institutions as interest upon I
other peoples money No wonder that I
ahe national banks alone realized earn ]
iugs, in the year 1890, amounting 20 SIS 4