Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-08-12
The suR-rREAsuRY PLAN.

!
| the market within the short period of
from thirty to ninety days of the enor-
nous volume of commodities or market
able produce for exchange represented
by the farmers crops, caused such an
extraordinary strain or demand upon
the ordinary volume of money In circu-
lation as to greatly increase the price
of money and lower the price of the
| farmers products.
But perhaps the existing evil condi-
ton, with its ruinous results, as also
the remedy suggested in the sub-treas-
ury plan, mot billy can best be de-
scribed in the words of the committee
on the monetary system" clip from
the report of said committee, made at
St Louis, Mo-, on Decem Der z, 1889, as
! follows:
! 1t may DO likened unto a simple nlustra-
ton in philosophy. The inflexible 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 ap
| piled. and it is either raised or lowered with
great certainty to correspond with the
volume of bank issue. Any mechanic will
instantly recognize the fact that the quick
| est and surest way of destroying the power
| of the lever to raise or lower price Is to
| move the resistance offered by the fulcrum
| the infiexible volume OF money SO as to
| control price Ii so man ipulated as to develop
| and apply POI ent force, for which we
have In the English language no name; but
| II Is the power OF money to Cypress, and 10
| demonstrated follows: In the last four
months OF the year the agricultural prod
ucts OF the whole year having been har-
vested, they are placed on the market to buy
money. The amount of money necessary to
supply this demand is equal many times
to the amount in circulation. Neverthe-
less the class that controls the volume OF
! the circulating medium desire to purchase
these agricultural products for speculative
! purposes, 81 they reduce the volume OF
money by boarding, in the face of the aug
mented demand, and thereby advance the
exchangeable value of the then inadequate
volume of money, which is equivalent to ro-
ducing the price of the agricultural prod
ucts True agriculturlsts should hold their
products and not sell at these ruinously low
prices. And no doubt they would IL they
could, but to prevent that practically all
debts, taxes and interest are made to mature
at that time, and they being forced to have
money at a certain season when they have
the product of their labor to sell, the power
OF money to Cypress by its scarcity Is ap.
piled until IL makes them turn loose their
products so low that their labor expended
does not average them fifty cents per day.
This illustrates the power Of money to op.
press. The remedy, before, lies in re-
moving the power Of the fulcrum-the in
uoAlDlo RONtTnuleuV lSSu6-dnu SUPPLYING q
government issue, the volume OF which
shall be increased to correspond with the
actual addition to the wealth of the nation
presented by agriculture at harvest time,
and diminished as such agricultural prod
| uotg are consumed Such a flexibillty of
| volume would guarantee a stability of price
| based on cost of production which would be
| compelled to reckon the pay for agricultural
| labor at the same rates other employ
ment. Such fieAibility would rob money of
| its most potent power-the power to op-
press-and place premium on productive
| eff TT
To attempt 10 deny the correctness of
the above diagnosis of the existing I'M
toward conditions would imply an idle
waste of time.
But there is contained in the above a
keynote to the situation, and sugges-
ton of a remedy, or at least of an avoid
ance of the accompanying result, to
which wish to call the readers atten-
ton. 1t is contained in these words:
True agriculturists should hold their
products and not sell at these ruinously
low prices. And no doubt they would
if they could" etc, etc, etc. This is a
plain statement or claim that if the far
mers could hold their products" off the
market, selling only to fill the legiti-
mate demand for consumption, and
selling only such an amount each day,
week or month, as is sufficient to sup
ply such demand for consumption, the
farmer would be relieved from ''the
power of money to Cypress" and would
receive fair remuneration for his Ia
Dor. And this relief and fair remunera-
ton would be afforded without any in,
crease in the volume of money. Hence
l reason that the storage of the far
mer's crops, and the withholding such
crops from market until such time as
demanded for consumption, is remedy
pure, simple and effectual of itself
Now 1 want to formulate another
proposition, as follows An increase
in the volume of money, equal to, say,
four-ffths of the market value of the
products at harvest time, ito be dimin-
ished as such agricultural products are
consumed" would also be q remedy
pure, simple and complete, of itself,
without the storage of crops. The is.
sue of such supplemental volume would
maintain labor upon the farm upon the
same level as labor expended in any
other industry, while the cancellation
and destruction of such money as the
| RTO0uCOS WCIO COASuIucO1 WOuIQ pre-
vent SPECTATORS from advancing the
price.
That is to say, If the farmer can store
his product he does not need any in
crease in the volume of currency, while
If he can have issued supplemental
issue of currency, as above described,
he does not need to store his crops
Why, then, are both these remedies
included in the sub-treasury bill? They
are certainly not included in the plan
as outlined in that portion of the report
of the committee on the monetary sys.
tenn given above. Read it carefully
and you will see that the report only
suggests the supplying a government
issue, the value of which shall be in
creased to correspond with the actual
addition to the wealth of the nation
presented by agriculture at harvest
time and diminished as such agricultur,
al products are consumed" There is
nothing said about the storage of prod
ucts.
Why then was the storage feature In
troduced? Because, again using the
language contained in the report
of the committee, practically
all debts, taxes and interest are
made to mature at that time, and they
being forced to have money at certain
season when they have the product OF
their labor to sell, the power of money
to Cypress, by its scarcity, is applied un.
, til it makes them turn loose their pro-
, ducts so low that their labor expended
does not average them fifty cents a
day"
Now it is evident that the two to.
gether, storage of products and sup
elemental or temporary increase in the
J volume of money, are not needed;
either one being a complete remedy by
itself What then was the intention OF
the plan as more fully elaborated?
! First To allow the farmer to store his