The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-10-27

IuSS OL LOileSJ ldDOf. tie who Cvror
threw the tables Of the money changer
and denounced them as thieves sat
seal OF condemnation upon usllIy 40
we come along down the avpliIlo. 80
history we see the greatest Of annian,
empires tOtter and fall under the rnIr
nous weight of values Accumulated H..
interest. The wealth Of the Pnn,oJS
empire concentrated in the hands er+Ia.
few by uSury. And then in the mjIdio.
ages, when the light of Christian clriI
cation almost became extinct. glo,
the world thought nothing was u..ro,.
but gold and silver, and a lomd a.
flesh was eXacted, for a failure t. ra
turn, with uSurV, q pound of goId
During this age of gloom ana barbarian
misery, when the mines of the s0-ca.-I
''preciOuS metals" were mostly ay
hausted and abandoned. and when r..
metallic circulation Of money ha.
reached its lowest ebb since the Chris
tian era, there was evolved sv-t-uo,
feudaI service, more oppressive than
the long and dark centuries of metallic
money bondage. Still further ON we
come to the banking ERA, when IaDpr
notes are introduced and commercial
communities began to prosper. \ con
fury or two later, feudal bondage be-
gins to decline and the bondage Of
money usury again resumes It's sway
Coming along down to modern times
we see bloody revolutions IN France
and other European countries, all
caused by the same greed which gives
to money its unjust accumuiatIve
power. Later on we see the en0I nous
bonded Indebtedness of England, only
another phase of feudal oppression Sc
Curely intrenChed in the laws and Gus
toms of that mighty empire, which
loaded down the past and still increase
to cucumber and Cypress the present
generation of English wOrkingmen
We see q beaming star rising IN the
distant west, and the young repg6Iic
of the new world, on the memorable
Fourth of July, 1776. throws off the
yoke of British oppression and discards
the governmental theories of the past
nearly all-save one, but still cling
ing to the dead money metals. and giv-
ing them the same power to Oppm - by
unjust %eXtOrtiOn of interest which thpv
possessed from the dawn of CivIIiza
ton. This unjust power Of money to
accumulate by interest gives Us oar
enormous national bonded indebted
ness, the great weight OF nine millions
of farm mortgages and corporation
debts. The great floods of usury set in
motion by the accumulatIve power Of
unjust rates of interest T rapidly and
surely sweeping the farmers and labor
erS of free America into the vortex Of
helpless and abject poverty.
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, a. has
been seen, only earn, after support, ]
per cent. Thus the law enables money
to create value and usurD the God
given and sole prerOgative Of labor.
Labor is thus dethrOned by law. be
cause it Is unable to accumulate more
than l per cent-after support-uhUe
dead metal-inanimate money falsely
called capital, takes it's place, with the
favor Of the law, to earn s per crnt.
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 banks issued notes
at the rate, generally, of three t. one.
of specie dollars held by them. and II
many instances as many as tlgat and
ten to II In some of the States
notably New YOrk-the banks were
allowed to issue notes, based upon de
pOsitS-in the State TreaSury-Ct state
bonds. Under this, as we'll Is the
specie basis system, a very large
amount of bank nOtes-mOntl- would
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 of notes ny the
banks was called initiation, and a
knowledge of the fact that they would
not be able to redeem promptly, their
notes, in gold or silver would cuu>- the
money brokers to combine to obtain
the specie Of the banks for speculation.
With this view they would GUY up
large quantities of bank notes ana
make what was called "a run ON the
banks demanding immediate rcG.mp
ton in specie. The banks being unable
to meet such a large demand Tor gold
and silver, would be forced to suspend
specie payments resulting in delIocla
ton of their notes. This had the eject
to cripple the business of the banks
greatly curtailiug their discounts and
in order to quiet the brokers AMI stop
the runs" for specie, the banks
would loan their notes to the brokers
at a low rate of interest, on tong t.ae,
while the brokers, in turn, would re.
loan to the merchants and mJHatac
turers at high rates Of in crest on >hort
time. Finding themselves unau.c TO
obtain discounts at the banks. themeF
chants and manufacturers wOuIt thus
be placed at the mercy Of the "m"ney
changers" who would extend ET~a6I
and higher rates Of interest, sometimes
reaching 3 and ) per cent. m"aitL,
and thus create what was cs1Ira~
"mOney revulsion" or crises, "nS"
hundreds of the strongest m"rc%aj@'b5S
aud nnn11fnnt1 nninr Ennnr ,r-u-L "