Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-11-25

cause there is less money to spend. and
as wages rise and men become dear all
species of wealth become cheap, l. e.,
easy to obtain. If all spend all they
earn all merchants, jobbers, manufact-
urers, artisans and mechanics will be
fully employed and wages will rise.
Soon the farmer will feel the effect in
an increased demand and better prices
for his products, and thus, his purchas-
ing capacity being increased, he buys
more gooda Of all kinds and
that calls for more laborers,
whose wages. in being spent, call for
greater production, until two employ
ers hunt for one man willing to hire,
instead of, as now, million men vain
ly seeking for q chance to produce
wealth. But suppose each and all save
all they can Each dollar saved means
dollar sale the merchant loses. which
deprives labor of the work necessary to
produce a dollars worth of goods,
which again lessons the merchants
sales. This soon affects the jobber
and the manufacturer, and men
are discharged to compete with
those already in the search for
employment Wages go down,
business is stagnate and tramps
abound Soon the farmer feels it in
decreased demand and lower prices for
his product, and, unable to realize a
profit, he becomes (as he has been for
several years. unable to buy goods,
merchandise and commodities, and
again more labor is thrown idle. Soon
the merchant must borrow money, and
whose money do you think he borrows?
Why the money the frugal, economical
people have saved. And who pays the
interest2 Nobody but the poor. deluded
fools who have saved their money and
loan out for them. Labor pays all
interest, but tho money-mongers and
usurers erect palatial mansions and
massive business blocks with the
interest realized upon other peoples
money.
What Is the remedy?
First-Establish the graduated, cumu-
lative tax system. This will destroy
all trusts, establish a multiplicity of
establishments with just sufficiency
of capital to profitably operate with
and necessitate the employment Of a
multitude of men who are now idle.
Second-Enact into law the Stanford
bill, with clauses added providing for
safety fund notes or national savings
bonds, and a system of sub-treasuries
postal savings banks?) in the principal
cities and towns. If the interest upon
land loans Is two per cent, the interest
upon savings bonds might be IL
per cent, so that the excess of in
terest paid by the individual to the
people, over that paid by the people to
the individual, would pay all expenses
of the land and loan bureau and sub
treasury system.
This would provide a currency for
the use of the people almost entirely
free from the burden of interest and
automatic in its supply, its volume ex-
banding with the legitimate demands
of commerce and trade. The nominal
use of money would not enrich any in
dividuals, but would simply pay the
expenses of the peoples banking sys-
tenn and a nominal interest upon the
nations savings, the desideratum being
not big interest but absolutely safe de-
post for the money saved
Under this system no individual
or corporation could corner the
money market or enrich them
selves at tho expense of others,
while the legal current rate of in
! terest established being less than the
profit ultimately accruing to money in
vested in business, there would at all
times be as much money in circulation
as the business of the country de.
manded and the people could profita-
bly, use. The earnings Of money in
use being so much greater than the
rate OF interest paid depositors az per
cent no money would be saved except
for legitimate purposes, and the peo-
pies wealth would be material instead
OF fictitious Labor would be fully
employed and the energies of the
nation be devoted to producing wealth
material wealth. The average an
nual earnings of money would have to
fall to less than IL per cent before
that rate of interest would be any in
ducement to anyone to save money, ex-
cept as fund for old age or sickness
or some other such legitimate purpose.
The drones and parasites would have
to 90 to work, as such a system Of
finance as I have outlined would soon
render banks and loan and trust In.
situations, with their promoters and ex-
ploiters, useless
Civilization demands an improved
system Of finance, in which the circulat-
Ing media Qabor checks) of the people
shall be subject to the peoples demand
for use, free from the God-accursed
and Misunderstanding attribute of usury.
Three cheers for land currency
George C Ward, in National View.