The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1892-06-10

Improvement added to the money by
its passing through the hands OF the
bankers. 1t only makes it cost the
people many times as much in interest
and complicates the process by which
they get it. The bonkers are parasites
who feed and fatten upon the people.
! Wherefore then continue them as banks
of issue !?
Owing to the scarcity Of money here
foreigners have brought it and loaned
it upon our enterprises, and the interest
they draw on it impoverishes our peo-
pie by taking abroad the earnings Of
their labor. 1t is almost impossible to
say how much is drawn from US every
year as interest on foreign investments
here, but there is good reason to believe
it is as much as would be required to
meet all governmental expenses. What
have these foreign capitalists to show
FOR their investments which thus i'm
poverish us, save bit Of paper on
which the contract is written? Sup
pose that money had been furnished by
our government and that it held the
same bits of paper which the foreigner
now holds, would it not be equally as
binding on our people to pay the in
terest to ourselves as it is to pay it to
the foreigner, and we would not then
be enriching another? 1t is always
foolish to borrow of others what we can
furnish of our own, and yet that is
what we have done and are doing but
need not continue to do.
We will say that the money upon
which the business of our country Is
done costs our p' ople an average of 9
per cent, and that is not high esti-
mate, and that the taxes our people
pay for the support of our national
government amounts TO, as it actually
does, So per capita; then the 9 per
cent, if paid to the government instead
Of the capitalists, would support the
government, and the people would be
saved the So per capita. But suppose,
again, that the people could utilize SO
much money as to bring the interest
thereon at per cent up to the neces.
sary expenses Of the government, then
the people would be saved IS per capita
and 5 per cent on all money used.
Would it not be great thing for the
people Who would be injured by it !?
Only those who are now parasites.
Our exports in the main vastly ex-
coed our imports, and but for the in
terest we pay abroad this excess would
in few years accumulate vast amounts
in the precious metals here, and we
would be the richest people ON the
face of the earth.
There never could be better time to
put this plan in operation than now
Vast is the amount Of debt the people
owe. Their homes are falling q prey
to the Shylocks. Let this government
step forward and take the evidences of
debt from the Shylocks. paying them
in full legal.tender money, and holding
itself the evidences of debt against the
people and collecting itself the interest
thereon. This is what | mean by the
government being the capitalist. Of
course there should be a limit to the
amount of money and the amount of
land on which it was issued; a limit
which would secure homes to the many
and at the same time prevent large
landholders from monopol'zing the land
and the issue. This would settle at
once the long-agitated tariff question
by making tariff unnecessary for the
support of the government. and it
would also settle the protection ques-
tion. In this way, after q graduated
income tax had been levied upon cap
italists and applied to defraying the
national expenses. we could make up
the balance necessary by so low a rate
of interest on the money in use that
our enterprises could obtain money
cheaper than anywhere in the world,
which, together with a release from
national taxation, would be all the pro-
lection they would need or ought to
have.
To obtain any legislation for the good
of the people, the people must have q
clear majority in Congress. There
can be no balance Of power which they
can WELD. There are but two FREEDOM.
mating interests in this government
one is the interest Of the usurer, the
other the interest of the producer. Any
act which is for the protection of the
producer will be opposed by the whole
nnwar of the uaurer in whakavar uorkx