Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-02-24
NO.. 40.
A CONCISE STATEMENT

bemand the Land-L03n and Sub-HFe0s-
ury.
We start out with the proposition
that except in Switzerland at present
all nations have created exchange in
the ages past by means of two agencies
the mines and banks.
The condition by which the earth is
made to yield money to certain fortu-
nate individuals is not now for public
discussion. 1t will come up in the
future, but not Immediately. The
cause of offense in the matter of mines
money is that while men are fortunate
In owning a successful mine, that good
fortune is not of necessity serious
drawback to the people. A man who
gets wagon load of gold or silver,
under free coinage can take that to the
mint and have it coined When
coined it is in his pocket" so to speak,
or in circulation, without owing any
debt to a bank, and without owing
annual interest to increase a debt.
There are matters to adjust, however,
in the future, in relation to mines.
But as to artificial money, or p ire ex-
change, there are the most important,
Neven distressing, issues which have
| arisen, and which the peoples party
proposes to settle at once and settle
forever.
Ninety-nine dollars out of every hun
dred of exchange, in the commercial
world, is artificial or credit exchange.
This credit exchange is of two kinds,
primarily. That is, there is the money
made and delivered by the government,
or by the people. There is also the
phaaly ond dra ;Scuoc ~ tba ha all
under legal restrictions which are sup
posed to make them secure
All government issue by all govern
ments, with very few exceptions, have
been uttered by the government, but
placed in the hands of either private
persons or private corporations to be
| essentially owned or completely con-
troled by such private concerns. OF
this nature are all national banks, in
Guiding the United States, the Bank of
England, the Bank of France, Prussia,
Vienna, etc, the John Law affair, the
Argentine Cedula, ETC., etc. The green
back was not of this nature, but the
greenback was not made full legal
tender.
The underlying principle upon which
| all these issues are made is as follows:
| If no other exchange but this was
created in any government then every
! dollar in existence in such nation would
| be
1. Issued by the people.
2. Issued to private concerns for
their private benefits-all interest go
ing to the government, or any part of
it, but wholly to the private concerna
| hot ta (of
exchange), if issued by this method,
has no value of its own, but is debt
| This distinguishes it from intrinsic
value, or exchange issued to pay debt
In other words, not dollar" really
exists under such issues, but debts ex-
ist, and debts not to a government, but
| to the bank
| 4. The sum total of such debt ma
/ tional IN extent because national is
sues, is always greater than the amount
of exchange or money" in existence
to pay it with; because the debt is al
ways bearing interest. To illustrate:
| If nation issues ten hundred millions
in this way, the people will owe, at the
end of the first twelve months, eleven
hundred millions, and only ten hun
| dred in existence to pay with-one hun
| dred millions to pay solely by mort
gage. If this were paid to the govern
ment it would be, in sense, a taxa
| ton to pay expenses. But 1t is paid to
private concerns to build up vast for
tunes and centralize wealth.
The peoples party, following in the
lead of one or two civilized nations,
| proposes that currency or exchange
| (pure or artificial exchange) shall still
be issued by government
1. Still issued by and for the people
2. Still limited in extent, by law, as
in all history of such matters.
3. Secured by property, the same as
by promise of both greenbacl and
bond but in reality as well as promise
4. Issued directly to the people-the
interest solely to represent the expense
of issue-any overplus to be applied
as taxation is applied
5. To be issued, at least at first. as a
J debt-lifter rather than a debt-creator.
The first proposition that appeals to
man of sound judgment, as he under
takes thus to create exchange for the
people, is this:
There are two kinds of artificial ex.
| change, the permanent and the flexible
or expansive The permanent currency
exists from generation to generation,
so long as nation has an existence
or until replaced by other forms. If a
bill is worn out, it is replaced. But
flexible or expansive currency is pro.
duced by extraordinary demands made
at certain seasons of the year, at de-
mand of nature itself. This REQUIRES
the issue of every available credit &c
move crops. This is not an expansion
to accommodate a theory. 1t is ar
actuality and a necessity, and durino
these times every citizen in the natior
feels the contraction of currencv nro
duced by the extraordinary demands
Mercantile houses find their accommo
dation loans cut off, and every nro
ducer finds himself paying 1O6 cents OF
every dollar-and if he borrows or
storehouse checks" he pays beside,
from one to two per cent. a month
All of this enormous tax Ton over one
half billion dollars) goes to the me,
who furnish ''credit'-the banks q
this country and England.
The peoples party says; Let tn,
permanent currency be based on Der
maneat security. There is but one 4
stock of goods in a store could no
furnish security for currency to exist &
hundred years. In five, ten. twenty
years, it would be destroyed, or sold
or divided by testation among heirs
There IS but one imm 1vable, indie
structible, unstealable property for q
permanent securIty-and that is land.
Let that land be solely homesteads oc-
cupied. Let it be in the. city or coun-
try. And many of us hold that at first
it should be on homesteads where the
loan OF the government takes up pre-
existing debt Let the loan be for long
tiIne-say twenty years In Switzer.
land it is thirty years. Let it be at one