The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-03-25
A CONCISE STATEMENT


OF tho Conditions and Requisites Which
Demand the Land-Loan and Sub-Treas-
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 successful mine, that good
fortune is not of necessity a serious
drawback to the people. A man who
gets a 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 pure ex-
change, there are the most important,
even distressing, issues which have
arisen, and which the peoples party
proposes to settle at once and settle
forever.
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
check and draft issues of the bank; all
under legal restrictions which are sup
posed to make them secure
All government issues 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-
trolled 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.
,. Issued to private concerns for
their private benefits-all interest 60
ing to the government, or any part of
it, but wholly to the private concerns.
s. Every dollar that exists (of pure
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 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:
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 a sense, a taxa
ton to pay expenses. But it 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
tpure or artificial exchange) shall still
be issued by government
1. Still issued by and for the people.
.. Still limited in extent, by law, as
in all history of such matters.
B. Secured by property, the same as
by promise of both greenback and
bond but in reality as we'll as promise
f. Issued directly to the people-the
interest solely to represent the expense
of issue-any overplus to be applied
as taxation is applied.
s. To be issued, at least at first, as
debt-lifter rather than debt-creator
The first proposition that appeals to
a 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
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-
lnand of nature itself. This requires
the issue of every available credit. to
move crops. This is not an expansion
to accommodate a theory. 1t is an
actuality and a necessity, and during
these times every citizen in the nation
feels the contraction of currency pro-
duced by the extraordinary demands.
Mercantile houses find their accommo-
dation loans cut off, and every pro-
Queer finds himself paying 1o6 cents on
every dollar-and if he borrows on
storehouse checks" he pays besides
from one to two per cent. month.
All of this enormous tax ION over one
half billion dollars) goes to the men
who frrnich ttorolit,s <1,o l~o-l-z