The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-21
Watered Stock and Bullion.

l receive a great many letters,
especially from young men, making
inquiries as to public affairs. have
concluded that it would be better to
answer them through the columns of
the REPRESENTATIVE. I can thus
kill half dozen birds with one
stone. Here is letter, a sample of
many:
ZUMBRoTA, Mimi, May %, '93.
HON. 1GNATIUS DONNELLY.
Hastings, Minn.
DEAR SIR:-I have been trying to
get information concerning the evils
of Watered stock but have received
no answer. He wrote me before,
but was too busy to anSwer.-I. D.
l hope you will pardon me for fore
ing myself upon your valuable time,
and pray you to give me some infor-
nation in regard to their formation.
action, etc.
Is it true that England receives
our gold money for it's bullion value:
or, does she take it at it's money
value? If the former, why not-in
order to satisfy such as claim she
will accept only gold in payment for
our imports, s,-demonetize gold and
let her fill up on the precious bullion:
then remOnetiZe silver and use that
as our own basis? If England then
took notion to swallow all our gold
she would have terrible attack of
dyspepsia; seeing that she could
make nothing out of it, she would
then begin to crave for our single sill
yer standard, spew across the ocean
again the gold she had to spare,
when we could remOnetize gold,
thereby securing both silver and gold
as standards.
Would like to have you pass your
Judgment upon my arguments.
am young man trying to edu-
cate myself for my situation as a
legal voter of this "Our prosperous
country" My earnest desire is to
educate myself to vote intelligently
when for the first time deposit my
ballot SO as to cause it to contain the
names of those who will do my coun-
try the greatest possible good.
Having studied your heart
through your face, your speeches and
your most extraordinary books, 1 am
confident that you will deal honestly
with the questions / ask. Knowing
your fondness for educating people,
l have intruSted this question to
you thinking that if you could spare
moment you would use the oppor-
tunity to answer it, and oblfge a
young farmer just starting in life.
Yours with the deepest admiration,
M. I. RINGDAL.
I would reply to my young friend
as follows:
Watered stock is false capitaliza-
tion, which represents no capital
actually invested. For instance, the
railroads of Minnesota could be
duplicated for from ten to fifteen
thousand dollars per mile, finished
and completed, with the cars rum
ming thereon. Some put it as low as
Sc, 900 per mile; and Mr.. J. B. Farley
of the old St. Paul and Pacific r. R.
Co., actually built the road from
Breckenridge to Barnesville, some
years since, for a little over $1,000
per mile. But to be fair and reason
able we will call it $4,000 or $4,000
per mile. Now the railroads of Min
nesota are "bonded" and s'stocked''
for an average of $44 900 per mile. In
other words the people are paying in
terest on three or four times the
amount of money actually invested
in the road; and this interest makes
them so much the poorer, and makes
the holders of those bogus securities
so much the richer; for the cost of
transportation of all they buy and
Continued on page 4.