The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-06-21
Watterd Stock and Bullion.
Continued from page 1.

it is from that source the interest is
taken. So the roads became great
taxing machineS,-th degree of tax
alton being fixed by the owners pool
ing arrangement to prevent COMPETE
tion. Our state and county taxes are
regulated by the legislature, made
up of the agents of the tax payers;
but, in the matter of this vaSter
taxation, the people have no voice.
If they attempt to speak through
their legislatures their mouths are
muzzled by corruption, and the
period of legislation is limited by law
so that all the corporations have to
do is to postpone and stave-of action
until the gavel falls on the day of
final adjournment.
But it may be asked, is all watered
stock illegal? Should not the getters-
up of a railroad have some reward
for their labors? Yes; they should;
but it should be reasonable. For in
stance, if the road could be built for
$4,000 per mile, no one would seri-
ously object if the projectors of it
added $4,000 a mile for themselves;
this on every one hundred miles
would amount to 5000, 900; and on 500
miles it would be 100000. And
surely this would be compensation
enough for few months or even a
few years of effort. But when it
comes to building the road for $10,-
600 mile and taking 5000 mile
for bogus capitalization, on which
the producers are to be taxed forever,
it is, as the darkey said, making the
coffee too darned strong" The rail-
roads of the United States are "bond-
ed" and ''stocked" for $4,000 per
mile, while they could be built for
$4,000 or $4,000; and this gigantic
fraud takes from the people many
times the sum paid by them for all
other taxes; and the most of it is
carried out of the United States and
paid to foreigners, and lost forever to
our people; or if it returns at all it is
in the shape of mortgage-loans, at
high rate of interest, payable IN gold F!
The people having submitted to one
wrong are ever after feeced to pay
interest on the money so stolen from
them.
AS to the other question, asked by
my young friend, would say, that 1
hardly think his ideas would be prac-
ticable.
Gold is not money. It is a COM
modify, which, by immemorial usage
of the European nations has been
used as the vehicle for carrying the
government stamp or fiat. In itself
gold is intrinsically of little value.
If all the nations demonetized it it
would fall to Is cents on the dollar.
1t would be of no value except to fill
decayed teeth. discuss all this in
''The Golden Bottle" and have not
space to repeat the arguments here,
in detail. AS the balance of trade is
always, in year periods, in favor of
the United States, there is no neces-
sity to ship gold abroad. Our pur-
chases are paid for by bills of ex-
change drawn against our exports.
Our money is not and cannot be used
abroad, any more than English or
French money can be used here.
When gold is shipped it is shipped as
q commodity. If we were to cut loose
from gold altogether it would COM
pei those who wanted to trade with
us to take our productions in ex-
change, and thereby increase the de-
mand for what we had to sell.
Foreigners do not buy our wheat,
corn, pork, tobacco, cotton and wool.
because they love us, but because
millions of stomachs clamor for food;
and millions of backs for clothes;
and foreign merchants cannot an
swer this demand with arguments,
but must till them and cover them
with the products of labor and land.
These are the real things after all
the rest is all flumgummery or trick;
bankers, money-changers' inven-
lions, the basis of which is to give
nothing for, something.
We populists protest against the
demonstration of silver because we
believe it to be simply an attempt to
reduce the volume of metallic money
in the world one-half, and thereby
increase the value of gold, at the ex-
pense of industry, by breaking down
the value of the productions of labor,
and thereby the value of man him
self. And we think that, as long
as the world insists on clinging
to the old prehistoric, sun-and-moon-
worship standard, or superstition, of
gold and silver, we should have the
largest supply possible Of both, and
we therefore demand both; but we
believe that the real solution of the
mOney-problem is to break loose from
both gold and silver, and establish
an international paper money cur