Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1894-03-02
A POPULIST TALKS.
The Wealth of the Country has
Been Cenfrdliaed on Unjust
LeOisi0fiOR.

cusSlOn OF the SUBJECT OF economies
national as well as private.
Among some things noticed in the
past year is the shutting down of
mills, factories, mines, a general
decline in business and labor
thrown out of employment, fail
ures of debtors to pay creditors.
Even the merchants here com
plain of full books and empty
shelves. All of which in the bust
ness mans campaign of 1892 was
denominated calamity bowling.
Now all these occurrences were
predicted in the reform press to
occur from no other cause than
maladministration of the laws and
abuse of plain economic principles.
Since they have occurred the subsi-
dised press attribute the cause to
everything but the right one. The
democrats said at the outset it
was the high tariff that was ruin
ing the country. Now under the
the tariff system the Treasury has
become depleted and loan is re-
sorted to to make it up. In all
business matters a loan is but
temporary shift and imposes bur-
dens. A 100000, 900 loan means
at least a S6,OOO,OO annual tax on
labor. When the Secretary of the
Treasury takes authority to make
the loan he acknowledges the fail
ure of the democratic financial
policy of 1899. When people are
in condition to buy what they
want, the revenue from imports
is sufficient for all purposes under
any fair tariff schedule. But
when the ability to purchase is
partially or wholly cut off, no mat
ter what the tariff may be, the
nations revenues from this source
must decrease. 1t is easy to see
that an active money volume
abOlutely controls the nation Is
revenue as well as that of the in
dividual, so the democratic fnan-
cial policy of the present is a mis-
cradle make-shift of borrowing
from Peter to pay Paul. If you
remember, Harrison was called
upon by the banks of Wall street
to issue bonds which he antagon'
lied and was partially the cause o
his defeat. Had the people under
stood the issue which the subsidis
ed press and political heeler'
sought to keep them ignorant of
Weaver would now be President
1t is time people should take {
hand in this question of political
economy when silver has beer
demonitized and bonds issued il
times of peace to fill depleted
Treasury. Another theory Offered
by bad economists is that of owe
production. Since granaries ar,
full in the Palouse country, Cama'
Prairie filed to the brim with bee
cattle, which cannot be sold at tn,
cost of labor, hundreds of thou
sands of people in the east withou
meat or bread, or any means t,
win bread; because great ware
houses are full of boots and shoe
in the east, and people in thi
country and many other places go
ing halfclad and shod, is it an,
sign of over-production? or is i
not a sign of under-consumptiol
from no other cause than the lacl
of a circulating medium to max
the necessary exchange? TIL
money of the country has beer
centralized in the hands of the few
through vicious legislation, and it
value raised, or the value of pro
duce lowered, until it is now i'm
possible for the farmers or any MAJ
of business enterprise to employ i
without inviting bankruptcy an;
disaster; and if this state of affair
is permitted much longe
labor will be so hampered by CAPT
tai that it cannot maintain itself
which is the condition of man,
branches of industry at present
among them is the furniture stores
if an observer will notice on thi
side he will see the reason. TIL
same rule holds good for all othe
industries, as the meat market an,
the blacksmith can testify. Thi
condition Of affairs never exist
where the money is in the hand
of the people. Another exploded
theory of bad economy is tina
labor is a spendthrift and given t
idleness. We know that idlenes
never creates wealth. In the cen
sus of 1910 the wealth of the nat
ion was estimated at thirteen bill
lions of dollars, eight billions be
longing to labor and five billion
to capital. The census OF 1S9
estimated the wealth at sixty-iiv
billions. According to George II
Holmes, in the Political Scienc
Quarterly, on the distribution {
wealth, he says: 1--WE are nov
prepared to characterize the con
centration of wealth in the lutte
States by stating that 20 per cen
of it is owned by three hundredth
of / per cent. of the families (no
including millonaires); II per CEN
by nine per cent. OF the families
including millionaires, and 20 pc