The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-07-25

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90. pray you let US leave off this
usury! Then said they, we will re-
store them And all the congrega-
ton said, Amen.
Hreece and Rome experienced the same
result. Prof Nicholson in Encvclopedia
Britannica, says In ancient Greece. we
ma similar examples of the evil effects of
usury In Athens, about the time
OF Solon's legislation (594 b. Co. the bulk
OF the population. who had originally been
Small proprietorS or metayers became
gradually indebted to the rich to such an
extent that they were practically slaves
Ihey who still kept their estates were. in
me position of the Irish cottiers-they
owed more than they could pay. s.
sufy mad given all the power of the state
70 small plutocracy. When we
turn to Rome we find exactly the same
nlnculties arising Mr.. Rollin in his
Ancient History says: "Csury has al
ways caused the ruin of states where it
mas bten tolerated, and it was this dis
order which contributed very much to sub
vert the constitution of the Roman Com
monwealth. and to give birth to the great
est GAIA mites in all the provinces
similar results after the Christian era
'oused the voice of Jerome and the Fathers
ana councils to unanimous condemna ton
OF usury. The effect in Germany can be
gathered from the language of Luther pre-
Vlous!y quoted. That the results were SINH
'ar IN England may be gathered from the
extreme bitterness of the language of Dr.
Wilson in his discourse about 1910, after
the Act of Henry WILL where he saws:
90 wish some penal law of death to be
made against usurers as we'll as against
thleVes and murderers, for that they de
serve death more than such men do for
these usurers destroy and devour much
more than such men do; for these usurers
destroy and devour up, not only whole
families, but also whole countries, and
BRING all folks to beggary that have to do
with them"
The mere increase Of wealth in the ag-
Sregate. while it by usury accumulates in
few hands, is no argument in favor of the
system. That the evils in England are as
great as ever may be seen from what is
SAID by Thorold Rogers in his Six Cen
turtles of Work and Wages" as follows:
mere Is collected population in our
large towns which equals in amount the
whole of those who lived in England and
Wales six centuries ago, but whose condi-
tlon is more destitute, whose homes are
more sQuad. whose means are more un-
certain, whose prospects are more hope
less than the poorest serfs of the Middle
Ages. Mr.. Francis Walker, in his "Poiti-
cal Economy. of recent date, speaking of
the effects of usury (p. 1870, says: The re-
cent outbreaks in Roumelia, Roumana
and Russia testify to the natural feelings
Of a simple minded, ignorant, passive, and
more or less stupid people, who see homes
and lands. cattle and goods and even stand
ing crops, pass with fatal certainty out of
the hands of the many into the hands of a
class in whom the faculty of acquisition is
developed in such a degree as to make
them, in comparison with peasantry like
that of the Slavonic states, as wolves
among sheep"
RESULTS IN THE UNITED STATES
II we come to the United States we have
the same results from interest as have fol-
lowed round the world. We are pointed to
"a
about two centuries. But the aggregate
wealth is not as much usury would have
brought to lenders. Ten thousand dollars
loaned when Columbus discovered America
at per cent simple interest without com
pounding. would amount to over $50. coo GOO
900 now, far more than the value of prop
erty in the United States shown by census.
one penny loaned for the same period at
5 per cent compounded would amount to
four times the value of property in the
United States. Large portions of our ag-
SreSate wealth is in the land which was
so easily obtainable from government up to
recent date That the writer considers de
naturalization of land to have been bad
policy can be seen in "Millionares or
Morals" j. s. Mill. Herbert Spencer, Con-
siderant. T. H. Dove and Mr.. George sub
stantially agree that nations should retain
the title to land as common property, but
offer as to the best method OF now reach
ing that object.
vance. The numbers pressing for speedy
naturalization of the currency is certainly
far greater than those who now press for
the naturalization of land. individuals can
not choose the order OF national reforms.
Such reforms generally move in the line of
least resistance. We are here treating of
the money question, and not of land re-
form. That they are in error, however,
who assume that merely collecting current
revenues from land values will alone rem
edy the evils of accumulation and settle all
industrial questions while usury remains
and without naturalization of credit. is
demonstrated by all history. The ancient
nations which fell under the ravages of
usury had for many ages easy access to
land The Romans and other nations fire.
quently planted colonies upon conquered
lands of great fertility, but usury devoured
them. When the Russian emperor enamel
pated the serfs he gave them lands, but
uSury has enSlaVed them already. Abijah
Garrison, father of William Lloyd Garri-
son. writing from Granville, Nova Scotia,
in 1905, that he intends to remove to the
United States, does not complain that land
is not cheap but he says: But from want
of circulating cash this country will long
lay bound in extreme difficulties and per-
petual lawsuits
There has been no country where land,
up to a recent period, could be had as
freely in the United States. ct from the
earliest days usury has prevented a reason
able distribution of earnings. Land has
been given wrongfuy to corpora TONS but
under acts of congress an empire has been
given freely in farms of 100 acres to set
tiers. Mines, the richest the world has
ever known have been given to oca tors
without discrimination. Yet usury has
eaten up and enslaved the great mass of
those who have entered upon these lands.
The position and prominence given to the
money question by the Ocala and Omaha
platforms is therefore fully warranted
The concentration of wealth in few hands
is amazing and alarming. Out of total
national wealth 0and included) of S650OO,-
100000, we find that
81 900 persons have more than
One-half, or.............. $50 $50, 0OO, 900
20 persons have............. 200, 000, 900
200 persons have............. 900, 600, 900
1872 600 families have more than
one-half, or.............. Al GOO, 900, 600
5,S200O0 families have only...... Is 500, OOO,0 00
100000 homes are mOrtgaged.
1000 900 of men out of employment.
National banks have paid dividends IN
twenty-five years of $4,000, 600, 900. Tenant
farmers are increasing more rapidly than
ever. Gold is approaching in purchasing
power. 1t takes, every year. more labor to
pay a dollar. With this aristocracy of
wealth and this grinding of the masses
comes what did in Greece and Rome-a
putocracy controlling the state and sub
vertng the commonwealth. The usurers of
all nations unite There is but six hundred
thousand millions of property in the world.
More than one-third of this today is in the
hands of the money power, and it requires
the labor of twenty five millions of men
earning $500 each per year to earn the in
terest on this at 5 per cent only The prn
ciple doubles every fifteen years. One more
decade and a half and mankind is hope