The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-06-20
LITERARY CHAFF.

Are the writer's in our magazines and
| those editors who comment ON them void
| OF all reasoning power are they simply
dishonest and believe their readers fools?
| Certainly the articles written in the maya
| zines and the editorial comments upon
| them are not complimentary to the reason
| ing power of the writer's or the intelligence
| of the reader, if it is expected their soph-
1smS are to be believed.
The Minneapolis Times of June IA prints
| the following
e l.. Godkin, editor of the New York
| Evening Post, contributes an article for the
| June Forum which deserves to be widely
read and considered. He points out that if
| government, the dreamers desire is to
step in and buy up all the railroads. tele-
graph lines, mines, water and gas works.
and to provide work for everybody at
wages that will be satisfactory all round
there will be some tremendous bills to pay
state socialism cannot possibly be an eX-
ception to the memorable rule that there can
be no dancing without somebody to pay the
fiddler Who will pay the bills of social
ism? is Mr. Godkin's cold but very rational
inquiry
If 2. l.. Godkin and the editor of the
Times were not an evenly mated pair of
asses, they would know that money is not
wealth, neither does it pay anything; it is
SIMPLY creation of law, used to establish
ratios of exchange. Money is an abstrac-
ton made manifest through the stamp or
seal Oh government, ana lS Just efficient
and potent when representing the authority
of government by the impression of print
| ers' ink on paper, when stamped by au-
| thority on gold Any stamp made on gold
without the authority of law, even if the
| weight and purity exceeds the government
standard, is a counterfeit; and the maker
is liable to as heavy penalties as though
a baser metal were used.
If those editors and writers were honest
and intelligent men they would know that
labor creates all wealth, and consequently
| pays all debt. If should ask the ques-
ton, what relation does the measure bear
to the rest of the factors in producing
crop of wheat? the answer would be, The
most unimportant of all, for first comes the
indispensable factors of land and labor
then the ploW, drag, seeder or drill, har-
vester, wagon thresher, and last the mea-
sure, and this can be dispensed with easier
than any other factor, but after the mea-
sure comes the use of money, which is SIM
puy a certificate that the holder thereof
has contributed something to the world
| production and is entitled to take an
equivalent out of the stock placed on SALE
AS measure is utterly useless without
| something to measure, so money becomes
| useless without something to be exchanged,
| further, the addition of the measure to
| the crop of wheat in no wise augment
| the amount, and every additional measure
above the necessary quality is a waste
| of labor; so with money, every addition or
| subtraction from the amount necessary to
| effect the exchange is a waste of labor,
| and dsturbs the ratios Of value between
| debt and credit, either robbing the debtor
| or creditor, as the volume is contracted or
| expanded.
1.-The total annual income of the United
| States is not underestimate, Mr.. Godkin
says, at S31155 per family of five persons,
| and that is less than a dollar day"
| Mr. Godkin shows his ignorance here 1--WE
| prefer calling it ignorance rather than ly-
| ine). All payments must be out OF this
sum. The municipal tax of St Paul is
ated in round numbers to be S39 per capita
| or s195.05 to the family. Add to this about
| $35 for the national government It's tax, and
we have, without state taxation, S25O05 of
| taxes, leaving only $3.50 out of which to
| pay the expenses of milionaires who have
| incomes from $4,000 to 100000 per annum,
and support the family of the laborer.
Mr. Godkin and his commenta tor, the
| editor of the Times, wants to know how
| we are going to pay if the government us
| to step in and buy up all the railroads,
| telegraph lines, mines, water and gas
works, and to provide work for everybody
| that will be satisfactory all around" This
| is easily answered. At this time not less
| than 3, 900 people are out of employment
could all be utilized in adding to the sum
| total of national production were they not
debarred by bad government from utilizing
| American aristocracy. Those men are each
| capable on the average of producing in
| year. at the lowest estimate products that
| would sell at present valuation for $1,000,
or 100000 per annum, as the possible
| product of the unemployed Squeeze the
I water out of the stock in the railways
| and value them, under the right of eminent
| domain, at what it would cost to replace
| them and the labor now going to waste
! under an unjust system of government
would buy the railways in one year. The
| money now spent in extra police, deputies
| and military forces. to subjugate the peo-
| ple if added to this sum, and the labor of
| those forces utilized in production, instead
| of being used in clubbing and shooting the
| free people of this country into the condi-
| ton of the citizens of Europe, would fur
| nish money enough to buy of the capitalist
| the power they claim of levying tribute
| from poverty for the privilege to use Gods
| gifts to man. and at the same time save us
| from the brays of silly writer's.