The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-07-03
x1NsroN LABOR EXCHANGE.

Aliance"-Forty Leading Citi-
zens of Kinston and Sur
rounding Country Form
the Exchange.
The Kinston Free Press, of June z,
said:
MI. '. A. Wilson, of Forsyth county,
made a speech in the court house last
Saturday with the object in view Of
establishing a branch of the Labor Elk
change in Kinston. He said the Labor
Exchange is an incorporated assocla
tion. which promises more good and
relief to the people than anything de-
vised by man. It is open to all classes
and professions-nOne are excluded
from it's benefits. The object of the
association is
LIST. To provide employment for idle
labor, by facilitating the interchange
of commodities and services among the
associations and the public.
I'd. To alleviate the suffering incident
to. and avert the social dangers which
NAV arise from, a constantly lncreas-
ing class of unemployed, by furnishing
to this class useful occupation, and
saving the wealth thus produced for
the use and benefit of the actual pro,
ducers and their dependents.
Sd. To Tighten the burden of charita-
BILE institutions by establishing one self
sustaining.
By and through such employment
this association aims to furnish food,
clothing and the comforts of a home to
those thus employed, establishing de-
pots for mutual exchange, operate
boarding houses for the purpose, and
also provide for education, the eleva
ton of character and the amenities of
life by maintaining schools and other
places of instruction.
The Labor Exchange i5not political
organization. Members of all parties
are in it. The underlying cause of it's
organization is the want of enough
money to transact the business of the
country. The Exchange enables the
transaction of business-the exchange
af commodities-without the use of
money-by means of a check for labor
or commodities deposited, which check
is receitable for any commodities In
the Exchange. In an Exchange any
commodity is received at it's appraised
value.
MI. Wilson was sick and could not
explain the association fully and an
other. meeting was held in the after
noon, when it was decided to have a
meeting in the same place next Satur-
day afternoon at 3 o'clock for the pur-
p Sc of organizing an Exchange.
The editor of this paper has carefully
read a book by the originator of the
association, MI. G. B. DeBernardi, en-
titled Trials and Triumgh of Labor"
In this book Mr.. D8Bernardi is very
successful in pointing out many of the
evils of legal tender" money, and the
burden upon labor of meeting the in
terest upon capital or money. The
theory of his scheme of exchanging
consumable wealth and the accumula-
ton of permanent wealth is good, in
our opinion; but as to the practical
part of it we confess to some doubt,
after a careful and thoughtful reading
of his book.
Mr.. Wilson is president of a small
Exchange in Forsyth county. at Pfaff-
town, which has been established not
quite a year and has an Exchange depot
nearly completed, and there are three
other Exchanges in the western part of
the State. Mr.. Wilson says the central
Exchange at Sedalia, Mo-, and the
branch at Kansas City, Mo-, are doing
we'll, but he could not give the stats,
tics.
The Free Press believes an Exchange
in Kinston would accomplish great
good if enough citizens would go into
it and give it their full support. But
we fear there would be dissatisfaction
and too much grumbling upon the part
of members before it became a perma-
nent uccess To begin with, in the
establishing of a depot building, the
laborers employed in the work would,
of course, have to be provided with the
n~ecessaries of life while they were at
work on it. These n~ecessaries of life
would have to come principally from
farmers, in deposits of provisions, and
the checks issued to the depositors
could not be redeemed before a consid-
cradle time had elapsed at least, for
the simple reason that there would be
nothing in the Exchange to redeem
them in. The depositors for the lot
and materials for the building and the
provisions for the support of the build
ers would have to hold their checks for
a long time, in order for the Exchange
to be a success, in fact until the net
profits of the Exchange shall amount
to enough to redeem such checks. IF
there are men in our community who
are able to supply the necessary articles
and hold their checks for an indefinite
period and are willing to join the Elk
change and do so, it may be wise to
form one in Kinston. Then another
necessity to success would be to secure
a man of good business qualifications
to manage the Exchange, and good
business men as an advisory board.
We do not think it would be wise for
our people to engage in the undertak-
ing unless the above conditions can be
secured. If such conditions can be
secured we believe the Exchange would
prove a big success and result in great