The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-01-03
MOnied AristOcracy.
Destitute People.
A Despotism.

States Senator. Charles B. Farwell
Of the John V. Farwell Company" OF
Chicago: sent, with a great many
similar letters, to the Committee OF
Banking and Currency of the United
States Senate. He says:
Il think the government should 90
out of the currency business and that
1T ought to have done so years ago.
1T should pay it's floating debt at once
by the issue of long low rate interest
bonds"
Which is 1.-THE floating debt?" The
greenbacks. The people pay no in
terest on the greenbacks, but if they
are funded into bonds the people of
the whole country would be taxed to
pay interest on them to support the
capitalists of the United States and
Great Britain.
Mr.. Farwell continues:
''After this floating debt is all
paid in long bonds then the commit
tee on currency and banking should
provide that the national banks use
all the bonds at their face ralte. as a
basis for their circulating notes: then
they would furnish all the currency
that the country required, and the
government would be absolutely re-
lieved from doing it,"
Now the national banks can issue
currency only to the extent of 80 per
cent of the face of the bonds deposit
ed. The programme is 10 increase
this to 100 per cent; so that the
bankers will form the government.
draw interest on the bonds deposit
ed by them, and also interest from
their customers for the full amount
Of those bonds loaned out in bank
notes. A very pretty arrangement.
All the greenbackS, which now cost
us nothing, except the trifling cost of
printing them would be supplanted
by:
/. Bonds bearing interest.
2. National bank notes bearing in
terest.
3. All printed by the government!
Isn't it a magnificent arrange
ment?
Not dollar of currency could then
reach single citizen until some one
acent to q national bank and borrowed 1t.
And when he repaid it some one else
would have to borrow it again to keep
it in circulation. And so we would
have the beautiful spectacle of free
government, of the people, with full
power to create it's own money,
farming" out the right to in
dividuals, and giving them full pow
er to tax the rest of the population
for the use of medium of exchange,
more necessary to the people than
the postage stamps -!
But this isn't all. This republican
eX q. S. Senator continues:
"Possibly in the near future it
would transpire that there we're not
enough government bonds to be used
as basis for the circula ting medium;
then it would be easy to amend the
national act by providing for the use
of other satisfactory bonds"
In other words, perceiving that
there is an absolute necessity for a
larger circulation of money than the
national bonds will form basis for,
they are willing to increase the sup
ply, prorided dl,cays they can tao the peo-
pie for 1t and put the money IN their o,cn
pockets. Yes: under these crcum-
stances they will even concede $50
per capita!
But even this isn't all. Ex-senator
Farwell thinks something more must
be done for the banks-pOor, unhap-
py struggling, innocents,- and so he
adds:
"NeXt, the government should re-
peal the Sub-treaSury act. Let the
revenues of the government be de-
posted in national banks where col
lected, they giving security for the
whole amount received and thus keep
all the money in circulation.
The bank must therefore have four
different revenues:
/. Interest on the bonds deposited
as security.
,. Interest on the bank-notes, is
sued on those bonds, and loaned out
to their customers.
3. Interest on all the revenues OF
the government, placed in thel1
hands, as fast as collected, and by
them loaned out to their customers
until called for.
4. Interest on the deposits of the
individual depOsitors.
Now our unsophisticated country
readers, who do not realize one pei
cent year interest on their invest
ments in their farms, stock, build
ings, machinery, ETC., will be 10th to
believe that these utterances are
anything more than the vaporings OF
a mad-man. It would seem like rank
insanity that free people, each one