The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-05-02
THE CURSE OF UsURY.


Cent ut 6 Per Cent Compound In.
terest 1t Would Take SO Lumps OF
Gold the Size of the Earth to Pay
1t in 1898.
Our excellent friend, Bob" Schilling, the
able editor Of the Milwaukee Advance, the
leading Populist paper of Wisconsin, has
published recently, an article which takes
away the breath Of the reader and demon
strates the awful, earth consuming power
Of interest and money. Here 1t Is. Let
everyone read it and remember the facts
given In It
According to the director Of the United
States mint there is So, zoe, 600, 900 gold money
in the world. A cubic yard Of gold is worth
SIC, 1000, 600. Hence all the gold in the world
could be placed in a room % feet square and
1872 feet high Yet to pay a cent invested
at per cent compound interest at the be-
ginning of the Christian era at present would
require
EIGHTY-THREE Jumps OF GOLD THE
SIZE OF THE EARTH.
II you doubt it figure 1t out yourself. Al
6 per cent compound interest money will
double in less than Il years. If one cent
were invested in the year 1. at the end OF
the year 1893 it would take 46 figures to ex
press the amount of principal and interest
in dollars. If every man, woman and chile
IN the world were worth one hundred
billion dollars, it would take three hundred
billion such earths with equal population
to pay one-hundred bilionth part of the an.
nual interest.
WHAT DOES THIS PROVE?
Thn rnf11 che hot no coll
Of the nation increases at the rate of pei
cent per annum.
Abraham Lincoln said in his message tt
congress December, 1861: Capital could not
have existed If labor had not first existed
Capital is only the product Of labor. Labor
is the superior Of capital and deserves by
far the higher consideration"
No one will dispute this.
But granted as it is claimed, that capita
and labor are friends, not enemies" Their
if they are friends and allies, reason and
common sense would show that they should
divide equally and equitably. If the in
crease of the wealth of the country is only
per cent, capital so-called is at the best
not entitled to more than half of that
which would be 1k per cent. If it takes
more it not only robs labor. but inevitably
PRODUCES PANICs AND BANK
RUPTCY.
IL
Of the United States, public and private, ag
gregate 1872, 900. 100000. Some authorities
figure them at nearly double that amount
and as nearly every certificate of stock Is
an interest-bearing (dividend-paying) debt
printed on paper, this estimate is probably
correct. But let us figure it at thirty-twt
Nillions.
Both Chas. Foster and John G. Carlisle
one Republican, the other a Democratic
secretary Of the treasury, claim that there
is 81 600, 900 900 Of money in circulation In thu
United States. In this they include abou
s4OO,OOOOOO of $500, $1,000. $1,000 and $1,000
notes that are certainly not part Of thu
money "in circulation" These gentlemen
also fail to deduct the money lost by
fires shipwrecks and other accidents, which
in the course of many years amounts t.
large sums. If, then, we estimate tn
total amount of money in circulation at on
billion, we get these figures:
Debts Of all kinds ............ 1872, 900 000, 90
Money in actual circulation -. LOCO, 900, 90
Then, at low estimate as shown, thu
debts exceed the money in circulation 8
times. In other words, every dollar o
money in circulation pays interest 80 time
each year, which, at an average rate Of
per cent, makes
224 PER CENT
This exceeds the extortions Of the mos
heartless chattel mortgage shark in tn
world.
If 81, 100000 are invested at 225 per cen
1--WE add per cent for convenience in figur
ing), it will amount to
$12O, $50, 600, 900 IN 10 YEARS.
In II years it will be a sum three and
quarter times greater and in II years.
well, what is the use Of figuring impossi
bilities?
The point is that capital so-called in
creases under present conditions with sucl
frightful rapidity that at regularly recur
ring periods there must be a general re
pudiation of debts-principal and interest
and this is what we call financial crisis
usually brought about by panic Individ
ual and local reputation of debt in tn
form of individual failures and bankrupt
cies are going on all the time else tn
general regulations financial crises woul'
come closer together.
While these facts are 80 plain that b
who runs may read, they are not under
stood by the masses and the people VIII
| do understand them and profit by the sys
| tenn can spend immense sums to keep tn
masses in ignorance
If then, as these facts plainly show
usury is the cause, the evil can be roote
| out by removing the cause. Usury law
| will never do 1t. There Is but one remed
the government composed Of all the peo
| pie, must assume it's sovereign right t
| issue money not only to the privilege
banks but to all it's members. BY loanin
! money to all who can furnish security a
| cost Of issue, no man will be able to ex
| tort unjust profits or usury from any o
| his fellow men, and panics with their fol
| lowing OF financial ruin want Of employ
/ ment. misery, starvation and multiple
crime and vice will be known no more fol
/ ever.