The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-08-23
MCGEE ON LOANS ON LAND.
It Would be the Death Knell of
Liberty.
MONEY WOULD BE BORROWED
As tina Z ~ the Only Way of Getting
Al. Nl\\ 0ltion-A Dismal Out
4spellin Aooptea,

tile NaN ''ion-A Dismal Out
sspell5n Aaopssa:
Fropym learn that in some
sect'onse ysAcountry there is a revi-
val OF the|old land loan idea; that is it.
is proposed to substitute this for free
silver, or rather for any kind of metallic
money at all. / am sorry to see that
many able men in the PEOPLES pa tv
n IN other reform movements advo-
eating this scheme, among them 1 notice
Senator PETER OF Kansas.
The scheme is to issue government
paper money and to loan it to indivi-
duals at a low rate OF interest; 1T is sim
ply the old Stanford land loan scheme.
This is to my mind d very grave blunder
IL does not possess the merit that the
Old greenback idea did, and at the same
tune carries along with 1T some of the
most dangerous features which il carried
int law would crush out liberty itself in
a very short time.
10 those who have given but little
consideration to the question, there is
one thing that recommends 1T. it is cheap
~money-low interest-and | have no
doubt but that to one grooming under
the weight OF a heavy mortgage, it ap-
bears to him as does the CLINT OF spark
Ing waters to the lost traveller upon q
desert. But when we lay aside this veil
OF selfishness and look for its effect upon
the great mass Of humanity at large, the
scene disappears and in it's stead comes
one which startles the true reformer.
| should oppose 1T for d number of
reasons | might mention, but will refer
to but two: first, because OF the uncer-
talntv IN the volume Of the currency 1T
would cause; and here let me say that
an increasing and decreasing volume OF
money is one OF the worst evils that can
belong to n system of money. Upon
it depends the price OF everything, as all
students OF political economy know.
DO you say why would it be uncertain
and unstable? Simply because not one
dollar Of this money could get out
among the people until some one bor-
rOwed it, and when times began to
brighten every nan would want to Dor
row money and in this way the volume
OF currency would be greatly increased
and just as 500 as these borrowers be-
gan paying their loans, just that quick
would the volume OF currency began to
contract and grow scarce and the price
OF all commodities would tall because of
the scarcity OF money and a financial
crash would follow. A change in the
volume OF money means a change in the
meaning OF the u~nit-dolIar. What is
needed is a liked volume per capita of
currency, and this means a fixed mean
ing to the word Of dollar.
But my second and principal objection
to the land loan idea is It's indirect effect
upon those who produce the wealth of
the country, which l will attempt to ex-
plain.
We must ever keep before our minds
il we expect to get a clear idea of any
economic question, this one thing that
is that easy access to raw material, or
natural opportunities which Is included
under the general term land, means
easy production Of wealth, so if land
is cheap it Is much easier for labor to
get at 1t to produce wealth than If 1T is
high. This is the foundation principal
upon which the whole business world
rests, and it does not require any study
to prove 1T; one simply has to apply a
lew every day observations to satisfy
himself. So it cannot be denied that
anything which artifcialIy raises the
price OF land, just to that extent OBJ
structs and binders production, and is
"a deficient to the laborer who must
Use llfail1 from whence all raw material
" efnsss, the production OF wealth must
81
Now what effect will a law have upon
the price OF land which allows the own
ers OF land to borrow money, secured
by q mortgage on the same, at a very
low rate of interest. 1t have but
one effect and that is to raise the price
of land; just as soon as it is learned that
money at a low rate of interest could be
had on land, the demand for land would
at once increase, and with this demand
the nrlca world 1nstantlv on /, This