St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-18
COMPELLED TO BORROW,


Senator PETER, ''for the money which
we have been compelled to borrow"
Not the main statement, but the as
sumption which it contains, is worth
more analysis than the majority of
people have yet thought fit to give
it. There is an extraordinary idea
firmly implanted in the minds of
many men that the borrower of mon
ey is always a subject of commiser-
alton, whose interests are to be re-
Heved by any legislation that may
be found necessary. Behind this is
the assumption that debt is ALWAYS
a necessity. That is what PETER ex-
presses when he speaks of the peo-
pie who have been compelled to
borrow" in which category he means
to include, practically, all of those
who have assumed obligations to
pay a certain sum of money at some
future time. Now, while we have
the sincerest sympathy for those who
Stagger under the burden and curse
OF debt, we know of but few ideas
that need to be more strenuousIy
combatted in this country than the
one that asserts that ell debts, or
even the majority of them, have been
contracted under compulsion; and
that those who are bound by them
are therefore entitled to some legal
relief from the hard bargain to which
they became voluntary parties.
The fact is that probably nine
tenths of all existing private indebt-
edness, possibly a larger fraction
than that, is purely voluntary. 1t
is only when men suffer from some
unforeseen and unforeseeablem isfor-
tune that they are compelled to
borrow" The man who is earning
simply enough to support himself
and his family, and is suddenly
struck down by an accident or i'll
ness that incapacitates him for work,
must borrow enough to supply his
necessities for the time. The farmer
whose crops have been made a fail
ure by drouth or hail, or the plague
of vermin, whose live stock has been
carried off by disease, whose build
ings have been destroyed by fire. is
compelled to borrow" in order to
obtain the necessaries of life in the
period that must elapse before he
can hope to draw new wealth from
the soil. A few classes of cases like
these, all of them involving some
peculiar and unforeseen misfortune.
cover the list of compulsory debts
All the rest of the enormous extern
sion and use of credit in our COM
mon life and our business affairs, is
deliberately intentional. Men assume
debts because they hope to make
money by it. Men borrow because
they believe that, after a term of
years, they can so multiply this cap
ital as to pay back both interest and
principal, and have handsome sum
left to themselves as profit
This is the true theory and prac-
tice of borrowing. 1t is not acct
dental or forced, but of a purpose.
Few men live who are SO unhappily
treated by nature that they cannot
maintain themselves, if they will,
without ever mourning one dollar of
debt as long as they live. If their
ambition is satisfied with food
enough to satisfy hunger, and cloth
ing and shelter adequate for com
fort, and goes no further, their la
bors in whatever field they have
chosen will supply this and enable
them to lay by something for the
future. For all such, including most
of the able-bodied men of the United
States, debt is not a necessity The
man in trade borrows that he may
increase by so much the circle of
his business operations and the total
of his profits. If he is a shrewd man
ager, and can realize a profit of 20
per cent for the year, then it is clear
that he will be a great gamer if,
instead Of operating only with say
$4,000 of his own that he has got
together, he can add to it $4,000
more of borrowed money, on which
he pays per cent interest. He in
ours this debt Intentionally, with the
idea Of making II per cent net for
himself on $4,000 after he has pafds
it back, with the s per cent interest,
to the capitalist of whom he OBJ
tanned it It is perfectly
legitimate operation for him,
for the man who lends him
the money and for the public
which is benefited by the extension
of trade. But if things go awry.
business is bad, and the borrower
finds that he can neither repay the
$50, 600 nor the interest on it, he has
no quarrel except with his judgment
Of what the times would bring. Even
if the payment Of this debt sweeps
away his original capital OF $50. 0Gd,
the consequences of his biunder are
his own. He was not compelled to
borrow" He sought $4,000 that did
not belong to him, and assumed this
very risk OF inability to repay for the
chance of making an extra profit.
Heads, he wins; tails. he loses. TIE
lender has nc complaint Of injustice