The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-04
THE GRERT DEBATE
lcoNr1NuEp FROM SIXTH PAGE.


If Mr.. Horn had followed me in the
logical arrangement of the debate as in
dicated by the book we were discussing,
/ would have been enabled to furnish
data more fully justifying points in the
School" attacked by him. And, l had
so intended but after the discussion of
the crime of 1873. he seemed to wholly
abandon the regular order of debate and
went to all parts of the School and at
one time went to another book l had
written, up to Date and hurled prop
Osftions at me that were clearly out of
: the regular order of debate. This requir
ed me to use words in many brief ans
wers that 1 made to him. l did SO be-
cause 1 did not want his statements to
go wholly unanswerable at that time,
and risk later to an opportunity to ans
Wer him fully | would, however have
answered all of them fully as did some
of them afterwards If he had let them
come in their proper order. One of these
topics was debts. The reader knows how
/ abbreviated my answer. / can only
say now that 1t is admitted by the other
side that our longtime debts, including
national state municipal, corporate and
Including farm and home mortgages,
amount in round figures to $50, 000, 00O, 600.
It is also admitted that this does not in
cfude current business accounts and
notes, nor the enormous sum that hangs
over the. army Of debtors, who have gone
out of business since the repeal of the
last bankrupt law, and that may still
be within the statute of limitations Mel
ther does it include debts due from indi-
vtduals to individuals that are not on
record, and that cannot be classed as
debts coming under the head of business
or traders debts. Nor does it include
debts coming under the following heads:
Pawnbrokers, chattel mortgages, partial
payment sales, maritime debts, over
drafts, judgments and taxes.
L.. l.. ~. l,,f1
have justified by detail and with author
tiles the $40 900 600 at which had es-
timated the aggregate indebtedness of the
people Of the United States.
The great danger in relying on bank
credit to make up for us the insufficient
supply of money aside from the heavy
tax. approximately $780, 600 annually,
on the people, is the power of the bank
Ing fraternity controlling this credit sys-
tenn to bring on panics by shutting off
this supply at pleasure, as they did in
1857, 1878 and notably in 1893, when they
used it to assist Mr.. Cleveland in what
they called teaching the people an OBJ
ject lesson
And now, excepting 300 words I shall
use to reply to Mr.. Horr's summary,
am closing this debate. The object
sought by discussing questions affecting
the welfare of the human race, is to see
wherein we can advance the general con-
dition of the people and to detect errors
in civilization.
The world, time out of mind, has had
business panics and the lives Of most
men and women have been full of trouble
In acquiring the necessities and comforts
Of life. That our present civiliza ton has
not removed the possibility of these re-
curing panics and that to a large ma
Jority of the people on this EARTH their
almost exclusive attention and labors
are given to acquiring a living with, in
y,onc CT irct in nd
aging results, will be admitted by every
one.
1t was once supposed that labor-sav-
ing improvements and inventions would
lessen the necessary toll of men and was
a promise of day to come when with
little labor all would be provided for,
and humanity as a whole would be bene-
fitted. Has it had that result? All will
answer that it has not. The lines of de-
narration between the rich and the poor
are more marked than ever and the per-
centage of people who devote all their
time in a struggle for existence is great
er now than al any time known to mod
ern history. This will not be denied by
any but the selfish few, whose wants be-
ing supplied, know nothing of the wants
of the others.
And vet if there were no defect in our
civilization, inventions would have the
effect first intended for them. We are
sufficiently advanced now in this respect
to provide all the people of the world
with the comforts of life by one hours
work each day, by each Individual, while
the remaining hours, not devoted to
sleep, would be used in the promotion of
human happiness and the advancement
of the human race. That the paSageWay
to a new era is blocked by defect i'll
our civilization should be admitted by all
In my judgment the discussion of this
financial subject can be made to re-
move the obstacle in the way, and that
with its removal will come discoveries
that will lift the human race to a higher
plane not now dreamed of.
The first obstacle in the way is selfish
ness. The promotion of self and personal
interest at the expense of others pervades
nearly the whole of mankind. AS a re-
suit, we are in the midst of a commercial
age. Mans object in life is commerce
the acquisition of property. Hence, prop
erty has come to be in our laws our hab-
it's and our morals, the thing of first i'm
portance.
Under such teachings we can see men
and women suffer from hunger and pass
them by without concern. Even little
children will thus suffer without attract
ing public notice. A little boy was found
under one of the bridges in Chicago the
other day dying from starvation. The
news found its way into the newspapers
in a few lines. If the bridge had been
burned down under which he was divine
it would have furnished news item re-
garded as of much greater Importance.
Thus we are in a commercial age where
inventions, education and all the forms
of human skill and ingenuity are made to
promote the personal ends of men or com
blnatlonS of men. Such an age promotes
selhShneSS in all things. 1t follows that
1t is not only lawful, but desirable to
monopoize ones self property of any and
all kind, no matter how unnecessary it
may be in promoting to the real comforts
of the person in possession. In all such
instances it is held in utter disregard to
the d1Scomforture or wants of others To
own farm, which one with reasona BILE
assistance can till and beautify, make
grand and refined with the work of GEN
ius is the civilization of humanity To
own thousands of acres, as does Lord
Scully in this state, inhabited by tenants
whose labor supports him in riotous liv-
ing. is a law born of property interests
and not of humanity.
1t is the era of SelfiShness that made if
possible for selfish men whose in their
own interest to demonetize silver and in
crease the value of their hOldings as
measured in other peoples property
And, as money is a thing every one must
have, these dealers have thus been en-
abled to mortgage the producers of the
world to them, on crisis. If the people
will act unselfishly, intelligently in this
crisis we will learn secrets in the science
of civilization heretofore hidden from us.
that will result in the dawn of new era
in the history of the world and the pass
ing from the present into a newer and
brighter civilization beyond.
HORR COMES BACK.
80.