The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-09-06
A GOOD, SOLID ARGUMENT.
Senator McGee Advances Convincing
Ideas.
LAND LOAN SCHEME DIssECTED.
A Money That Has To BE Borrowed Be
fore It Can Circulate Is Not the
Kind of q Money to Have
Burdens on the Masses.

IA AhSS WSChS ONlON,
takes exception to my position on the land
loan idea. | admire his energy as l have
always done, but energy and enthusiasm are
4 argument, and no amount of 1t will make
a.taise theory a true one, and Judging from
this article fear my friend has allowed his
enthusiasm to get the better of his. judgement.
lie asserts that my article is contradictory
from beginning to end but makes no attempt
to show up the contradiction. Again let me
say that assertions are not arguments. He
asserts that this land loan system is an old
one and has been in use in most countries Of
Europe for more than a century. Now /
have not read as much as many men but I
have studied the different financial systems of
the world to some extent, but l never heard
OF any country using such a system. Mr..
Stanford who introduced this measure in the
". ). Senate a few years ago stated that no
such system was ever before adopted, and
also the one adopted by the Argentine Repub-
lie was the nearest approach to it that he
knew OF. But we may be wrong and will
take it for granted that it has been tried in
those countries; how much better argument
could we produce against the measure than
the very condition which we find in these
countries? A system of landed aristocrats on
the one hand and serfs and %crineing slaves
on the other, 1t is no other than this that I
seek to avoid in opposing it. The way in
which | used the word, selfish, seems to have
inflicted a serious wound In his patriotic feel
lngs, but I don't think he will differ from me
when he understands my meaning. 1 say a
man who seeks to get rid of his debts through
legislation by burdening the great mass of his
fellow men is actuated by a selfish motive,
and from my standpoint that is Just what
this scheme will do. 1t will benefit none but
the land holding class which is Just one man
in ten and just to the extent that the one in
ten is benefited the other nine are injured.
This is class legislation of the rankest kind.
AS far as l am Individually concerned I
would receive as much benefit from this
scheme as any of my %neighbors as 1 am in
debt end have at least an equity in some land.
l am surprised at his assertion that the only
money issued that does not.pay interest from
the start is our thirty millions of gold coin.
The truth is that no kind of money, issued by
our government pays interest from the start,
or has to be borrowed before it can get into
circulation, except the national bank notes.
All silver certificates and green backs are
paid out to individuals by the government for
the liquidation Of its debts and do not draw
interest,"
In my former article l stated that what was
needed was a fixed volume of money per
capita. This is just what we do not want, so
he says. Why do we want a fixed volume
Fer capita? For the reason that without it the
word dollar signifies nothing and where 1
agree to pay you SO many dollars you would
not know what it meant; to illustrate: If I
contract a debt of one numbered dollars, at a
time when we have a circulation of fifty dol
lars per capita In the nation, at which time
prices have become adjusted to this ratio of
~AoHSy oAA "ANSo . "OAIA Sdy OuC collar per
bushel or an average good horse is worth one
hundred dollars; l understand by my agree
ment that l am to pay wealth to the value of
a horse or one hundred bushels O. wheat,
But suppose the circulation is reduced to
twenty-five dollars per capita, befor my note
tbs due. There is just one half as much money
and the same amount of wealth in the nation.
Only one conclusion is to be drawn and that
is, it will take twice as much wealth to paw
the one-hundred dollars, to wit: two hundred
bushels Of wheat or two head of horses, I
have never heard this point disputed and
hope I have made it plain. So once more
let me repeat the statement that we need a
fixed volume of currency SO we may under
. sshe meaning or value of a dollar, for if
a.eans one bushel of wheat today and two
morrow with the same quantity Of wheat
in the country each time, then it is mean
ingless.
He q. ns not deny my proposition that to
loan mohItaat low rate Of interest on land,
would raise the price of the land, IN fact no
one will deny this; it was one of Mr.. Stan
ford's arguments in favor of the measure.
and the reason is plain, viz: every one wants
cheap money, to get this they must have
land, and everyone would Immediately want
land for that purpose if for no other and thus
the price would 60 up. Now who would be
benefited by this increased price of land?