The Portland daily press., 1896-08-08
A FABLE WITH MORALS.
How Kansas Attempted to Legislate Value
Into Coin an What Came of 1t.
New York SUM.

(N6W 1OFk sum.
It was near the close of the nineteenth
century-everyweI ere there was great de-
preston. Railroads could not pay divi-
dends, values were shrunken, money was
Idle, labor unemployed. The wall-to-do
could not make profits, tho poor could
not pay their debts, and every body was
gloomy and sad. Each man as he met
his neighbor would solemnly say, in the
language of the Hon. James Fadden,
"What t'n," and modify pass on.
Then there arose the W Use men of Kan
sas. They were mighty in their day;
with honeyed words they beguilsd the
people. They painted in oolors of night
the oppression of labor and the sufferings
of poverty. They pictured 1t in hues
that paled the mornings rosy glow, the
delights of luxury and the blessings of
wealth.
Frenzied by the intoxicating dream
they exclaimed wherefore are we not
rieha Go to. uowi Let us abolish pow
erty. Let US legislate ourselves into
afauence." And the people heard and
were smitten with the delicious mad
ness.
Then, the governor assembled the wise
N On in special session and thus addressed
them:
"Aost noble, brave. and mighty yeo-
men, our people groan; the burden is
heavy upon them. Early and late they
toll and eat the bread of disappointment
and bitternesss. Make ye laws for thei +
deltverance.
1--WE are the greatest State in the In
ion. We are big enough and rich enough
to have a policy of our own regardless
Of what other States may do or may not
do. Let us be patriotic.
"A Kansas policy for Kansas is the need
of the hour. Wheat is hard to raise, and
the yield is light and uncertain. but we
are great on corn. The notion that the
ply and demaad is superstition by
means Of which the rich plumber and op-
press honest toll. Make ye, therefore,
law in accordance with which sovereign
aud ancient statute corn shall be put
upon the par with wheat. They should
be interchangeab BILE, bushel for bushel,
and the price Of corn shall be the same as
the price OF wheat. Do this and the peo-
pie of Kansas shall rise up and call you
blessed, and all the world. except the
money lenders, shall hail you as the
emancipsters of mankind"
The wise men passed the law as the
governor had advised, and all the PEG pie
of the State rejoiced. for their cribs were
full OF corn. They could hardly restrain
themselves till the Cove rnor had signed
the bill which raised the price of Kansas
corn from fifteen cents to forty-five cents
bushei. A II the people now felt rich.
They bought many Injuries and the most
of them went in debt. They wondered
that they had ever before found out that
wealth was simply matter of legisla-
tioa, and they felt a great pity and con-
tempt for the ignorant and superstitious
p.opie of other states. Then the farmers
from the other States began hauling
their corn from Kansas. Long lines of
wagensseam winding along every road.
Boats doated it down the rivers land the
raiiros us rushed 1t In from every section
of the country. 1t seemed as If the coun-
try was all corn and IL was all headed for
Kansas. The people Of Kansas took their
medicine-that is. they took the corn and
gave uptth cir wheat.
The Farmers from the other States
thought the Kansas people were queer,
but they kept bringing them their corn.
Corn. came in and wheat went out And,
besides all the Kansas people had gone to
raising corn, because 1t was more easily
produced than wheat. and was to bring
Just as much in the market as wheat. for
the WISE msn had deemed that it should.
own corn and nearly all of it's neighbors'.
When the othe States saw this vast 40.
cumulation and knew 10 must sooner or
later como onto the market. the price of
corn began to decline till it could be pur-
chased anywhere, except in Kansas, for
ten cents bushel. In Kansas the price
was still forty-fiye cents which was the
prics Of wheat. but there were no buy
ers. Neither would any one exchange
wheat for their corn. When the autumn
came the Kansas people did not have
any wheat for seed. Then they So ut to
the nsigh boring States and 1mplored the
farmers to exchange wheat at parity
with corn. But the farmers said I'VE
will exchange one bushel Of wheat for
four and one-half bushels of corn" aOur
law" replied the Kansas people, "puts
corn ana wheat on parity. They are
equal, for our wise men said they should
bet =" and the farmers replied: Your
wise men are asses; let them eat your
CON-" So the Kansans went back home
and all their people were in despair.
The more corn they had the less 1t was
worth. ADD they had nothing but corn.
Day by day the times grew harder.
when the governor again assembled
the wise men he said to them: Most
oonsummate, picturesque and glitterinQ
g0ll dsrned fools. There is one bigger
fool than yourselves. 1t Is he who now
addresses you.
I'VE thought we could bluff the ever
lasting law of supply and demand with
one statute. We thought we could legis-
lateStalas into thing and make our
people rich by law. We thought we were
l,atciouie. We were idiotic. Let us hon
esAy acknowledge our assininity, repeal
our fool law, get back into line with the
other states, and imagine emo more that
We are wiser than the whole world. Do
this, and may we live long enough to
know that the other States have ceased
laughing at our folly, and that our own
has ceased cursing us for it,"
Then the wise men repealed the law,
but it was many years before the people
recovered from the effects OF the corn
GRACE.
Moral: We are big nation, but we are
net the whole EARTH
Another moral: Legislation can Meth
er make nor unmake values.
Sbfll another: A fool is man who
thinks ali the rest of the world are fools
Que more: We cannot lift ourselves
up by our boet-straps.