Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-06-04


sofa, told the following story to illustrate
tho fact that quality Of money is more
important than quantity and that the
power Of even small amount Of good
money TO circulate rapidly, pay debts.
settle balances and to facilitate ex-
changes is almost limitlcss
When ] was II small boy, ] saw some
thing that / shall never forget. 1t was
ut circus The clowns and some other
employees arranged themselves i'll cir
Gle Let us say that there were 20 of
them in all. No. said to No. 2, II
owe you 81; I'll pay up as soon as |
ran. F." No. 3 made this statement to No.
3, No. 3 to No. 4, and 40 on around the
circle, No 20 saying it to No, /. No.
showed his hands into his pockets, and
with II look Of pleased surprise pulled
out 81. Turning to No. 2, he said: II
didn't know that had that dollar
Here's 80 much on account. No. 2 took
the dollar, and with similar language
passed it on to No 3, and 80 it went
around the ring. No. 20 passed it to
No /, who received it with IL smile and
started to put IL into his pocket, but in
stead he turned to No. and said II
didn't expect to be able To pay You the
balance so soon, but here it il, " And SO
it went around the ring, finally coming
bnclx to No. !, who with II satisfied
smile put it into his pocket
To tho little boy who looked us ] did
4 Ia nj
the funny work of clowns, to be laughed
Mt and forgotten 1t waa not forgotten,
however, and to tho man older grown
and charged with the serious considcra-
tion OF the affairs cf II great nation it IL
Illustrates the profoundest truth in
finance What is that truth? 1t is this:
Under proper conditions the working
power Of II dollar is beyond all human
computation.
was very much surprised to hear this
afternoon man so prominent as my
friend from Tennessee Mr.. McMlllin
lost to circulation. have often heard
men speak ns il they thought that there
must be rs many dollars in existence M
there arc dollars worth Of business to
be transacted What would u farmer say
TO nm agent for bushel baskets who
should attempt to convince him that he
needed ~ many baskets rs he expected
To raise bushels Of crop? The farmer
would feel that his intelligence had been
insultcd, and justly 80, He knows that
no can use tho Same basket over and over
again, and the quantity measured in u
given time will depend on the speed
with which tho one handling it works.
And then, il properly used, it is ready
to do M much more.
So with the ynrdstick, the pound
weight and tho dollar Each can do an
almost infinite amount Of work IL prop
orly used. What arc the conditions of
highest efficiency i'll money? Undor what
conditions can agivtn amount Of money
do tho most work? Let us examine our
illustrations
Tho dollar in the circus ring did tho
work Of $40 in five minutes and was
just rs capable Of accomplishing rs much
moro in the succeeding five minutes.
Why was this? Simply because it moved
promptly.
Now. let ny examine the matter u lit
tie moro closely, Why did it move SO?
Why was each one su prompt to pass the
dollar on2 Because he felt Eoud-that is,
he felt honest He felt that when he
owed money and had it i'll hispockct the
only proper thing for him to do was to
pay up Moreover. each h@d confidence
in tho other There was II feeling cl re-
spect and roud will among the mcn i'll
that ring This IL ono Of tho conditions
under which money does it's work most
effectively.
What Is the other condition? Why
was each man willing to accept the dol
lar III payment of what WAS coming to
him? because he know that it was u
good dollar He knew that whenever he
wanted to uSo it. whether it might he
that day or ~, for ten years, IT would
be just ns good rs when lie accepted it.
Suppose, on tho ether hand. that each
Of thn men hal y dollar III hia pocket,
hut chat they t,S;raStcd each other each
fearing that II he lot Ho If the dollar
that he had he ,aiEht net scon get Al
other although money was luc him,
and suppose that each was afraid to @c.
ccpt tho money Of the other, fearing
that it might not hc good wh,n he
wanted 10 use it chat ii would dpprrrt.
ate on his hand'--what would be the
result? Why, ofcoursr, each would keep
in his pocket what money he had, and
each would continue tu oWo the other
that is, the money would accomplish
nothing
In other words, S.r, with good money
and mutual trust 81 did tho work Of
$40, while with questionable money
and dis,rust $50 could accomplish moth.
ing In other words, the quality Of
money is immensely moro important