The broad ax., 1896-05-06

| Inc letler OF MI. bofcluaBns S
master Of the knights Of Labor, In re-
Spouse to an invitation to attend TIE
washington Silver Conference. should
b read BY every person In the united
States, sufficiently advanced In years 70
understand its import.
The picture which he presents OF the
growing power Of wealth. and Its dan
ger to the common people 10 as vivid az
Il n true. No one who stops to think
even for q moment, can fail to note the
tremendous strides In wealth and power
recently made by the money owning
and money controlling classes, nor the
inscriptions manner in which their
power In employed.
The National Bimetailist does not ad-
vocate communism or anything ap-
/ preaching Il. No obstacle should be
! placed In the way of Just and honor
able acquisition of wealth. Deprive
men Of that incentive. and Il would
operate as q brake upon the wheels Of
progress at once.
But II does champion, as best II can,
such q policy as will give all classes an
equal chance; which will tend to q Just
distribution Of wealth, and not build
up community consisting OF few mil
lionaires on the one hand. and untold
millions Of suffering poor on the other.
That such is the inevitable effect Of an
appreciating standard Of value Is 50
plain as to scarcely need discussion.
When money appreciates (gets
dearer) It is plain as light itself that
the man who has a great deal Of II, or
who owns evidences Of debt, notes.
bonds, mortgages, and the like, reaps
beneht that does not belong to him.
The money" which he has, or collects
from time to time, will command more
Of those things necessary for his sup
port and comfort. These things are
produced by the labor Of others, and
consequently they are injured.
Let the producer exert himself to the
utmost, and there is a limit to his pro-
ductive power. Beyond certain point
he cannot possibly go. But there IL no
limit to the appreciation Of money.
Within the last twenty-five years Il has
doubled In value. Under present con-
dftions money can double again In the !
next twenty-five years as easily as II did |
In the last
What does that mean! II means |
wheat, corn, cotton-almost everything |
at half their present price. II means |
q doubling Of the burden Of debt, and
doubling Of the wealth Of the creditor.
II means that the idle non-produeer,
living upon a fixed salary, or other in
come, can buy twice as much for II. It
means that the man engaged In produc-
ton must surrender twice as much of
his product In order to get the same
amount Of money.
1t is seriously claimed that this hurts
nobody, because the producer gets
money OF double purchasing power.
This IL most egregious error.
When one man doubles his wealth by
adding to those things which make up
the aggregate of the worlds riches, Il
may be truthfully said that he injuries
nobody. But when he does so by an in
creased purchasing power of his dol
lar" he must necessarily do 1t at some
body else's loss.
Suppose the purchasing power of
every dollar in the world were instantly
doubled. No sane man would claim
that the wealth OF the world would be
doubled. 1t would contain Just what It
does now. and nothing more. 1t would
support just as many human beings as
now, and no more. But It would make
q vast difference In the distribution of
that wealth. The man whose wealth
was all In money would be twice as rich
10 before; the man whose property was
for half its value, would be /
ruined.
There being only a given amount of q
In the world, IL the monied
classes could command twice as many. {
L follows with unerring certainty that I
'ther classes must be able to command q
less. 4
The effect would be the same as dou-
bling the size OF the measure BIZ which U
he rich man buys his goods. In fact. p
{ Ii the same thing. for q measure of d
7alue Ii also q measure of quantity" '
z beef Ii 10 cents pound, It IL imma- u
erial whether We ask for a pound or 10 {,
'snts' worth. In each case we mean
he same thing. Whether we double
he pound weight or double the 10 cents
n q given transaction the effect Is the a
anne. :,
IL all men stood upon an exactly equal n
ooting. buying and selling equally of v
ii things and for cash, then an appre- b
tation Of money would do compare q
lively little harm Perhaps none. But y
bis IL condition that does not exit. o
len do not buy and sell equally. They
re divided into CLASSES. Some one n
WINS one kind Of property. and some n
mother. Some are producers, and /