Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-07-23
A CIRCUS DOLLAR.

n PERFORMS A WONDERFUL FEAT m
PAYING OEeTs.
illustrates the Rapidly with which 0ood
Money Can Circulate-And That Quality
II More Important Than Quantity.
In his recent great speech in congress
the Hon. James T. McCleary, Of Mime
bota, told the following story to illustrate
the fact that quality Of money IL more
important than quantity and that the
power Of even . small amount Of good
money to circulate rapidly, pay debts.
bettle balances and to facilitate ex-
changes is almost limitless:
When I was q small boy, I saw some
thing that I shall never forget It was
1t q circua The clowns and some other
employees arranged themselves In q cir
cle Let NJ say that there were 30 Of
them in all No l said to No. 3, II
owe you o.; I'll pay up a. o a. l
ran. No. 2 made this statement to No
8, No. 8 to No. 4. and so on around the
circle, No. 20 saying it to No. /. No. l
showed his hands into his pockets, and
with a look Of pleased surprise pulled
out 81. Turning to No ., he said: II
didn't know that / had that dollar.
Here's 30 much on account" No. 2 took
the dollar, and with similar language
passed it on to No 3, and so IL went
around the ring. No. 30 passed it to
No. l, who received It with a smile and
started to put it into his pocket, but In
stead he turned to No. . and said, II
didn't expect to be able to pay you the
balance &C soon, but here it ia" And 20
it went around the ring. finally coming
back to No. /, who with q satisfied
smile put it into his pocket
To the little boy who looked az / did
thirty odd years ago this was simply
the funny work Of clowns, to be laughed
at and forgotten. 1t was not forgotten,
however, and to the man older grown
and charged with the serious considera-
ton Of the affairs Of agreat nation it H.
Illustrates the profoundest truth in
finance. What is that truth? It lie this:
Under proper conditions the working
power Of a dollar Is beyond all human
computation.
Twas very much surprised to hear this
afternoon q man 70 prominent a. my
friend from Tennessee mr.. McMillin]
speak q il money paid for taxes was
lost to circulation. I have often heard
men speak as il they thought that there
must be as many dollars in existence a
there are dollars worth Of business to
be transacted. What would q farmer say
TO an agent for bushel baskets who
should attempt to convince him that he
needed az many baskets as he expected
to raise bushels Of crop? The farmer
would feel that his intelligence had been
insulted. and justly q. He knows that
he a use the same basket over and ove1
again, and the quantity measured In q
given time will depend on the speed
with which the one handling 1t works.
And then, II properly used. 1t is ready
to do as much more.
So with the yardstick, the pound
weight and the dollar. Each can do an
almost infinite amount of work il prop
erly used. What are the conditions Of
highest efficiency in money? Under what
conditions can o given amount Of money
do the most work? Let us examine oul
illustration.
The dollar in the circus ring did the
work Of $40 in five minutes and wa,
just as capable Of accomplishing as much
more in the succeeding five minutes
Why was this? Simply because it moved
5 promptly.
-.
Now, let Us examine the matter q lit
tie more closely. Why did it move 90
, Why was each SO prompt to pass thu
!. dollar ON? Because he felt good-that ia
he felt honest. He felt that when b.
|. . owed money and had it in his pocket tn,
only proper thing for him to do was t.
pay up. Moreover. och had confidence
: in the other. There was q feeling Of no
' spect and good will among the men il
, that ring. This is one Of the condition
! under which money does its work mos
, effectively.
What is the other condition? VIII,
was each man willing to accept the dol
lar in payment Of what wa coming b
him? Because he knew that it was
good dollar. He knew that whenever b.
? wanted to use it, whether it might b
that day or not for ten years, it woul,
be just as good as when he accepted it.
Suppose, on the other hand, that eacl
! Of the men had q dollar in his pocket
but that they distrusted each other, eacl
fearing that il he let 60 Of the dolla
that he had he might not NOON get an
other. although money was due him
!. and suppose that each was afraid to &C
! cept the money Of the other, fearing
. that it might not be good when b
wanted to use 1t; that 1t would depreci
ate on his hands-what would be tn
RESULT Why. Of course. each would kee]
in his pocket what money he had, AM
each would continue to owe the other
> that h. the money would accomplish
nothing.
In other words, sir, with good none.