The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-12-25

nopolies which the State, or general gov
eminent could control without imping-
ing on personal rights, and must control
if the people are to escape despotism
more dangerous than personal dominion.
These are the money monopoly, the rail
road monopoly and the telegraph monop-
oily. These three monopolies placed
under complete government management
as the postoffice is, would be long stride
in the direction of freedom from trusts.
There is no reasonable claim can be set
up that they are in the true sense personal
property. The active and constant use
by the public are necessary to their
existence.
The function of money is use by the
public. 1t is created by law for the use of
the public. No individual can create
money. The sovereign power of govern
ment alone can create it, and that SOW
ereign power should exclude all persons
from controlling it, as it does:most rigidly
from coming or making money.
Controlling money and using money
are two entirely different functions.
Money is used by the individual for the
purpose of transferring the value of prop
erty, and dividing that value into infn-
itesimal parts if necessary.
Controlling money is managing and
manipulating money by the machinery of
banking. The banks have complete con-
troll of all the money in circulation. They
do not use it for the transfer of values
when property changes hands. They do
not own it but loan it to the people in
active business to perform such service,
and charge them inordinate rates of inter-
est for this service. This is great power
placed in the hands of comparatively
few persons, who by having such power
conferred upon them by the State are
capable of doing great injury to the pub
lie, and exercising an unwarranted in
fuence in public affairs, all of which the
banking power is guilty of.
The government is the true custodian of
the peoples money. 1t has no motive of
personal gain as the private person or
company has, and by having entire charge
OF the business which we know as bank
ing, the saving to the active business
people of the country would amount
annually to hundreds of millions of
dollars.
The railroad or medium of transporta-
ton is as truly public institution as the
money of the country. The railroad is
in daily use by the public, not part of
the public, but the entire public, and 10
individual can have and exercise the
power of personal ownership of the rail
road without infringing on the rights of
the public. The attempted private owner
ship of this great system or medium of
transportation and travel has caused
untold losses to the public. The attempt
to manage so vast public utility as that
of travel and transportation by individuals
is attended with enormous waste, and no
end of friction and wars between COM
panies. Railroads are as much a public
concern as the county roads, which are
owned by no person and yet by every
person. AS we'll might the government
allow an association of persons to own the
army and navy as the railroads And if
the custom had grown up of corporations
owning the army and navy, the same per-
sons who are opposed to the govern
ment ownership of railroads." would
offer the same opposition to the govern
ment taking charge of the army and
navy Persons do not give these matters
any investigating thought, is the reason
if their opposition amounts to the dig
nifty of reason-why they offer objec-
ton to government banks and govern
ment control of railroads. Control with.
out carrying with it ownership is
impossible.
The telegraph with its accompanying
factor, the telephone, belongs to the same
class of public monopolies as the money
and railroads of the nation. They are
the mediums for transmitting information,
and part of the postoffice department
that is allowed by our loose system of
public affairs to be used by private per-
perons to the great loss of, and i'm
position on, the public.
With these three great natural monop-
olies in the hands of the government
which is to say in the hands of the whole
people, trusts would be almost impossible
And usury, which is eating the very mar
row OF the nation like destroying can
Ger, would disappear. Every mortgage
would be lifted from the farms and homes
of the people, and we would become in
fact nation of free people in place of
mhat we are rapidly drifting into, nation
of debt slaves.