The Monitor-register., 1896-08-14
Communicated.
The Money Question and the Com
mon People.


caused by decreasing money and falling
prices, and that the recovery therefrom
and the comparative prosperity which
followed the discovery of America, were
due to an increasing supply of the pre-
cious metals and rising prices, will not
seem surprising or unreasonable when
the noble functions of money are consid-
cred.
Money is the great instrument of asso-
citation; the very fibre of social organism;
the yitalizing force of industry; the
protoplasm of civilization, and as essen
tial to its existence as oxygen is to animal
life. Without money civilization could
not have had beginning, and with
diminishing supply, it must languish;
and unless relieved, finally perish.
Failing prices and misery and destitu-
tion are inseparable companions"
1t is universally conceded that falling
prices result from the contraction of the
money volume. "The highest moral,
intellectual and material development of
nations is promoted by the use of money,
unchanging in its value" The true and
only cause of the calamities that have
befallen the people is ''the shrinkage in
the volume of money" To whom, then,
shall We charge the calamities that have
come upon us like flood?
Is 1t the extrsvagances of the people?
Is it because too many of the necessar-
les of life have been produced? Because
the farmer has been too industrious and
prudent, or the manufacturer employed
too many laborers in the production of
his commodities Is it because millions
of children are employed in the mines
and factories of the country, denied
every blessing and privilege of child
hood? Is it because the dram shop is
sucking away the sustenance of thou
sands of families, and bringing desolation
into their homes? Is it because women
are selling their souls to keep their bodies
from starving, or because band of train
robbers are infestjng the country and
sending terror into the hearts of the
people? No. 1t is none of these cir
cumstances that have brought such
disaster upon our country, but it is
selfish and criminal legislation that has
overwhelmed US with these alarming
conditions.
When the fend of civil war was DESC
LAT 10 bo hoe ,f
the nation throbbed in agony, and the
people were bowed in mourning, then
band men, with murderous purposes,
went, not into the battle field, but into
the very sanctuary of our oountry-the
holy place of government-and there,
under the guise of patriot and benefactor,
pillaged the soldier and plotted the most
diabolical scheme of robbery that ever
| blackened historic page.
Who were these men? All! history is
writing their names in a most damniDg
blood of martyred children, and the
ag onizing cry of forty millions of en-
slaved people is ascending continually
day and night. Do you ask for evidence
that this people were deliberately robbed
by band of men at the head of our
government who were in league with the
money power of Europe? If 80, please
read and ponder the "copfidential" circu-
lar which was isued in 1862 by English
capitalists, who commissioned one Haz
zard, London banker, to propagate its
/ principles among American bankers,
with view of having the financial legis.
lation of Congress pave the way for its
final adoption as the settled policy of
this nation. How we'll they succeeded is
ana ruined homes. nere is Jne dOcu-
meut:
"Slavery is likely to be abolished by
the war power, and chattel slavery de-
stroyed. This, l and my European
friends are in favor of, for slavery is but
the care for the laborer, while the Euro
pean plan, led on by England, is capital
controls labor by controlling wages.
This can be done by controlling the
money. The great debt that capitalists
will see to it is made of the war, must be
used as measure to control the volume
of money. To accomplish this the bonds
must be used as a banking basis. We
are now waiting to get the Secretary of
the Treasury to make his recommends
tion to Congress. 1t will not do to allow
the greenoaok, as it is called, to circulate
as money any length of time, for we can
not control that. The spirit of money
worshippers seems to be rapidly develop
ing in this direction"
The following are the words of Abra-
ham Lincoln in his message to Congress
in 1861. (See Barrett's Life of Lincoln,
pages 300 and 310.) This important
warning is omitted in the later histories:
Monarchy itself is sometimes limited at
as possible refuge from the power Of
the people. In my present position I
could scarcely he justified we're 1 to omit
raising a warning voice against the ap-
proach of returning despotism. There is
one point to which l ask brief atten-
ton. 1t is the effort to place capital on
an equal footing with if not above labor
in the structure of government. Let
them beware of surrendering political
power which they already have, and
which, if surrendered, will surely be used
to close the door of advancement against
such as they, and to fix new disabilities
and burdens upon them, till all of liberty
shall be lost" These are the words of
warning from our country's sainted
martyr, bat alas, how little needed.
To friend in Illinois, near the close
of the war, President Lincoln wrote
these words: sit has cost vast amount
of treasure and blood. The best blood
of the flower of American youth has
been freely offered upon our country s
altar that the nation might live. 1t has
been indeed try ing hour for the republic;
but l see in the near future a crisis ap-
preaching that uuperves me and causes
me to tremble for the safety of my coun-
try. As result of the W ar, corporations
have been enthroned and an era of cor
ruption in high places will follow, and
the money power will endeayor to pro-
long its reign by working upon the
prejudices of the people until all wealth
is aggregated in few hands, and the
republic is destroyed. I feel at this
moment more anxiety for the safety OF