The advocate., 1897-10-06
Correspondence.
Is II Cause or EFeCt2


che money used, lending to people VINO
need to borrow and at a charge not
exceeding cost Of handling the business,
there would be no congestion OF money
In the large towns and cities, there would
be no panics, no tidal waves Of destruc-
tlon passing over the country, strikes
would disappear and every able-bodied
man would acquire and keep a home OF
his own. That would end the rule Of the
money changers, the people would be
free again, and their business, unham-
pered by the games Of spectators, would
steadily yield legitimate profits"
/ quote the above from the editorial
columns Of the Advocate for September
"a. I find 1t impossible to agree fully
with the conclusions reached as TO the
effects Of such policy.
II empty pocket-boOks was the cause OF
poverty, instead Of the result OF 1t, more
and cheaper money might have decided
influence In checking the concentration
OF wealth. However plenty money may
be, It does not help the man who can
get none OF 1t, and however low the rate
OF interest, the man unable to give Sc
CURLY ca0uOL DOETOW LuOHVy'
There are but two legitimate meth
DDS Of acquiring money. One Is to own
income-producing property, the other by
receipt Of wages. The former Is the
method of Rockefeller, Carnegie and
Hanna, ct al, and the latter that OF their
coal and iron workers and OF farmers,
clerks and ordinary business and pro-
fessional men.
In order that those who work may get
more-have steadier employment and
higher wages in proportion to cost OF
living-thOse who control opportunities
for employment must take less, hence
the demand for labor must increase in
relation to the supply
In order that homes COWned homes,
not rented Ones) may be more easily
obtained and retained, the price Of land
must fall relatively to the price OF Ia
Dor. VIII general rise Of prices pro-
duee this effect? On the contrary 1t Is
an economic truism that land Is the first
thing to rise with advancing prices; that
it rises higher and falls more slowly
when the receding tide comes than other
things, and that landlords absorb the
products Of labor most rapidly when
prices are increasing, the foreclosures
and forced sales Of bursted boom being
only the legal incidents Of a transfer
already in virtual effect.
The effect Of an increasing supply OF
money, or of Its more rapid circulation,
is to advance prices Of property and
labor and most branches of business
get but small per cent. Of such advance.
George Gould stated on his recent return
from Europe that he was $l5,OOO,OOO
richer by reason Of advanced prices dur
ing the year, but the employees Of his
railways and coal mines are working
harder for the same wages than before
tho rise
Who would benefit by government
loans "at cost Of handling the business?"
Certainly not the poor or the homeless,
for they could give no security, but only
an already privileged class--the land
IOrds--whO would use this new privilege
Ia buy other property and still further
corner opportunities for employment.
Would the interest, rents, taxes and
monopoly extortlons paid by labor be
Iessened by such loans? No! Rents
would surely advance, and four-ftfths Of
what Is popuIarly called interest is only
form of rent.
True economic interest, or interest on
true capital, as distinguished from spu-
rious capital or monopoly, must and
always does advance in times OF higher
prices, because paid on more dollars to
represent the same value Of capital, and
interest proper always rises with ad-
vancing wages, true economic interest
being only one form OF wages,
Interest, In the popular, but false and
misleading sense of the term, is depend