The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-04-23
Retrenchment i'm Public Expenses,
State and National.

State and National.
Although the purchasing power of the
money collected as tax may double, the
number of dollars collected is seldom
diminished to any appreciate extent
Indeed the tendency is always strongly
the other way, and to increase rather than
retrench is the prevailing public spirit.
When prices ofproducts were from one
third to fifty per cent higher than at the
present time the sum Of money collected
for taxes was no more than it is now.
The only remedy for this constantly iu-
creasing tendency in public expense is
the increase i'll the price of products out
of which taxes and fixed charges are paid.
Fixed charges salaries, interest and
debts-remain the same, and drop in
prices of the products of labor out of
which all these expenses have to be paid
makes what is called hard tinles' If
salaries, taxes, interest and debts were
scaled down in the same ratio that the
price of products are by falling market,
there would be no apparent hard times
resulting from the appreciation of money
caused by the depreciation of property
There being very little if any prospect of
securing justice on this line the only OBJ
vious course left the suffering party, the
producer, for relief from the nom roducer
is rise in the price of property. This
can only be accomplished by an increase
of the circulating medium, or more
money. 1t is plain, common sense
truth that all can readily understand, if a
thing does not exist ii cannot be had.
This is the financial condition of the
country at the present time. THERE'S not
sufficient quantity of money in circula-
ton to afford good prices. Hence it is
the most sensible thing for all producers
to do to pool their efforts to get more
money into circulation The Credit"
which bankers and money loaners talk so
eloquently about as grand business
factor, is a deception. Credit can be
made use of by the speculator and trader
but the consumer must use tangible
money. A manufacturer can borrow from
the banks to run his business as long as
he can dispose of his goods for cash suf-
ficient to balance his account with the
bank and pay the expenses of his bus
mess. IF the manufacturing concern is
one of the agricultural machine and im-
plement producers, the farmer must pay
cash for the articles he buys of the man
ufacturer and he must get that cash for
his crops His ability to pay is limited
by the amount of money he receives. He
cannot shift his obligations to another
party. The goods stop with him. He
has purchased them for his own use He
proposes to wear them out on his farm.
The end of the transaction is with the
farmer. He must find the cash to pay all
the bills of expense made by the manu-
facturer and any middle men or agents
that may be i'll the business The money
borrowed from the bank, together with
the interest, the raw material, the wages
of the labor employed, the insurance OH
plant and raw material, and the wear and
tear of plant or buildings and machinery,
all must be paid in solid cash by the
farmer. No "credit" transaction will
answer. In his case it must be clean
cash. If the laboring portion of consum-
ers have not sufficient cash to create a
compromising price for the farmers
products, the entire business is stalled.
That is the condition of affairs at this
minute. The producers cannot get
enough money from the consumers to
pay them for the cost of production,
mainly because taxes, interest, debts and
credit remain at their old fixed price
which they assumed when products were
double what they are now.
The only hope of the producing class is
in getting sufficient money in circulation
again to, in some measure, balance these
formidable obstacles which block his path
to prosperity. Money is becoming scarcer
every day because there is no more being
issued by the government, and anything
that is in constant use is steadily wearing
out, being lost and destroyed in many
ways. Money is no exception to this all
pervading rule. Money is tool of trade
and in constant use, hence is liable to the
law of destruction like every other tool
used by man.
The government is completely shut off
from supplying the new demands for
money. 1t has been debarred from
coming silver by the secret plotting and
of the gold ring There is
but little gold to coin and whatever is
coined is snapped up by the English gold
ring and their New York agents to pay
interest and is as completely out of circu-
lation, as far as business of the masses is