The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-01
THE CURRENCY QUESTION.
what " Common, Everyday Farmer
Thinks OF IL.

To the Editor of the Globe:
as some or our United States senator's and
IepIeSeD tatlVes, eX-governors, bankers brok
SrS ana MANY others have during the LAST
lew weeks, written long articles on the Ana
claI question and given congress a great -
OF advice about the laws they should n,es
20 settle the currency question | tboi,gbt
perhaps the public would like ia knoU, r.
an ordinary mortal thought about the mat
Ter, plain common everyday farmer Who
mas no political aspirations nor expects snv
reward from any man or party
Therefore, Mr.. Editor. 1 am going Ia taII
YOU what | think has been the main cai,.s
or all our financial troubles, and I will as,
state what | believe the best remedy 10 hen
Us OUT or our present difficulties. II will be
observed tEat there is a great difference of
opinion among our fnanciers about whtt
should be done and how it should be done
Some want the United States to issue ali
the money; others want national banks 10
do the same. Some want free silver yUbiIa
others want it some other way-but the
most Of them agree on one thing and that
Is that We want more money and what do
we want more money for? Why just simply
to pay our debts with. Debts debts, there
Is where the rub comes in; there is where
all our troubles start from; all owe too
much. The government, the states railroads
Counties cities. towns and individuals are
all owing too much and paying too much
interest TO be prosperous. We don't seem TO
realize the vast amount of money that is paid
out as interest every year with the interest
bearing debt increasing right along and OF
course, the more interest we pay the more
money We want to pay 1t with, and that is
what helps make money so scarce for most
everybody is hustlng around nearly all the
time trying to make a raise to pay off some
note or the interest on some mortgage i'm
order to avoid litigation. Now suDpose that
we could pay our debts or the most OF them
during the next year or two | believe we
could get along after that with a great deal
less money than we do now, and there would
not be about half of the people clamOriug
for free silver or more greenbacks or bank
notes as they are now, and the financial
question would not be heard of for the rea-
son that we would not be hard pressed for
money all the while, as we are now.
There wcS a time when a mortgage cover ,
ed my farm from the front gate to the fur.
ther side Of the wood lot, and | had IL
hustle day and night to get money to pay
the annual interest and avoid a foreclosure.
That mortgage seemed to hang like a mill
stone around my neck all the time. l never
thought that | could afford to go to the state
fair nor hardly dared to go to my own coUa-
" fair for fear that I might spend a few
dollars that the mortgage was waiting for;
but there came day when by a lucky deal
| paid the old thing or principal and In
teTest and il was one Of the happiest DAYS
of my life: 1t seemed that the sun shone
great deal brighter that day than IL ever
did before and the birds sang sweeter and
the whole world looked brighter and ! felt
like a new man. | felt like Bunyan's Pill
grim did when he was freed from that great
hump on his back which he had been COM
PEELED 10 carry 50 long.
We don't want any more billion dollar
congresses until our public debt gets below
the billion dollar mark. We don't want any
more wars until our old war debt is wiped
out. but we do want economy and retrench-
ment in all public and private affairs. and
then we will have better times. better tines
that viii come to stay, without having a
few years OF prosperity always followed by a
period Of financial disaster as has been thu
case for the last thirty years.
Sunrise. Nov. 28 &C. Wilcox.