The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1897-07-01
WITHOUT ONE DOLLAR.
HOW A SAN FRANCISCO WHOLESALE
BUSINESS is MANAGED.

Are Issued That Locally circulate as
Cash-The Labor Exchange Idea-BuiId-
ing Railroad without a Cent of Money.
The attorney general of the United
States was recently called upon to de-
eide whether checks not redeemable
in legal tenders could be taxed. The
conclusion was reached that they
could not.
Connected with this question is one
of the most interesting labor problems
of the day, and the leaders interested,
one of whom was in Washington a
few days ago, gave the following ac-
count of the enterprise to a Star re-
porter:
''There is" said he, 'at 1922 Davis
street, San Francisco, large whole
sale business house that has done q
business of $29, 600 within the last
eight months wholly without money.
Nor is it in debt for one dollar. 1t ex-
poets to go right along doing business
in exactly the same way-without
money. 1t has grown from a very
small affair, year ago, to its present
healthy proportions by the same meth
DDS, and bases it's future expectations
upon what it has accomplished. 1t
claims to have solved the money ques-
ton by dismissing money entirely
having nothing to do with it.
'"This business concern is the Labor
Exchange. 1t is not a mere local CO.
operative affair. The Labor Exchange
is national institution that, in spite
of the sneers and prophecies of failure
that it met at it's inception, and that
have followed it along it's course, seems
to have reached point where it may
demand respectful study and consid-
| Grafton.
''The idea upon which it is founded
is very simple. Its purpose is to en-
ploy every man who has an opportu-
nifty to produce anything by finding a
market for the product-to find some
other man who wants the product, and
who has something to exchange for it.
1t is by this means that the use Of
money is dispensed with.
"a shoemaker, for instance, wants
barrel of flour. He gets to work
and makes whole lot of shoes of the
! value of the thing he wants, takes
| them to the exchange and receives the
! -four. If he wants something that is
not in the exchange-for instance, if
he wants new set of teeth-he is
given a check or checks of the value of
the product he leaves there, and goes
away to some dentist who belongs to
the exchange, and who, therefore, will
accept the checks for his work. The
dentist is not required to take the
shoes in exchange for his work-the
checks will be accepted at the ex-
change for anything there is in stock.
Nor is the dentist even limited to this.
These checks are accepted by a score
or more of other business houses in
almost every line of trade, so widely
/ has the movement spread.
Labor Exchange checks are COM
ing into general circulation, and serv-
ing not merely as substitute, but in
some respects as an improvement upon
! money. They are an improvement to
the extent that they serve all the pur.
poses in facilitating exchange without
being subject to taxation.
sThis question has been raised at
! Washington = the institution has
reached such proportions as to have
forced such attention-and the attor-
ney general has declared that mas
much as the checks were not redeema-
/ BILE in legal tender they could not be
taxed. Every check of the Labor Ex-
change found in circulation represents
some product of labor. They are re-
deemable in labor, or the product of
! labor, and nothing else. That Is the
, whole scheme,
Branches are being established all
over the country, and especially in the
West. These exchange all manner OF
goods with each other. There are such
I things as socks and cigars from as dis
tant point as Reading, Penn, at the
Davis street exchange, broom handles
from New Whatcom, Wash, fruit ex-
tracts from Fresno, as well as fruit
from as far south as San Diego. A
consignment of shirts and overalls is
being negotiated for with branch in
Ohio. A lot of dried fruit was recent
ly shipped to Idaho Falls, Idaho, in
exchange for pork, and groceries were
sent to Armona, in Kings county,
in exchange for dried fruit.
"These organizations have under
taken to build railroad. Subscrip-
\tions of 800, 900, not in dollars but
M land, material and provender, have
been made, and these will be pledged
for the rails and rolling stock, things
that cannot be secured with the ex-
change checks. All the labor, the tires,
ETC., will be paid for with these checks,
which will be accepted for traffic
charges when the road is completed.
The road to be built is strip twenty
five miles long, extending into the
prolific farming country of the Will
liamette valley. Washington Star.
Her Nationality.
Beenaway-W Why, hello, Hennypeckl