The Forrest City times., 1898-11-25
GOLD AND MoN0p0LHs.
Money Power h Seeking to Do It's Work.

nd steel combine has disclosed the full Proportions of its plan and purposes. The {Federal Steel company. as the combine kIll probably be called, intends to control ihe iron business of the country. It will hIue or control the mining of all the ore. kt will fix the price of every pound of iron. IA will manufacture or control the manu- facture of every kind of iron product, from kimor plate and guns and beams and rails ko wire, barbed and plain. and cold chisels knd hammers and nails. As iron is the foundation and the skeleton of the super of our material civilization, the Kew men at the head of this com bine' will Exercise a stupendous influence upon the 5iyision and distribution of the wealth of khis nation, and therefore upon its social knd political life. Behind the Federal Steel company there is a dream of wealth Ind power and aggrandfzement that would have seemed fantastic a few years ago, but ks now in favorable way to complete reali- kation."-N. Y. World.
 i When some great industrial monopoly Springs into life the World is quick to observe it, but it is as blind as Man. moth cave fish to the greatest of ali monopolies-that of money. The honey monopoly is equal to all others kombined, for it controls them all. Money is the machinery by which all modern business is transacted, and &hey who control the machinery have lhe business at their mercy. It is as plain as light itself that the gold stand krd is the instrumentality by which he money power is seeking to do its york. The great money lenders of london, Berlin and New York are dic- sting the financial policy of Europe, America, and large part of Asia, Through the agency of the gold stand krd. The spacious excuse is offered that bimetallism is impracticable. That it 5 impossible to keep gold and silver |xactly together-on par-if both are freely used. Therefore we must only lave one. It is assumed that the mo- hent one becomes more valuable than he other at the agreed ratio-that is, then a premium appears-the one which iises to premium ceases to be honey and the other becomes the |tandard; or, as some have claimed, we would have two standards, which to Thinkers" of a certain class is "un- thinkable." In other words, the main efense of the gold standard rests upon he idea that the smallest premium pon one of the metals is greater evil han to destroy that metal entirely as honey. The simple statement of the Proposition demonstrates its absurd (y. At the worst the breaking of the lar is no more than slight inconven- fnce in accounting, SO far as domestic 4rade Is concerned. If, for example, fold should rise to premium of ten Ter cent, then a dollar in gold would e equal to dollar and ten cents in
 lver. So long as this condition lasted he gold would be held chiefly by the hanks (as it is now) and count as part
 If their reserves. But the condition ould not last permanently unless prac- ically all of the gold were expelled from
 ie country, and this could only be then our silver and paper together Constituted our full distributive share the worlds money. Until that point Fas reached it would be more profitable invest the gold than to hoard it in he banks or elsewhere, because as sil- er flowed into the country to make up ur full share of the worlds stock rices would rise, which is only another ray of saying that the gold would fall. D far as International parity is con frned, it is never permanently and Readily maintained, even between Puntries using the same money metal.
 he exact par of the English pound ferling is $4.866 in American money, ut it seldom stands at that figure com
 ercially. It ranges generally from bout S4s2 to $4.S9, according to the late of the international balances and De varying demands of the different puntrles for specie. Between gold Duntrles and silver countries the arity is already as badly broken as it an be. The gold standard gives no fhef there. Unfortunately for us, the reaking of the par of exchange has
 ven silver-using countries very great dvantage in international trade. The Fguments in favor of the gold stand Fd are purely technical-mere quib- ies. On the other hand, the objections
 1t are of the most substantial char cter. It's adoption means the destruc-
 on of large part of the money npply of the nations in which it is
 ade the standard, falling prices, hard
 mes, oppression of the debtor and an nconscionable advantage to the cred
 or. The latter is the reason why the
 orld's great creditors favor it. The hiue of their demands is increased, hey obtain command of more and lore of other peoples wealth for the me number of dollars. In effect they orner the money market and dominate ne business of the world. Upon con-
 antly falling market the weaker busi- ess men are forced out, while the Fronger ones form combines for their wn production. Hence it can be
 uthfully affirmed that the gold stand I'd Is tine prolific father of trusts. The
 ockefeller-Carnegie combine may con-
 oi the iron and steel industry, but ne money combine controls every ling, including the New York World.
 II. F. BARTINE.
 Here is what the old philadelnhia