The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-07-09
POWER OF MONEY
A SkIIIfuIIy Organized National
Labor Banking System Would
Become InvIncIbIe.
Editor Providence News:

Editor Providence News:
| IL American labor wishes TO enancipsts
/ itself Il must unite all of Its forces.
| financial and political. It's invincibie
money power. IL united, exceeds that OF
| the combined money power OF all the ma
| tional banks of the United States. TO
| finance this tremendous money power OF
labor through skilfully organized ma
tional labor banking system with branches
in the great financial centres of the coun-
try, is an achievement which calls for
the highest financial intelligence and
skill OF the country. The basic principle
OF such labor cooperative banking
OF necessity 10 turn its back on discounts
and interest. Its ioans should be on CO.
operative enterprises and securities alone.
The perfect safety Of such cooperative
investments can be readily demonstrated.
Such a labor banking system would prove
TO be one of the strongest. safest and
best dividend paying fiscal institutions In
the world. In future letters i will un-
dertake TO discuss the working details
OF such labor cooperative banking
system.
For the present j desire To call atten-
tion TO the vast sums already accumu-
lated by the deposits of labor In AmCri-
can savings banks:
Number of savings banks. $50.
Number of depositors, 5,2oi.l32.
Amount deposited as "sav-
ings' .ls '5'o,o5o
Average deposit. S73
OF this vast sum the savings banks of
Maine hold $57, 500: New Hampshire,
$te, t93. o56; Vermont. So. .eoos27 Massachu-
setts. sl53, go. .257; Rhode Island, s6ses3, 69S;
Connecticut. sl4s is6, $50; New York. $sis.-
1859; New Jersey. si327i,oiI; Pennsyi-
vania, N7.42s.3is; Delaware, o.i53;
Maryland, s57.sio.sI7; District of Colum-
bia. $4,000 West Virginia. s24s, ,Sss; North
Carolina. s9O5,477; South Carolina, a,5S3,-'
459. Georgia. $2Ss.olo; Louisiana, s2,5Ie.S3;
Texas. S355,53l; Tennessee. N,s27s77; Ohio.
s29, ,950 S7l Indiana, si,0s2, 359; Illinois s26,-
bS9.l41: Wisconsin. $20o0O0; Minnesota,
s3,545, 00s; Iowa, s2s,5S5 Goo California, sl?l.-
92s, PSI; Utah. M,lS25I; Montana, H12S. tsl.
Total deposits in states above given, Sl,-
93s. .o35.
Many important states such as Michi-
gan. Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota,
South Dakota and Oregon, arc omitted.
These would add immensely TO the sum
total But the above official figures
serve to show the tremendous money
power OF united labor X wisely used.
This immense aggregation OF capital
Is deposited In these savings banks in
small sums. Ii IL tnen reloaned by the
banks In large sums. IL Is borrowed from
the nations toiers a. low rate of in
terest. IL is reloaned at good profit TO
those who handle H. Indeed, what IL
called a savings bank is simply clever
financial scheme TO get the control and
use OF the savings of labor as banking
capital at a low rate of interest. The
loans OF these banks as a general thing
are made. TO exploiters who proceed 10
reinvest the toilers money In money
making sche sgsl of various kinds. IL II
perfectly safe and profitable business
for the bankers and exploiters, as the
depositors furnish the capital. take all
the risk and shoulder the loss when any
OF these banks with worthless loans "go
up" 1t will thus be seen that every
dollar deposited by laborer In a savings
bank is just so much capitaI added to the
sum total of the capitalistic power which
is crushing him with the superadded
folly of finally paying interest on his
Here In Rhode Island. for instance, the
$6S. 900 and over OF capital i'm the saw
ings' banks constitutes "A fund furnished
by labor and is In fact a supply OF capital
on which the corporations of the state
can draw at will. They do draw on this
fund literally and use IL as "A club with
which to batter the brains out of labor.
G. G.. y.
Providence, July 6.