The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1900-08-03
A Bunco Game.

automatic shrinkage i'll production as
must soon have its effect. The wooden
mills Dun's reports, are half shut down.
Owing to China the cotton mills in New
England and the South are closing. The
Paterson silk mills are running on shorter
time than for several years. The Shoe
and Leather Reporter says that the glazed
kid factories, after an unexampled year
i'll 1899, find themselves on half time.
Boot and shoe shops are fifth idle. The
iron pipe works, III and out of the Trust,
are not doing more than two-thirds OF
their capacity. Not trade journal but
records some such change. Building in
New York and elsewhere is half last year
and this affects steel and lumber. The
only question is when the decrease of
price will stimulate consumption. No
one knows
The above extract is from strong adj
niinistration paper, ever ready to show
the brightest side of our ephemeral pros
perity. Thus runs the story as it is now
being weekly told The China trouble
has upset bushes in lhe Old World and
England and continental nations are
looking to the United States TO send them
gold, and gold is being shipped to them
from New York. This financial system
is principally credit and that credit is
based on gold. The foundation is weak
ard yearly grows weaker as population
and business increase the demand for
money faster than the increase of gold
money.
| Our present active period of business,
now rapidly drawing to close, grew Out
of the accident of war. First the Spanish
war, followed by the Filipino war and
the Boer war. Government preparation
for war and its prolongation drew large
. sums of money from the people i'll the
form of taxes, which was spent for army
supplies, that were furnished principally
by trusts and large contractors. The
railroads reaped rich harvest by trans
porting men and supplies.
This business which on the surface
showed great activity and apparent pros
perity was in its nature transient, ant
was financed by a forced Immature
method It took from the accumulated
wealth of the people by taxation ant
increased the debt of the nation by the
issue of bonds. While trusts and specu
lators have gained by this forced .ransfe
from the pockets of the people, the latte
have lost, and the mass of people are
poorer by what the favored classes have
gained.
Under the present financial system 0
inadequate amount of money to conduc
business in normal manner, credit &
almost entirely depended upon. Credi
will carry business through certain stage
,, but the bills must be cashed at last I
credit is out of proportion to the cash
money-it is all based upon, when thu
, cycle is made and the products exchanged
for cash, there is loss which some of tn,
parties in the transaction must suffe.
and what the fnanciers call Liquidation
takes place. That is, certain per cen
of the parties fail. Over 5000 failures
have occurred in the last six months
There is not enough real money in cir
culation to meet the expense and interes
, which the credit system, inflated as it is
demands.
The men who control the finances o
this country and Europe, including Grea
Britain, are those who hold the nationa
and corporation debts of these countries
!
With a small quantity of money, which
this class now claim is composed of golt
only, all other forms of money being mere
credit AMI token money calling for golt
for their redemption, debts of the above
! character become perpetual, their pay
J ment is impossible, and the interest they
; draw eats up whatever surplus wealth The
industrial class creates, above a fruga
: living.
) The credit loans to business by the
note shavers and discounters are secured
by ample collateral, part of which col
lateral is absorbed by every tarn Of thi:
: credit wheel of fortune, and the stored
capital of former industry is being stead
; lily absorbed by the debt holding ant
! money, or rather credit, loaning class
. BY this process the rich money loaner:
! aud debt holders are growing steadily
richer, while the poorer industrial classe.
) are as steadily growing poorer. The
reason why is very plain. There is MOI
money sufficient in circulation to raise
. prices the workers receive for the product.
of their industry. to meet the expense ant
interest incurred in their production.
The abnorinally high trust tariff extort.
thirty per cent more from consumer:
than they should pay while the .scanty
supply of money in circulation compel:
an abnormal credit to be used, which
robs on the other hand by its drain o.
interest.
Such financial aud business system is
an unhealthy condition of fever and
chills to the body polite The great de.
; inand for money to produce a healthy
condition in business requires all the
silver added TO the gold that is produced
This pressure for money is increasing and
becoming more intense as the output oil
products is increased by the improved
machinery that constantly increases the
power of production.
The bare necessity ofthe case will in
the end compel the reconciliation oil
silver. Nothing but the Unsuitable greed
of the gold bankers and debt holders OF
London and the United States prevents