The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1904-12-01
THE RIGHTS OF CAPITAL.
NO. ~

Speakers, writers and lecturers
from time immemorial have made q
division of the worlds commercial
forces into "capitar' and "labor.
l refuse to recognize any such dis
tinction. Capital is the only
commercial force in existence.
Hand-and-brain work is simply the
function of one kind of capital.
Capital is the agency or instru
ment by which man provides himself
with the necessities and luxuries OF
life. Without capital the inhabi
tants of earth would soon perish
because they would have no means
of procuring subsistence. Capital
is the breath of business life.
There are two kinds of capital,
Creative Capital,
Non Creative Capital.
Creative capital is composed of
two elements:
Physical,
Mental.
Creative Capital is therefore, the
physical and mental power to create
things, and these two forces are
Siamise twins, joined together by
the ligament of necessity; neither
can create anything without the aid
of the other.
The possessor of creative capital
can provide himself with necessities
and luxuries both by creation and
the sale or exchange of his power
of his creation.
The possessor of non-creative
capital can only supply himself with
these things by sale or exchange.
In other words, creative capital
possesses two functions, creation
and exchanges; while non-creative
possesses but one, that of exchange.
Surely the power to build house
is capital just as much as the house
itself after it is built. The power
to write book is capital just as
much as the book after it is written.
The creations of creative capital
are non-creative capital. Creative
capital can be sold but it cannot be
transferred. The carpenter can
sell his skill and strength to me to
build house but he cannot transfer
that skill and strength to me so l
can build 1t myself. This skill can
be acquired by patience, time and
effort, and when once acquired it
cannot be lost except by dissipa-
ton or some other fragrant personal
fault of the possessor.
Rockefeller would gladly give
million dollars to the ragged negro
roustabout who grabs barrel of
pork by the chimes and chucks it
into the hold of a steamboat, if the
negro could transfer to Rockefeller
his physical strength.
J. Pierpont Morgan would, no
doubt, pay Mark Twain more money
than he has earned in all his life. if
Mark could place in Morgan's head
that odd vsgary of intellectual
power that enabled Twain to write
the dumping Frog"
The possessor of creative capital
if cast on an uninhablted island of
the sea, could provide himself with
food, raiment and shelter, while the
possessor of non-creative capital
only would perish if placed in
similar circumstances. Creative
capital is essential to existence for
without it non-creative capital could
not exist.
Non-creative capital can be both
sold and transferred. l can not
only sell horse but can transfer
Its possession to another and put
myself in the same position as
though | never owned it. Non
creative capital can be entirely
separated from its possessor by his
own action or by the action of
another. One can be held up by a
gun and relieved of his possessions,
he can get rid of them by playing
poker or going into politics, o.
another may beat him out of them
by trading him a spurious gold
brick therefor. One can not be
deprived of creative capital, brains,
strength and skill but he may be,
and often is, robbed of their crea-
tions. Creation seems to be but a
small factor in ownership. Crea-
tive capital, in which the physical
element nradominatss suob o.,