Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-08-16

Home Market A Combination of Monop-
olies Constitutes Trust The National
Banking System Scheme of Jugelery for
the Benefit Of the Few The Delusive
Tariff for Revenue" Under Cleveland
Reduction on Inessentials and Increase on
Necessities.
BoSToN. Mass. July 81, 1907.
Ed. STANDARD:
Believing you to be honest in your
convictions and having the backbone
to express them or to print them
when expressed by another, wish the
privilege of publishing in the columns
of your paper a few thoughts that
suggest themselves to my mind and
which some of your readers may not
have thought of and in so doing |
hope may not be accused of cgotiSm.
In the last Presidential campaign.
the platform of the Democratic and
Republican parties was to some eX
tent Identical. Both parties, tacitly
on the part of the Democrats, favored
the gold standard. Both favored the
national banking system and both
parties were committed to the pro-
tective system by which the govern
ment gives to the manufacture Il
monopoly of the home market while
agriculture has to compete with the
whole world. Thus one industry is
built up at the expense of all other
citizens who are not engaged in man
ufactureS.
The trust system of the present
day is the legitimate offspring of the
protective principle, which gave to
the manufacturers monopoly OF the
home market. This monopoly would
not be so destructive to the unprO-
tected producer, or consumer. if
there were free competition between
the different manufacturers. To pre-
vent this competition they combine
for the purpose of limiting the out
put and controlling the rich. This
agreement to limit the product and
to control the price is what is known
as the Trust Each Of the Trusts is
composed of Democrats and Republi-
cans. Both the parties. in that cam
paign, also committed themselves to
the principle that private corpora
tions should own and operate what
are called public utilities.
Now contend the greatest of evils
from which the American people Suf-
fer to-day grows ont OF things which
have mentioned, namely the nationnI
banking system, which allows five
thousand or more national banks to
circulate their own notes as money,
and to charge the people for the use
of these notes, while at the same time
the national banks are given millions
of dollars of the public funds to use
in their private business free of in
terest. If remember correctly, dur
ing the month of November, 1903,
the rate of interest on loans in New
York rose to % per cent. The ma
tiOnal bankers of New York not only
had many millions of dollars belong
ing to the taxpayers of the country
which they thus had the opportunity
of lending ont at % per cent. but
they actually had the brazep etfron
terry to get one of their lawyers to
telegraph to Secretary Shaw to allow
them, the Wall Street Bankers, the
use of $3.50. 000, 900 more than they
already had. In addition to the
power of using their own notes as
money, and of lending out at private
profit millions of the public funds,
they can expand and contract the
currency and thus fix and untix val
ueS Thus a financial dcslUtism Of
the most dangerous sort is created
by law for the benefit of a favored
few. | contend that the government
should create and control its own
currency; that the money of the CON
stitutiOn should be restored; that is
| TO say, our circulating medium should
be composed of gold. silver and pa
per, and that every dollar created by
| the government, whether of gold,
silver or paper, should be made by
law the equal of every other dollar.
This, of course, should be done by
making each dollar equally legal
tender in the payment OF all debts,
public and private. | contend fur
ther that public utilities. such as
railroads, express companies, tele-
phone companies, telegraph compa
nies, should be owned and operated
by the Government in the interest of
all the people, and further that the
burdens oJ Government, that is the
necessary expenses OF conducting the
business, should be borne by each
citizen in proportion to his ability.
Under the present system taxes are
collected in the purchase of goods,
the tariff duty being added to the
price Of the article and paid when
the citizen buys the article, as any
damphool can see if he stops to think.
Thus the Federal Government sup
ports itself on the necessities of the
people. Common sense would seem
| to dictate that the Government
should support itself upon the wealth
OF the country and that the million
aire should pay in proportion to his
millions and not in proportion to the
number of hats, coats or shoes that
he buys; for if you collect the tax in
that way the man in moderate cir
cumstanpos, who has to buy just as
many hats, coats and shoes, will have
to pay just as much tariff tax as An
drew Carnegie, whose net income is
millions of dollars annually.
Some damphools contend that the
mriF for revenue only was the cause
of the hard times during Cleveland 5
administration. The fact is, there
never has been such a tariff since the
Civil War. They have all been pro-
tective tariffs. They have all been
rObber tariffs. The tariff act passed
during the Stuffed Prophets admin
istratiOn was a damnable sell-out to
the Sugar Trust, the Standard Oil
Trust, the steel and iron men and the
greedy manufacturing interests gen
orally. The man does not live who
can demonstrate that the Wilson;