Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-03-22
A WARNING FROM Mr.. HILL.

A WARNING FROM MR.. HlL-.
James ]. Hill, in speech at ST.
Paul declared that we are living IN an
age Oh "woFld-wide financial dellrlllm.
while discussing conservation =
tons he believes we should give some
thought to the conservation OF nf.tloh,
a. capital In the shape OF cash ar :
credit" What Mr.. Hill .otests
against what he terms the spirit OF
financial adventure and the love OF
Vquandering inherent in mankind,
Which he says has been stimulated by
S.he increase Of wealth all over the
world He objects to the increase OF
apparent resources by an easy resort
20 borrowing" to "the mortSaglng OF a
patrimony not our own to obtain ma
terial for present extravaganza, and
to the diversion Of wealth from pro-
ductive to non-productive uses. Ihese
abuses, Mr.. Hill believes, have gone
further than most people realize, as
he brings out in his address, part OF
which is quoted as follows:
'The people of the United States
inherited from it's founders whole
some tradition, against debt which is
only now disappearing from the con-
duct of national affairs. The national
debt now tends to rise. concealed I'M
der the polite fiction of certificates OF
Indebtedness to cover treasury det1c-
It's. If the advocates Of large bond Isl
sues for all manner of internal i'm
provements carry their point, If that
resource is not definitely restricted TO
the emergency of war, we wiz be IN
J the condition Of Europe, where the
motto Of every chancellory now seems
I to be, After us the deluge..
EN- our cities modern extravaganza
nnds it's most untrammeled express
sion. The total dent of the states, in
Guiding all minor civil divisions, In
creased s18,92l443, or 1.25 per cent,
between 1880 and 1890 Between 1890
and 1902 it increased $727.77S,393, or
64 per cent. Nearly three-quarters OF
billion in twelve years, an average
of $6O,O0O.000 year in the amount
borrowed by the people ought to make
any country stop and think.
Most Of the actual material de-
velopment Is privately financed, and
carries. it's own bonded Indebtedness,
which the public finances cannot take
into account. The figures down to
1910, outside of and in addition to the
national debt, probably would show an
increase Of a billion and quarter to
q billion and half dollars for the last
twenty years, and a grand total OF
more than two and quarter billion
dollars: about double what 1t was in
1890.
debt figures, however, do not begin
to tell the story Of our national ex-
travagance Only small part Of our
expenditures is represented In debt
tables. The rest is raised by in
creased taxation. I know Of nothing
bearing more directly or forcibly upon
the subject Of national waste and con-
servation of national resources than
the profigacy disclosed by our public
expense ledgers.
ALTHOUGH the great business expan-
sion Of this country began right after
the civil war, the expenses for 1890
were only $4,0o0,0O0 greater than
those OF twenty years before. Since
1890 these expenditures have grown
by $3.50, 100000 each nine years, or
$4,000, 600 year, until now they are
liza per cent more than they were
eighteen years ago. Expressed in
terms Of per capita outgo, these
charges, which are only part of the
cost of maintaining the federal gov
eminent, rose from SAFE in 1890 to
$3.50 in 1900 and to $7.56 in 1908.
TT always is asserted, when the
truth is told and demand for econ
omy is made, that the development Of
the country and its increase of wealth
have been so great as to require and
Justify enlarged outlay. The answer
to the charge OF billion dollar ses-
sion of congress Is that this has be-
come billion dollar country.
"The apology is neither relevant
nor true. It is not necessary that ex-
pense should increase in the same
ratio as growth, but the growth OF ex-
penditure has so far outrun the
growth of the country that the actual
figures are almost incredible.
"The phenomenal increase of public
expenditure already has produced a
plentiful crop Of public ills. 1t is one
of the causes Of the increase in prices
now disturbing the people. This in
crease follows in a suggestive way the
imitation of national and local budgets.
The average cost of the supplies that
must be bought for practically every
household has increased about so per
cent between 1896 and 1900. During
the last year there has been mark
ed lifting OF the price level. Food
stuffs cost from 10 to 70 per cent more
than ten years ago.
Something is due to enormous cur
rency imitation. The total per capita
in the United States in 1896 was $21.41
and in 1909 it was $S5.01. Although
population had grown by many mil
lions in these thirteen years the
amount of money to each Individual
had increased by $3.50, or more than
go per cent The increase in the total
gold production Of the world, which
rose from $11S,s4s.0oO in 1890 to more
than $427, 900, 900 in 1906, has been
made the basis for one form and an
other of credit issues aggregating a
vast sum.
When due allowance has been
made for the effect of the forces that
make for dearer living there still re-