The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1916-03-24

PEELED to retrace the weary road from
savagery to the cooperative common.
wealth.
One of the immediate steps within
the reach of the people and which will
help TO bring about the enfranchise.
ment of the laboring class, is for the
government to assume its constitu-
tional right and duty to issue all
money and to provide the people with
an honest medium of exchange" at
cost, thus abolishing interest.
Government Should Issue Money
The national government should is
sue, in payment of all its expenses,
for all internal improvements, such
as public buildings, canals, river and
harbor improV ementS, erecting and
agricultural and mining
experiment stations, educational in
situations, public highways, full legal
tender notes in suitable denominations
for circulation. This would make an
ideal medium of exchange, a truly
scientific money. Back of these
legal tender notes" is the combined
wealth of the nation and the all but
unlimited taxing power of the gov
eminent. The government now "bor-
rows" whenever it needs money" 1t
tInr h,,i1
canal and pays Morgan or some other
financier interest. What happens
when the government "borrows"? Is
not the credit of the government bet
ter than that of any private person or
corporation? Can the government not
pay non-interest bearing obligations
with less taxation than those that
bear interest? Is the money the gov
eminent pays to private concerns for
the privilege of using its own credit
not tax upon the people? Indeed,
it is. Every dollar paid by the gov
eminent for interest is dollar stolen
from the people.
The national government should ac-
cept, at par, all bonds properly and
legally voted by states, counties, cit
les, townships and school districts,
and issue them for full legal tender
notes. This would save the public
the vast sums of interest previously
discussed and would increase the vol.
ume of money in proportion to the in
crease of public wealth.
Would Save People Money
To illustrator The people of
school district need a school house.
They call an election The men and
women of the district meet in true
democratic manner and decide to
build a $4,000 school house. Under
the present system they are com
PEELED to vote bonds They cannot use
their credit without paying some pri-
vate credit lender an annual bonus of,
say, per cent. The bonds are voted
and sold for $4,000, which is ex-
pended in the building of the school
house.
Labor and material gets $4,000.
The world is richer by $4,000 school
house. Every year the district levies
a tax of $500 for interest and $500 for
a sinking fund. At the end of 20
years, the maturity of the bonds, the
sinking fund amounts to $4,000 and
the bonds are paid But the people
of the district have paid $4,000 for
interest and $4,000 for principal, or
$4,000 for a school house which never
was worth more than $4,000.
Query: Who got the extra 10000?
Nobody in the district ever knows. 1t
certainly was not anyone who helped
build the school house. The taxpay-
ers of the district paid $4,000 for the
privilege of using their own credit.
Would Redeem Its Bond
The national government should
have taken these bonds, issued $4,000
legal tender notes to the district The
district would pay $500 annually into
a sinking fund and by the end of 90
years would have paid the govern
ment $4,000 and redeemed its bonds.
When a county wants to build
courthouse or construct dykes along
some rampant stream, or carry irri-
cation canals across the valleys, it
should issue its promise to pay" in
the form of non-interest bearing
bonds, which the national government,
upon proper examination as to the
amount of taxable property in the
county, should take and issue for them
full legal tender notes"
Thus, everywhere as human labor
and intelligence creates wealth, money