The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-04-20
.LADD'S ADDRESS
At HIO|L|'Y'OkE, 4 ] ! MASS

Al H|1U.L.O|lf, ] U N MASS,
Debt Faying Versus a Debt Contract.
ing System !, = d
When Charles Dickens was visiting
lnie country in is.25 w,;ti,,g f,opl
Boston to friend Of his in London, he
said: Il. \ Mt g. s..,. S4s>s.1 " ~. ,a... L
There is not a man in this town
nor in this state who has not a blaz-
ing fire and meat every day for dinner
nor would flaming sword in the all
!, attract more attention than beggaE
in the streets" %%.E. ~,.".' -
ls What contrast between the Amer
lea of 80 years ago that knew no beg
gar, no pauper, no poverty, no fin
ancial misery, and the America of
today that witnesses 100000 of her
. people without employment, with un-
fortunates and beggars on almost
every corner with paupers filling our
homes of charity, with poverty stalk
ing among pale-facd emaciated chill
dren in our crowded cities and indus
trial centers and a financial system
that destroyed in excess Of SIS, ,000,-
100000 in property values within a
single year and left misery, hardship,
wrecked business opportunities, debt
slavery and shattered public con-
fidence in it's wake. What a contrast!
Here we have great country with
imitless resources. Our mountains are
literally bursting with their wealth,
yet our people are limitd in, their
means to bring it forth-limited not
in their capacity and desire for labor,
but limited by financial and economic
conditions over which they no longer
exercise any control. Here we have
plenty of work to do that would add
comfort and joy to our national life,
but 100000 are forced to lie idle.
Here we already produce more of food
stuffs than we consume; millions in
Europe are starving and thousands
here whose faces are becoming pale
and wan from the pinch of hunger,
yet, our American producers are COM
PEELED to produce their crops under
conditions that make their crop more
expensive than the remuneration they
receive for it. Here there is food in
abundance and some of our nationals
who are willing to work are forced to
go without sufficient nourishment to
keep. tn~:'',' ':c@ IN full mental and
physical health and vigar. :s t7ss*2>'
AS we scan the business conditions
throughout the country today We find
that the producers Of the nation-the
farmers, the laborers, have been strip
ped of all their savings and are prac-
tically living from hand to mouth.
Farming, the basic industry of Amer
lea, is in a most deplorable condition.
The farmer cannot buy sufficient fer
tilizers, or. implements with which to
produce normal crop and what is
more depressing, he has no assurance
that he will realize out of the sale of
his crop an amount equivalent to his
investment in the crop. On the other
hand, we find the reserves of the big
banking institutions consistently pill
ing up. Not only have they gathered
in all the gold of the country and prac-
tically all of the money, but they have
enormously increased the amount of
the debts owed them. The little busi-
ness man throughout the country is
walking on stills over the treacher-
Gus quick-sand of financial domin-
alton. The few big business men
are making more secure their grasp
upon the resources Of the nation and
the labor of the people. Indeed, this
condition causes us to wonder if we
are approaching a situation such as
Lincoln had in mind when, with almost
prophetic vision, he said: ~. ~
st 1.-THE Civil War; has been T. try
ing hour for the Republic; but. I see
in the near future crisis approaching
that unnerves me and causes me to
tremble for the safety Of my country.
As a result of the war, corporations
have been enthreatened and an era Of
corruption in high places will follow
and the money power Of the country
will endeavor to prolong its reign by
!. working upon the prejudices of the
people until all wealth is aggregated
in q few hands, and the Republic de-
stroyed. feel at this moment more
anxiety for the safety of my country
than ever before even in the. midst of
the war. God grant that my suspici-
4 ous may prove groundless." -. r
%lgf T1,s - - ~
had been made in this good year 1922.
Ii lis much nearer true today than it
was at the close Of the Civil War. II
corporations were enthroned during
Lincoln's administration, how Il much
more were they enthroned during the
great World War. The increased
number Of American millionaires dur
ing the World War was but an indica-
tion Of the startling rapidly with
which wealth was speedily aggregat-
h ing In the hands Of the few. An ex-
animation Of the increased volume Of
debt IN this country, exclusive Of that
portion created by the Government for
the prosecution Of the war and . view
of where the volume of debt is held ii
an amazing revelation Of the destina-
tion for which we are headed.
But why all this depression today
Why are mills and factories closed and
men without employment? Why Is
farming land lying idle, in part, and
in part but pooly tended Why is Mr..