Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-04-28
BILLIONS OF DEBTS
Interest Charges Pile up and Keep
on PHlng.
MONEY, GREATEST GOVERNING POWER
System Developed Gradually from
Small Beginning, and Now Enables
the Few to Control the Activities Of
the Many-What the, End Viii be
Cannot be Foreseen.

=
Cannot be Foreseen.
Interest-premium paid for the use
of money-is a word with which every
American schoolboy is familiar. But
the history and romance, the, trials
hand tribulations, and the joys and sor-
rows wrapped up within its meaning
are less generally known.
Interest results from the borrow
ing or lending Of money upon pledges
for profit. Money placed out on inter-
est knows. no eight-hour law, holidays
or summer vacations. Interest may
become a willing slave or an onerous
task master. IT plays with fate and
holds the dcstinies of industries and
governments within its grasp.
Money was used at one time in the
worlds history solely us a medium for
facilitating the exchange Of commod-
tiles. When the charging of pre-
MUM for it's use was inaugurated, It's
character began to change until it In
turn became a commodity and now il
is quoted on the financial pages of the
newspapers alongside. the market on
eggs and butter. When men are bad
ly in need of it they will pay larger
premium for It's use or when there is
plenty Of it available, the premium be-
comes smaller and, like other commo-
dities, its price becomes governed by
the law of supply and demand.
The borrowing and lending Of mon
ey for profit was at one time in the
worlds history looked upon as a rath-
er degrading custom and as far as the
needs Of the poor were concerned, was
forbidden. The laws of Moses did not
contemplate. any raising Of loans for
the purpose Of obtaining capital. Such
persons as bankers and sureties, In
the commercial sense, were unknown
to the earlier ages Of the Hebrew
commonwealth. The law strictly for
bade any interest to be taken on a
loan to a poor person. Not only was
no usury of any pretense to be exact
ed, but relief for the poor by way of
loans was enjoined and excuses for
evading this duty were forbidden.
The feeling Of antipathy toward the
practice of usery and also. of surety
ship began to give way. however, as
commerce increased. Expeditions to
the Orient and to Africa required
large cash outlays. The, owner of
capital began to take pledges for his
money and charge interest-leaving
the risks and the profits to the other
party to the agreements.
There is No Armistee in This War.
Putting money to work for the sti-
pulated price proved profitable and
business has grown by leaps and
bounds. The discovery. Of America
opened a great field. Here was q vir-
gin country rich in natural resources
awaiting development. Railroads, high
ways, mills and factories, mines,
smelters and kindred enterprises all
awaited the coming of capital and
capital found it a profitable field at
high interest rates. The result Is the
wonderful expansion Of industry and
commerce in America during the past
few centuries, along with which came
the greatest interest paying nation
on earth.
1t would be interesting to know just
how much it costs the American peo-
pie to pay the premium on the money
they borrow. We know the totals are
enormous There is no doubt but that
the interest payments at least equal
s1,000,000 an hour for every hour in
the day and every day in the year but
how much above that amount Is
merely q surmise. When the war was
costing the United States $4,000, 900 a
day, the people accepted it as a mat
ter of course and bought Liberty
bonds in amounts up into the billions.
The money was used to end the war.
The people could see armistice day in
would terminate and the expenditures
decrease. But the payment Of inter-
est goes on and on at a rate equal to
the cost of the war at it's most expen-
sive period. And with interest there
is no armistice day in sight.
We have become so accustomed to
receiving or paying interest that we
cannot realize the growth of the prac-
tice. 1t is like the child who grows
from day to day under the eyes OF, his
parents until in the course of time he
becomes taller and larger than Ills
daddy before they realize he Is no
longer their baby boy.
The United States government,
probably the largest single borrower
of money in America, makes the larg-
est interest payments for the use Of
this money. At the end Of 1921 the
public debt of the government was
S23, 43S, ,9S4,351. 1t costs Uncle Sam q
tidy sum of money to pay the pre-
MUM for the use of this money. For
the fiscal year Of 1921 the amount
actually paid out in interest on the
public debt was s999,144,731.35 and
General Dawes, budget director, esti-
mates that it will take at least $685.
100000 in 1922 and q similar amount
in 1923.
no 10 for, inF. n