Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-07-19

| 9. Section IS originally provided
for the appointment of Cancellation
estimate of idle workers has by some
people been stated as high as 17,OOO,-
900 and by others as low as $12,OOO,-
900, but there are millions who are
idle a large part of the time but net
counted as idle, and there are farm
ers' sons who would go out to work il
they could find work, but stay at home
without being needed there, and are
not counted as idle. So the 15,OOO,OOO
may be a low estimate.
The large sums of money apprOpri-
ated by the government to give work to
the idle, and for direct relief don't
amount to much to take the place or
such lost earnings. A large part of
| it has gone to pay high salaries to
officers in connection with it, and TO
contractors and for the use of ma
chimes, and so many other things that
so many of the idle did not get
chance t. earn a dollar of it and no.
body got enough 10 make up for lost
time, and to live on after they are
| laid off and are idle again. So that re-
| lief failed so far. 1t helped some, and
amongst them some favored ones. l
know of a family of nine; one man to
support them, but get nothing out of
the relief work. Later on they got,
and get now SIS every other week
from the city. That is all the city
can give them. (The money is not
there to do it with).
What kind of a living can it be
with $3.50 a week for all expenses,
house rent included, for nine in the
| family? AS long as there are mil
lions upon millions of such treated
families, there cannot be good mar
kets and good prices and it is a shame
to force prices up for such people to
pay. Just think of it! make people
pay sales taxes out of such incomes,
and use this tax to pay to get prod
ucts already raised destroyed and to
raise less, instead of let such needy
people get it to use. 1t would not
hurt the market to let people without
income get the products to use in
stead of destroying them. That would
be no more expense. AS l said above,
unemployment can be prevented only
by dividing the work between all the
workers, but give them a good living
so they can use freely of all kinds of
products, so to make market.
Capitalization of wealth is nearly
completed when five per cent of the
people had 80 per cent of the wealth
two or three years ago. This was at
tanned in harmony with the United
States Constitution and laws, so there
is no other legal remedy to get it al
tered than to get the Constitution
and laws amended so to reverse it.
That would be, that the government
confiscated all property and repudi-
ated all debts, public and private, but
that would be too radical. Only a
few would be in favor of that, and it
would take too long a time to do it.
So for an Immediate relief l cannot
see any other way than to let the rich
keep all they have and tax all net
incomes so out of such incomes are
left only enough for a good living and
comfort for all; rich and poor. That
is the only way to make all the money
circulate. That will keep money from
piling up and be out of use.
In such hard times as we have now,
any one should be satisfied when hav-
ing a good living and comfort, and
that can be obtained when it is evil
dent that there can be produced much
more than needed to bring such re-
suits.
1t would take great sums of money
now to make comfort to the many
millions neglected people, now when
they are in need of everything and
where should the government get the
money from? The government should
abandon the borrowing of money, as
| it makes the rich richer and the poor
poorer, and issue legal tender cur
rency, not bills of Indebtedness like
the currency we have now, as that
is only notes that the government is
not able to pay. We are not allowed
to have or to get that kind of coin
| it was claimed to be issued on, but
| it circulates just the same, so that is
proof to that, more of it would an
swer the purpose as legal tender
money, without being redeemable in
coin. So issue enough legal tender
currency for an idle support, amount
ing to the same as if they were work
ing. Then the overproduction will
disappear inside of a short time.
Then there will be work by producing
more, and before long there will not
be much idle support to be paid.
Then the profiteers will have in
come, but tax that so they don't get
richer than they are. The profit sys-
tenn must be checked, as that is the
root of evil. No matter how much
money there is made, and what ma
terial it is made from, as long as
that system is kept up that gives a
few a chance to gather it all up.
ANDREW RASMUSSEN.
Minneapolis, MINI.