Montana labor news., 1936-08-27
Great Falls Jressive
Protests MONEY Racket
Politics - Natior's Great Game
And How 1t Is Played.

n
And How 1t Is Played.
In the political field in Montana.
we ~Progressives have met the en-
envy, and we are theirs. 1t was the
old, old story, of three Progressives
and one r%eactionary running for
United States Senator-the reac-
tionary candidate received 30 per
cent of the vote and was nominated,
and three progressive candidates re-
ceived 70 per cent of the vote and
lost. I tried my best to eliminate
my opposition by having them
withdraw, but to no avail, although
l had been a La Toilette Progress
sive for over rs years, and had car
ried on the fight and the brunt of
the battle during all this time.
There appears to be just one way
to avoid such conflicts in the fu-
ture, and that is to have a Progress
sive party, where all who desire
may enter, and the strongest Pro-
gressive will win, and then pit him
against the re~actionaries in both of
the old parties. That is what
should be done, in my opinion, in
every state in the union. | have
urged this in season and out, for a
real Progressive party in the ma
ton. All we needed this year was
a leader.
Sen. B. K. Wheeler, as such
leader, would have carried the
South and the Middle West and
West. He is the only Democrat
who could have done it. Sen. La
Toilette would have carried the
Middle West and West. Why is it,
that these two men, have not risen
to their opportunity?
AS long as the old parties con-
tinue to issue nterest-bearing tax
exempt bonds, just that long are
they with the big eastern bond
holders who live and will continue
to live off of the producers, t%oilers,
and Professional and small bust
ness men who work all of their lives
paying interest to the bondholders
through mortgages on farms and
city homes and interest on city,
county, state and national govern
ment bonds.
The bondholders are on the re-
ceiving end-the rest of us on the
paying end-all of our lives. 1t is
a great system-federal reserve
banks can get currency from the
government at actual cost of print
ing, which is 80 cents for $1,000, but
Montana, one of the 48 states in the
union, must go into the market Of
the money changers and pay 4 per
cent interest. AS one of the severe
ign states, why should not Montana,
Wisconsin or any other state be
permitted to deposit its state bonds
for currency at cost-30 cents for
each $1,000.
l have written to different per-
sons and newspapers over the
country, urging that sovereign
states should have as much right to
receive federal currency at cost of
printing as have privately-owned
federal reserve banks, by deposit
ing state bonds with the federal
treasury. 1t should be carried
even farther, I think, and the sub
divisions of the state-counties and
cities should be granted the same
privilege, within reasonable bounds,
of course, but our laws now put a
limit on the amount of bonds that
may be issued, so that the federal
treasury, even now as the money
leaders, would have ample security.
1t would not increase indebtedness
of the states, counties and cities, but
it would reduce the present interest
payments, and hence would be ben
eficial to all taxpayers. 1t would
break the s~tranglehold the money
changers now have on our states,
counties and cities. 1t would force
the money lenders to put their
money into businesses where they
would carr dividends, thus Great
ing work for our unemployed.
And this money, OF its equivalent,
would become taxable, thus elimi-
mating these tax-exempt bonds. BY
increasing the amount of the tax
able property, the tax rate on pres
ent property should be reduced.
The federal government should be
more concerned in financing its CON
stituent parts-states, counties and
cities-than in financing privately
owned federal reserve banks. For
the fiscal year ending June 80, 1885,
Continued 10 Page ~