m m Li«: Hi' i' &■«• LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. UNITED STATES OF A3IERICA. /f n NO INTEREST FOR MONEY, EXCEPT 1 O IHE GOVERNMENT ; IHKN Ndl ro EXCEKI) 3 PKR CENT. UNCLE SAM, banker: niE WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING SOU., MINERALS AND THE PRODUCTIONS, THE CAPITAL STOCK. rR()F[T8 PLAOWD TO THE OllEDET of the PROPLK AFTER PAYING GOVERNMENT EXPENSES. % 8HYLOCK AND HIS MONEY CAST OUT;. FOE THE PEOPLE CAN HAVE BETTER MONEY. MORE OF IT, AND A BANK THAT ^ v^ILL NOT BKEAK ; ALL DEPOSITS SAFE ; NO A'y^ " HARD TIMES " NOR REVOLUTIONS. BY W. H. GIBBS, LYONS, iQ5^/fA.u ^yc.Js.kJL'::'^ LYON^S, IOWA: J . C. Hopkins. Printer, Advertiser Offick. 1879. 9^ 31 Kllf*^r^^d according to act of Congn'ss, in t5ie ycjr 1879, by W. II. GIBBS, In the otJice of Librarian of Congress, at "VSasiiinfjion PREFACE. Labor produee.s silks, hrocidcl»)th.<, calf booth, stove pipf hats, oarriages, mansions, a*^ well as all food, raiment and slielt^r. Why don't producers havf an abundance of those things? Because our financial system. pr( tected by law, transfers pro- duction from the producer to the non product r. We ht\\r. paid enough interest, on money tosuppoit three fan)ilies of oui- -tize comfortably through life. ObserA e the masses struiigling to live, who by constant labor and e<()nomy, only s»cuie a laie. subsistance. while non-pn.ducers, who h an mc.ney. amass L:reat fortunes, led us to study political economy. We find hat usury in the Bible meati.>=^ anv mone\ j aid for the use of money ; and that nu^st nations down to about the ujiddle of The fifteenth century confisica«ed the jiroj eviy of th(sewlio took money for the use of money. The Jews, who would sei! father and mother, and cm n Christ. Icrmcnc} — (vcn ci(;l in pork to get gain — instituted a m(;?!eiaiy sysuni toiob the pro- ducing power of the world. In Great Biitain, during the reign of Henry the VTII. about 1530, they came to London and instituted banking. The King smiled upon the instiiuiion. Decrees or legal enactments were passed allowing inteiest on money. Now, usury means above legal rates. John Calvin favored the new departure. It is a fact in histojy that hefor,; this period extreme want, suffering and poverty were unknown in England. In France during the reign of Louis XIV. Jews and Calvinites wem to Paris, setup banking, and obtained the good graces of the King, who boinnved money to carry on successful wars. Subsequently interest accumulated the sur plus production of the people, and transferred the same into the hands of the Jews and their allies. As in England the people were oppressed, which culminated in the reign of terror. The same causes are producing the same results in Germany, especially Berlin, where the wealth of the nation has accumu- lated by interest into the coffers of the Jews and semi-Jews. A revolution is imminent. The same results are duplicated in New York City. Wall Street -controls the government and oppresses the people, A monetary system tiiat hampers, per plexes and robs the producers of all v;e.ilth, will end in ruin to both people and government. The acquisition of property by labor will hardly avoraiji' two or twtt ;ui(i one-half per :.-ent. per annum. Laws fcjvorini^ (In- Jewish svstem of finance, where by inrerest is taken over tw(. or two and one half per cent., not only discourages those whc toil, but strikes terror and death to the producinir pnwer uf all wealth. As money was instituted to measure the value of pr< - duction in the exchange of barter and distribute property to whom it belongs — as it does not possess an accumulating pow- er, no pay inheres for the use of this measure anymore than for the use of the yard .stick or other measure!^. Law declaring money a commcKlity. and interest for its use, builds up monop- oly and peasantry, master and slave, just as certainly as two and one m:ike three. The Jews would not have t';-ie people by the throat were it not for the complete net .vork of laws that pro- tect tht'm. This is the most important subject producers can consider, l()r it bears directly upon rheir success and happiness in life. When fully understood the Jews will be laid out straighter than a -'loon's leg." Modern writers upon "political econonjy," viz, Wayland, Adam Smith and others, seem to throw a veil of mystery over the world's financial system. -- "Over production," never ! if there is ability to purchase. If an over production produces distress, then God's government is a failure, for we are o o o rates of interest, are in harmony with his cast- iron creed and doctrine of election. TIN-PAIL NOBLEMEN. Who penetrates the mountains for precious metals? Ans.: The man who carries the tin pail. Who are the advanced guard to develop a new country ? The men who carry the tin pails. Who build our railroads, steamboats, en- gines, ware and station houses, and keep the same in repair ? The tin pails. Who build cities, our houses, and work up iuel for the same ? The tin pails. Who build our roads and bridges ? The tin pails. 9 Who supply clothino- and food for the human race ? The tin pails. Who have produced all the wealth (fruits of labor) of the world ? The tin pails. Who support aristocrats in their extrava- gance ? The tin pails. Who fiaht the battles of the nation, and live on hard-tack ? The tin pails. W^ho are the 7iohle men of earth f Those who carry the tin pail. God bless the old tin pail. NATURE'S LAW. Placed upon this earth, so changeable from scorching heat to stinging cold, having a body, living and dying all the time, recuperating and decaying, subject to ten thousand conditions, it is a desperate struggle to supply the wants and necessities of life. Nature^s law is that each person, with hands and head produce equivalent to what he consumes ; if he does not, he falls in debt to friends or society. Na- ture declares, in language brighter than the sun, that every person by honest toil Is entitled to the benefit of his own labor, for his own happiness. Society has no right to take any part thereof, except what will '* better secure his natural rights." The cost of maintaining good government should be equally borne by all. Any regulation In society, cemented by legal enactments, that takes from labor the sur- plus production which labor earned and needs, is a wrong to those who by labor support all lO Self-preservation is the first law of nature. The man who by labor supplies his own wants, and furnishes his quota for the maintenance of good government, is most certainly entitled to the benefits of nature's first law. Interest on money strikes at the very heart of this law, be- cause it takes from another the necessities of life, without an equivalent. The result is that the r h grow richer without toil, and the poor, who do labor, grow poorer. What is the cause of this great disparity in human society ? It is because money is made a commodity ; interest is charged for the use of the *' measure " of production. If money represents the value of commodities, it should not be a commodity itself. This is the hinge of the question. Money, a dead thing, possesses no vital force to increase ; its use is to '* measure " vitality. To charge for the use of a dead thing, not produc- tive, for mesuring a live thing — i. e., possess- ing the elements of vitality — is unjust, and a great wrong inflicted upon those laboring to support the human race. Charging for the use of this measure by separating production from labor, this tool of labor is collected and loaned or rented back to labor at such high rates of interest that it is next to an imposibility for labor to keep its head above water. It strikes death to the vital forces of industry. Being- hoarded up and held for high rates of interest, requiring " gilt-edge " security for thirty, sixty or ninety days, with a mortgage stronger and tighter than any iron vise ever made by man, hast hrown a shadow over every industry, while it is constant sunshine with the m.oney-lender. T I The cry is that money is scarce. There is plenty of it hoarded up, seeking whom it may devour. If there was no pay for the use of this '' measure," the bilHons of money now idle would go begging for labor to use, and share equitably in the products of labor, from which all wealth is derived. WALL STREET. Statistics show that about 3 per cent, of cap- italists own more wealth than the 97 per cent., in the State of New York. About the same ratio prevails in other States. Wall street, with its money, has done more to corrupt the people of the United States than any other cause. Production has been separated from labor and hoarded and used to crush rather than aid labor. Money, although it has no power or vitality to increase in and of itself, any more than brass or parchment, has been so skillfully used in accumulating the surplus production that about 3 per cent, own as much property as the 97 per cent, of the people of the United States. Interest on the money accumulated by the few has gobbled up the surplus production of the millions who toil. This accumulation of the fruits of labor is used for base purposes, tending to corrupt rather than strengthen the virtues ot an enslaved people. Let us try the case. Some twenty-three years ago, petitions were presented Congress for four contemplated railroads across the State of Iowa. We were interested, and watched the checker-board 12 closely. The President of the Iowa Central Air Line, S. S. Jones, informed us that the pro- ject would win, for the capitalists of Wall street expected to furnish money, in view of finally owning the road, and that Wall street was at work manipulating members of Congress. Congress voted grants of land to the four roads. At a meeting of the Directors of our road, we were elected Land Commissioner. Six hun- dred thousand acres of land were put in our hands in trust for the railroad company. Mr. Jones informed the Directors that he had agreed with certain Congressmen to give them bonds on the road to the amount of 33 per cent, of the value of the lands at $i.25 per acre. This was nearly twenty-four years ago. The gigan- tic bribes, Credit Mobilier, etc., since, would almost " skunk " satan. In the time of trouble at the dawn of our civil w^ar, the people, without means — for cap- italists, by excessive interest, had absorbed the surplus production of the country — were obliged to get on their knees and beg of Wall street, who had their earnings, to help save the coun- try. The people would furnish muscle, fight the battles, and live on hard-tack, il Wall street would only lend back some of their hard toil to sustain the government. W^all street, having no motive but interest, dictated to the people : " If the government will issue bonds, put them on the market, and not tax them for the sup- port of government, we will purchase and let the people have 02ir money." What security did the bondholders have ? The same security that is always eiven for the measure of labor — • the property of the people was held for it ; labor, or production, pays the interest, and finally the principal. Money, notes and bonds represent the property of the people. The sale of those bonds was at from 33 to 80 cents on the dollar. The shrinkatre comes out of labor. The result is that some of the bondholders have accumulated immense fortunes, bloated, arro- gant and despotic, while the people, who sup- port all, are on the verg-e of bankruptcy. The profits made on the old Vanderbilt " hulks," by the regular committees in Congress, w^ere co- lossal. Wall street has set an example of gam- bling which is now imitated in every large city by Boards of Trade. It can buy i ,000 Chicago Times to do its dirty w^ork. This Sodom dic- tates National and State legislation. Money pays Legislatures for legalizing iron collars, fetters and chains for the people. Laws are made in the interest of this money power. Courts, lawyers, officers, prisons, and a stand- ing army of bayonets terrify the 97 per cent, of the people, who are but putty in the hands of their masters, who constitute but 3 per cent, of the population, as above shown. When this subject shall be fully understood, the money power will not amount to even a puff ball un- der the foot of an elephant. If a wall could be built around Wall street as high as heaven and as deep as hell (close by), it would be a bless- nig to our Republic. We do not declare all who deal in money '' cutthroats," for of our acquaintance we know of some good men. We are here speaking of the representatives of the wealth of the country. ' 14 •' Will any Wall-streeter get to Heaven ?" is a question frequently asked. Doubtful ; but ii so they would be likely to dig up the gold in the streets, go into banking, and require the people to put up the pearly gates as collateral. No ! its " bulls " and " bears '' are too mean to go to hell, unless they give security for good behavior. INTEREST A HARD MASTER. Interest is the worm that gnaws unceas- ingly into the vitals of industry. It outnum- bers the grasshoppers on the plains. It con- sumes seven-eights of the products of busy hands. It brines ruin upon thousands of en- terprises every year. Nearly every dollar in circulation is drawing interest from somebody, and the little that does not is being withdrawn by evil-doers to give place to that which will. The largest proportion of tilled lands is infested with interest. Towns, cites, counties. States, and even the nation, are all drained by interest. The great mass of busy people, and ali the homes that are mortgaged, are victims of this insatiable worm — interest. It is the greatest curse entailed upon labor in our age and civil- ization. To eet rid of it should exercise the best energies of every lover of his race, every patriot of his country. The vicious schemes through which it fastens itself upon all public enterprises should be opposed. Our industries are nearly paralyzed, millions of our country- i5 men are impoverished and made dependent, and our very national existence is endangered by this curse of curses — interest. Keep your- self free from its fangs, if you would enjoy the products of your own labor and enterprise. UNFORTUNATE FARMERS. We learn from an undoubted source that the farmers in Northwestern Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, in consequence of a failure in the wheat crop, are borrowing money to live on through the winter, paying rates of interest (taken out in advance) of from 20 to 40 per cent, and all of whom are obliged to mortgage their farms upon cutthroat conditions, some of them also being required to add stock and furniture to get a little of the representa- tive of their property. It is only a matter of time for those mortgages to grind these farm- ers as much finer than flour as flour is finer than pow^den Who can describe the anxiety, perplexity, sorrow, and grief of those unfortu- nate farmers, caused by devouidng interest, by greedy and selfish money-lenders ? Happier would they be in the Penitentiary than on their farms. In attempting to describe the condition of these farmers, we find ourselves in a some- what similar predicament to the Boston coal- dealer, who w^as noted for his swearing propen- sities and the utterance of terrible oaths. While ascendinof a hill with a load of coal, some mis- chievous boys slyly pulled out the end -board of his w^agon-box. At the top of the hill the driver looked back, saw coal scattered for four i6 or five blocks, and was so bewildered he never uttered a word. The boys asked him why he did not swear. He replied that swearing vv^ould not do the subject justice. As we cannot do justice in describino- the hell those farmers are in, we leave it for the imao;ination of the reader. PAYING INTEREST. BY HENRY V/ARD BEECHER. No blister draws sharper than interest does. Of all industries none is comparable to interest. It works all day and night, in fair weather and foul. It makes no noise, but travels fast. It gnaws at a man's substance with invisible teeth. It binds industry with its film, as a fly is bound in a spider's web. Debts roll a man over and over, binding hand and foot, and letting him hang upon the fatal mesh until the long-legged interest devours him. There is but one on a farm like it, and that is the Canada thistle, which swarms new plants every time you break its roots, whose blossoms are prolific, and every flower the father of a million seeds ; every leaf is an awl, every branch a spear, and every plant like a platoon of l:>ayonets, and a field of them like an armed host. The whole plant is a tor- ment and vegetable curse. And yet a farmer had better make his bed of Canada thistles than attempt to be at ease upon interest. NEVER GIVE A MORTGAGE. Millions of men in this country have, by hard toil, accumulated from $5co to $3,000 in money, 17 and, with this start in life, concluded to settle down, engage in farming, manufacturing, or go into trade. The hazcks, who by devouring in- terest catch the chickens, encourage the man who has $5oo or $800 to buy a farm worth $1,000. He, the hawk, will acconmiodate the young man by lending him $5oo on three or four years' time, by paying 10 per cent., the usual interest, semi-annually in advance, and take a mortgage on the farm. The young man agrees in note and mortgage to confess judg- ment, pay ail court fees, and allow foreclosure at any time, if he shall tail to pay the interest. The young man, v/ith high hopes and a young wife, with good prospects of an heir to his farm, starts out on a tempestuous sea. Sick- ness comes, causing a heavy doctor's bill to pay. Crops fail, and the interest is not paid. By begging, an extension is graciously granted for six months. When the time expires the young man is no better off, and perhaps not as well, as when he secured th^. great favor of ex- tension. Discouraged and disheartened, he lets the farm go, with the four or five years of toil which he had put into it, and himself, wife, and babe are turned out in the cold. A thous- and books as large as the Bible would not be enough to record all the results in our land, of such mortgages and interest. We say never mortgage your property unless dire necessity requires it. If. you mortgage your property, mortgage to yourself — i. e., the government, of which you are a part, which should give long time at reasonable rates of interest. The 97 per cent., the producers of our land, can inaugurate i8 this equitable money system whenever they please, and they will when it is fully under- stood. We say again, don't borrow money until the laws favor the borrower as well as lender. When that time shall have con^ie, what an impetus it will orive to industry ! what a rush from our large cities to take up land and im- prove it for a home — " Home, sweet home ! " Knowing that the money power of the nation will help instead of injure them, then will young men be induced to marry. Now they say, " W^e see so many families wrecked b}' devouring interest, we will not make an inno- cent young lady miserable ; besides, we do not wish to raise slaves for our masters, the money power." Wise conclusion ! When a just and equitable money system shall have been adopted, all will be induced to own some of the productive property of the nation, from, which all wealth is derived ; for with this system money can be had with profit to both lender and borrower, the nation and the people. Then five hours^ labor in the day will secure the necessities of life ; then man can have the ho7iey he has produced (his living and the com- mon burden of society excepted), as a reserve for the exigencies of life ; then, and not until then, will human life be in harmony with Na- ture's law. THE MORTGAGE. BY LIZZIE HULL. Ten years — and the hair on my temples Is turning and mixing with gray, And my face has grown aged and care-worn, Its lines deepen day by day ; My comrades are want and privation. They've clung to me close for years, And I've borne them with unflinching patience, Though laden with trouble and fears. This eve, while the sun has been dipping His rays down the fair, rosy west, I've been over the farm I once planted. With hope of serene age and rest ; But to-morrow a white-covered wagon. On its long westward journey will start. And Mary will smile, though she's hiding A weary and desolate heart. I've walked the last time through the orchard ; This autumn its first fruit will yield ; The vineyard is laden with clusters, And yellow with corn is each field. When full of youth's hope and ambition, My wife and I left dear old Maine, With only the blood boughten pittance I'd saved from a "private's" poor gain. But Mary was happy and cheerful, And I strong with vigorous health ; With eighty good acres of prairie. We seemed on a short road to wealth ; So first, for a home and a shelter, A poor little shanty was built ; How poor, but one room, and unpiastered, So meager is poverty felt. 20 Then stables, aiid horses, and cat^^Ie, And harrows, and wagons, and seed, And hundreds etceteras un thought of, That ever a pioneer needs. And everything came at the highest, And called on my small stock of cash. Till I found, ere I'd half done with buying. My dollars had gone like a Sash. For five dreary, desolate winters. With summers of labor between. We sulFered, yet thankful if autumn ilewarded with measures of grain ; And there, in that kitchen and parlor And chamber combined, one bright moru- With poverty everywhere 'round them — Our little twin children were born. And later our Mabel, our idol, Canie to us, yet soon fled away ; And we felt there are griefs that are greater Than want — that sad burial day. But I built to the house an " addition," And made things all cosy and warm ; And bought forty acres of "timber," And for it we mortgaged the farm. Then " hard times " grew harder, and ever Misfortune has followed alway. With failure on failure of harvests That no mortal foresight could stay. The mortgage is closed, and our homestead Is gone for its half, and is sold ; No help — for it's law, so it's justice — And avarice clutches his gold. So out — heaven help us ! — we wander ; Our youth and our labors are lost ; Ah ! little dreamed we when we signed it, The anguish that mortgage would cost. Out ovei the prairie to-morrow A white-covered wagon will roam, And eyes that are misty andblinded Shall take a last look at " the home." 21 SINNERS. The s^reatest sinners on earth are those who take exorbitant interest, because they produce the most misery. What shall the sufferers do about it ? They should use no violence, for we are taught in the good book that we should go down to the very gates of hell to save a broth- er. Those who are oppressing the industry of the land are our brothers. It is our duty to teach them to do as they would be done by — point them to the Word of God. If the 97 per cent, who are producers were so disposed, they could compel a change of situation between the money power and the laboring classes ; but it would not be right, for they (the money power) obtained their gains — the hard earnings of oth- ers — through the lain) ; besides, we have no moral right to oppress anybody. We were created to help each other. But it is a duty that producers owe to themselves not to allow any more oppression from the money power — /. e., laws should be changed so as to favor those who produce the wealth of the nation. Stand up for the right and do right ; for one w^ith God is a majority, says John Knox. DEVOURING CAPCITY OF INTEREST. The following tables, with explanations, were compiled by Edward Kellogg : Two mechanics, just come of age, are desir ous of accumulating large fortunes. They are good workmen, and each is able to earn a dol- 22 lar a day over and above his expenses. Every six months they loan the money thus earned at 7 per cent, interest, the interest payable half yearly. They set their affections upon being" rich, and therefore do not burden themselves witii a house and family. These men earn an average of a dollar a day beside their expenses. 300 days in each year, during forty years and four months. Their age is then sixty-one years and four months. Each earns by labor $300 per year for forty years, or, for the whole period, $12,100 — together, $24,200. The inter- est on their earnings, loaned half yearly, for a period of forty years and four months, accumu- lates an amount which will be seen by reference to the following table. Interest at 7 per cent, per annum, paid and reloaned half yearly, accu- mulates a sum equal to the principal in ten Years and one month. 1st half year ibey earn by Amount brou.^ht up ....$1,965 04 their lahor . . . . 1300 00 6 months' interest 68 7^ 6 months' interest at 7 cent per 10 50 2.033 82 7 th half 2ear's labor . . . . 300 00 310 50 2nd half year's labor — .... 300 00 2,333 82 6 months' mterest 81 U8 610 50 21 37 () months' interest 2.415 50 8th •>balf year's labor . . . . 300 00 631 87 3(1 half year's labor 300 00 2,715 ,'0 6 months' interest 95 04 931 87 6 months' interest 32 61 2'810 54 911: half year's labor.... . . . . 300 00 964 48 300 00 -ith haK year's labor 3.110 54 6 months' interest . . . . 'l08 87 1,264 48 6 month's interest 44 26 3,219 41 loth half year's labor. . . . . . . 300 00 1,308 74 5th half year's labor 300 00 3,519 41 . . . . 123 18 6 months' interest 1,608 74 56 30 6 months' interest 3.642 59 11th half year's labor. . . . . . 300 00 1,66^ 04 6th half year's labor .... 300 00 3.942 .59 Amount broiiglit up $ 3,042 m Aiuouut brou'^ht up § 6,291 29 G month's mterest •. . 137 90 6 months' iutere^it 220 20 4,080 oS 6,511 49 12th half year's labor 3oo 00 I7th half year's labor 300 00 4,380 58 6.811 49 G months' interest 153 32 6 months' interest 238 40 4,533 90 7.049 89 13th half year's labor 300 oo 18th iialf year's labor 300 00 4,833 90 7,349 89 6 months' interest 169 18 6 month.^' interest 257 25 5.003 08 7.607 14 I41h half year's labor 300 ou 19tli half year's labor 300 00 5.303 OS 7,807 14 6 months' mterest 185 61 6 months' mterest 276 75 5,438 69 8,183 89 15th half year's labor 300 00 20th half year's labor 800 00 5,788 69 8,483 '89 n months" inteiest 202 60 6 months' interest 49 49 5.991 29 8,533 38 16tl) hall year's laboi' 300 00 .^dd one month's labor 50 oO 6,291 29 $8,583 38 In the first ten years and one month, the two men earn by their labor $ 6,050 00 Interest thereon during this period 2,533 38 8,583 38 In the 2d ten years and one month, the interest on this sum equals the principal 8,583 28 17,166 76 2d 10 years andd month's labor, and interest thereon 8,583 38 25,750 14 3d " interest 25,750 14 51.500 28 3d ■' labor and interest thereon. 8,583 38 60.083 66 4th •' interest "60,083 66 * 120,167 32 4th " labor atid inteiest thereon 8,583 38 128,750 70 In 40 years and 4 months the men earn by their labor 24,200 00 Remainder accunuilated by interest $104,550 70 The interest on the sum ($24,200) earned by their labor is $104,550.70 — over four and a quarter times more than they have earned by their labor. Suppose the two men to live twenty years and two months longer — that is, 24 to the age of eighty one years and six months — and continue to loan their money, During this period it would double twice. Tims .S128.750 70 1 years and 1 month's interest 128,750 70 257.501,40 2(1 1 ve;a-s and 1 month's interest 257.501 40 Total accumu ation In 60 vears and 6 months .9515,002 80 The tw(» men do not labor durmg the last 20 years ;ind 2 months, and expend for their living during that period 15,002 80 500,000 00 In 40 years and 4 months they earn by their labor > 24,200, and live 20 years and 2 montlis on their money without labor. Subtract money earned by labor 24,200 00 Remainder accumulated by interest on §24,200 .«475,8p0 00 Every dollar of the $476,800 is earned by the labor of others, and given to the two men as the legal interest upon $24,200. These men live laboriously, and work for a very moderate compensation. They take only the legal rate '"f interest, and do not demand the principal of r '■^. money as long as the interest is paid, 'ther do they enter into any speculations. It is therefore said that labor earns their large fortunes. Cases similar to this are often brought to prove that an industrious man may, by his labor, accumulate a large property. That this conclusion is erroneous, is manifest from the foregoing table, by which it appears that more than nineteen out of twenty' parts of the large fortunes of these men are earned by others, and paid to them to satisfy the legal interest on their loans of money. Now let us suppose the interest on money to be 2 per cent., and, with this difference only, these two men to be placed in the same circum- stances in which they have already been de- scribed. Thev earn over and above their ex- 2:) penses a dollar a day, 300 days in each year, during a period of forty years and four months. They loan their earnings at the legal rate of interest (2 per cent.), and collect and reloan the interest half yearly. 1st h;.]i year's labor .- 6 months' intere«;t at 2 per cent 300 I'O Amount brought up S 3,170 06 3 00 lltli half year's labor, 00 803 00 6 months' interest. 2d half yeur's labor 3oo Oo 6 months' interest ... . 3d half year's labor 6 months' i'.iterest. 4th half year's labor . 6 months' interest. . 5th half year's labor . 6 months' interest 6th half year's labor . , 6 months' interest . . 7th half year's labor . . 6 months' interest . . . 8th half year's labor. . 6 months' interest . . 9th half year's labor . 6 months' Interest . lOth half year's labor 6 month's mterest . • 603 00 12th half vear's labor. 6 03 609 03 6 months' interest 300 00 909 03 13th half vear's labor. 9 09 918 12 6 mor. ths, interest — 300 00 1.218 12 14th half year's labor 12 18 1,230 30 6 months' interest. 300 00 1,530 -io 15th half year,s labor. 15 30 1 545 60 6 months, interest. 300 00 3,470 06 34 70 3,.504 76 300 00 3,8"4 76 38 05 5,842 81 300 00 4,142 81 41 43 4,184 24 200 00 4,484 24 44 84 4,529 08 300 00 4.829 08 4S 29 4,877 37 1.845 60 10th half year,s labor 300 00 18 46 5,177 27 51 77 1,864 06 6 months, interest. 300 00 2,164 06 17th half vear.s labor. 21 64 5,229 14 300 00 5,-529 14 55 29 2,510 .56 6 months' interest. 3u0 00 2,185 70 6 months' interest 300 00 _ 5,584 43 2,485 70 18th half year's labor 300 00 24 86 5,884 43 58 84 5,948 27 300 00 6,213 27 62 48 6^3a5 70 300 00 6.605 70 11 06 2,810 56 19th half year's labor. 28 11 2,838 67 6 months' interest 300 00 1,138 67 20th half vear's labor. . . 31 39 3,170 06 Add 1 month's interest. 26 A mount brought up .$ 6,616 76 Amount brought up .? 18,107 42 Add lmonlh"s labor 5o oo 3d 10 vears and i month's labor ;ind inLen-st 6,666 76 6,666 76 A(\(\ loyeais and 1 month's 24,774 18 mieiest at 2 per cent 1,48155 lo vears and l month's iii- terest 5,505 88 8,148 ;J1 2d 10 years and 1 mouth's 30,280 O"; h.bor and interest 6,666 76 4th 10 years and 1 month's labor and interest 6,666 76 14,sl5 0," 10 years and i month's in- .'!?36.946 82 teresi 3,2;>2 35 - Add the interest Jit 2 per cent, for twenty years and two months longer, i;ntil tiie men reacii the age of eighty-one yeai's and six months. 1st ten vears and one month's interest 8,210 69 45,157 51 2d ten years and one month '.^ interest 10.o;J5 35 •^55,1 92 -.86 In furty years and four months the two men earn by then- labor. ..?24,200 on The interest upon this sum for a period of sixty years and six months, even at 2 per eent, amounts to 30,992 Oit .f^"5,192 00 This i!5.?6,79fl more ti:an they earn by their labor. When it is considered that this interest or rent is paid for the mere use of m(:)ney or of capital, every reflecting honest mind must be convinced that two per cent, is a higher rate of interest than a people can afford to pay. It is surely m.ost unreasonable for the laws to com- pel producers to pay for the use of property which a man may acquire by forty or fifty years' labor, twice or thrice the sum of the property so earned. The thing produced is more high- ly esteemed than the power that produces it. If an interest of two per cent, upon a well reg- ulated currenz^y would accumulate the property of a nation in the possession of a few, can it be considered strange that the rates of three, four, five, six and seven per cent., and even higher rates, which are exacted in different countries, should have concentrated property into so few 27 hands? The only \^onder is that producers have continiu-d to live under this oppression. A rate of interest of even two per cent, per annum, would put it out of the power of the people to fulfill their contracts. The establish- ment of this rate of interest would be equiva- lent to the passing ol a law, compelling the la- boring classes to doubje the capital of a nation, in favor of capitalists once in thirt)-four and a half years, besides producing their own support. Suppose a foreign nation owned all the real and personal estate in this nation, and a fair estimate were made of the value of all ; and then our people were legally obliged to pay two percent, yearly upon its valuation, besides maintaining themselves, w^ould not a tribute of tax like this keep us forever in poverty ? Our laws enforce much higher rates of interest on capital, which are less oppressive to the great body of our producers, because they are paid to a few capi- talists in our own land instead of to foreigners. It may be objected that some of the illustra- tions of the accumulative power of interest are based on so long periods as to present exager- ated results ; but it must be bourne in mind that interest, and rents, at too high rates are contin- ually accruing to the capital of nations, and are producing their evil effects upon the people whether the loans be for longer or shorter peri- ods. It may be supposed that if interest v/ere di- minished to one per cent., property and labor would rise in the same proportion, and there- fore, the producing classes would receive no benefit from the reduction. But w^hether prop- 28 erty should rise, or fall, or maintain its present price, producers would have the same relative advantage ; their gain would be from the less- ened percentage on capital. If a man borrow^ed a hudred dollars for a year, he would pay but one dollar for the use of one hundred, instead of paying seven dollars. If he hired a hundred acres of land, he would have to earn only one acre to pay for the use of one hundred, instead of being obliged to earn seven to pay for their use ; for the per centage on money governs the rent of land. This principle of the adequate reward of labor, by the decrease of the interest on money, although property and labor in con- sequence should rise in price, will be illustrated in the following table. The price of labor is calculated at six dollars per day, and the inter- est on money at one per cent, per annum. The men earn their money, nnd loan it as in the former cases. 1st 6 months' labor 81,800 oo Amount brought ui> $!9,135 90 6 montlis' hiterest at l per 6th half year's labor 1,800 oo cent 9 00 ' 10.835 90 1,800 00 6 months' interest 54 68 2d half year's labor 1.800 oo 10,990 58 3.609 00 7th half year's labor . . . . l,80o oo 6 months' interest 18 Oi 12,790 58 3,627 04 6 months' interest 6'^ 3ii half year's labor 1,800 oo 12,854 53 5,327 04 8th half year's labor 1,800 oo 6 months' interest 27 14 14,654 53 5,451 18 6 months' interest 73 27 4th half year's labor l,80o oo 14,727 80 7,254 18 9th half year's labor l,80o 00 6 months' interest 36 27 16,527 80 7,290 45 6 months' hiterest 82 64 5th half veav"s labor 1,800 Oo 16,610 44 9,090 45 10th half year's labor 1,800 oO 6 months' mterest 45 45 18,410 44 9,135 90 6 months' interest 92 05 29 Ajnouut broutihl 111* $18.502 59 Amount brought U) . ....'^3.3,81 1 5i; lull half year's labor 1,800 6 months' interest 16'» !i7 20,302 59 25,983 G4 c nioiilhs' iiiten-st 101 ol 17th half year's labor 1,800 0 1 month's hiterest 31 47 27,965 88 37,794 03 () months' interest 139 88 1 mouth's labor 300 00 I 28,105 76 .^38,094 03 16th luilf year's labor 1,800 00 r=rrz. 10 years and 1 monlh's labor and interest * .•?38,094 03 2(110 years and 1 mouth's interest 4,03n 44 42,124 47 10 years and i monlh's labor and interest 38,094 03 80,218 50 3d 10 years and 1 month's interest — 8,487 24 88,705 74 10 years and l month's labor and mterest 38,094 03 120,799 77 4th 10 years and l mon th 's interest 13,415 34 140.215 11 10 years and 1 uuddirs labor and interest 38,094 03 178,309 14 In 10 years an6 i)er day si4r),200 00 luleresl th< reon for 40 y(^ars and 1 montlis al 1 percent .33,109 14 178,300 14 Let the interest on .s78..300.14 accumulate 20 years and 2 mouths, until the nu'n arrive at the age of 81 years aiid 6 months. Inter est ou siT8,309.i4 for 10 years at 1 per eent 18,865 02 197,174 16 2d 10 years' Interest 20.854 80 218.028 96 They cease to labor at the age of 16 years and 4 mouths and expend during 20 years and 2 months, six times more than when labor was at !fl per day. They expend six times .fl4.995. Deduct. . . 89,970 oo .S128,058 90 30 With interest at seven per cent and labor at ^i per day, the two men leave to their heirs $5oo,ooo ; while with interest at one per cent., and labor at $6 per day> they leave to their heirs $i28,o58, only a fraction over one-fourth as much as in the former case. The interest on $5oo,ooo, at seven per cent., would be $35,000 annually. It would take the labor of one man, at St per day one hundred and sixteen years to pay the interest for a year. The interest on $i28,o58, at one per cent., would be $1,280. The labor of one man for two hundred and thirteen days, at $6 per day, would pay the interest for a year. BANKS. The amount of specie owned b)^ the banks, and the interest paid by the people on bank loans, before the civil w^ar : The chartered banks profess to transact their business entirely on a specie basis. If, to show the actual amount of their specie, we take that of the banks of Connecticut, w4iich have been conducted with as much safety to the public, and credit to themselves, as those of any other State in the Union, and far more than the av- erage, it will be not only a fair but a favorable criterion of the specie capital of the banks of other States. The following- table, extracted from the " Merchant's Magazine,'' vol. xvii., page 209, is an abstract of the Commissioner's Report for eleven years, from 1837 to 1847 in- 31 elusive ; to which is added from the same work, vol. xxii., page 320, the Commissioner's Report for the year 1849, Thus we have the following statement of the banks during twelve years. Year Capital. Ciiciiiatioii. .^3,998.325 30 Total Liabilies .-15,715,964 59 Specie. .'i?41 5,386 10 Loans aiul dis counts. 18;37 .'r8,744,697 .")0 .■<13.246,49-. 0.*< 1838 8,754,4{i7 .50 1,920.552 45 12,302.613 11 535,447 86 9.760.286 8(! 18.39 8,832,223 00 3,; '87.815 45 14.942.779 31 .502,180 15 12.2X6,9)6 97 1840 8.878.24.5 00 2.320,589 95 12.9.50.572 40 989.032 52 10 41 S (kKj XT 1841 8.873.027 50 2,784,721 45 13,866,373 45 454,298 fil 10.944,(;7H H6 1842 8.876.317 57 2,555,638 33 13,4^)5.052 .32 471.2.38 08 !0.'i83.412 3r 1843 8,58t).393 .50 5..379.947 02 12.914,124 66 438.752 92 : 1.708. 392 27 1844 8.292 238 00 3,490,903 06 14..572,681 32 4.54,430 30 10.842.9.55 35 1815 8,359,748 tto 4.102.-144 00 15,243,235 79 453,658 79 12.477.196 06 1846 8,175.030 00 3,.565.847 06 15.882 685 25 481.367 09 13.032,600 78 1847 8.675.742 00 4.437.631 06 15.784;782 04 462,165 .52 5,168.657 95 12,781,857 i:\ 95.27:5.623 57 38..549,475 13 lo7.5.-.o'872 44 126,292,888 8 i 1840 8,985,917 00 4.,51 1,571 00 575,676 00 13,740,591 0) .•>104.259,546 57 .i?5,744,633 95 >140.033.489 33 Average Capitnl . . ....■> 8.688,295 .55 Avera;:o Liabilies 13,129.23 > 3," Average Sp<-cie 478"719 70 .\.veiM-e Loans a. id Discomits. 11,669,4,57 44 By the foregoing table it will be seen that the average amount of the specie held by the banks in the State of Conneticut, for the twelve years, was $478,7 19, while the average amount of their loans to the public, during that period, was $11,669,457 — more than twenty-four and one third times as much money as the banks had specie. The annual interest on $i 1,669,457 was $700,167. If they could have loaned only their specie, the interest would have amounted to but $28,723. The banks gained from the public annually, $671,444 above the interest on their specie ; and, in twelve years $8,057,328. They collected this interest in advance, and made their dividends half yearly to their stockhold- ers ; therefore, it is proper to compound this interest half yearly, which would swell their gains to nearly $12,000,000, that is to say, $1,- 000,000 interest annually. These were actual ij^ains. as much realized by these banks as if they had produced and sold annually $700,167 worth of a<>"ricultural products. These banks were chartered with a professed specie capital, averau^ing for the the tw^elve years, $8,679,962 ; while the average of the specie actually held by them was less than one- eighteenth part of this sum. How was this excess of capital above the average $478,719 in specie made up, and was it furnished by the stockholders or b)' the public? The specie held by these banks, as w^e have said, did not consti- tute one eighteeth part of their professed capi- tal : hence there must have been other capital to make up the seventeen parts we find wan- ting, otherv/ise their bank-notes could not have been safe; for one thousand dollars' worth of land is as good security for the payment of eighteen thousand, dollars in money, as one thousand in specie for the payment of eighteen thousand dollars in bank-notes. But the banks instead of eighteen lent over twenty-four dollars for each dollar in specie, so that the specie held by the banks was but a fraction over four per cent, of their loans. The specie was, then, a ver\ small item in the security of the bank-notes, and was not essential to their safety. If the banks in other States have, in proportion to their loans, double the specie owned by the Conneticut banks, it is no evidence that they are more safe, because their safety depends up- on four or eight per cent, of specie. No bank- notes can be safe money unless secured for their full amount. 33 Let us see how the specie capital of banks is o-enerally made up. Suppose one bank to be chartered with a specie capital of $5oo,ooo, all paid in, and to lend $75o,ooo for approved in- dorsed notes. A second bank is likewise char- tered with a capital of $5oo,ooo ; to make up which, $400,000 of the notes of the first bank and s 100,000 in specie, also drawn from it, are paid in. The notes of the first and second Ijanks, together with a small sum in specie, form the capital of a third ; and thus bank after bank is formed, say to the number of eighteen, each with a professed specie capital ; while, in reali- ty, all of them together own only $5oo,ooo, in specie. How is this excess over the $5oo,ooo secured ? The loans of the first bank for $5oo,noo were secured by the same sum in specie ; but when it had lent $2 5o,ooo more, the excess was secured by the indorsed notes offered by the people for discount. When the second bank had discounted $75o,ooo, the two banks had under discount a million and a half of dollars, one million of which was secured by indorsed notes, and but half a million by spe- cie. A third, fourth, and finally eighteen banks leaving discounted .^75o,ooo each of indorsed notes, the aggregate amount would be $13,- 5oo,ooo, of which *^5oo,ooo would be secured by specie, and the sole security for $13,000,000 would be the indorsed notes held by the banks against the public. Some of these discounted indorsed notes mi^ht be against stockholders in the banks ; but all of them, whether against stockholders or others, are secured by the property of their drawers and indorsers, and 34 not by the capital of the banks. If thirteen out out of thirteen and a haU' milHons of dollars, are made safe for the public use by these in- dorsed notes, evidently the remaining half mil- lion could be made safe in the same manner ; and we could thus dispense with specie alto- ^[•ether. if ninety-six per cent, of the money is now secured by indorsed promissory notes, certainly the other four per cent, can be secured by similar means. The people furnish the security for the bank- notes, and pay the interest, which is the source of all the gains of the banks. R. and S, are men of property. R. draws his note at six months for $10,000, gets S. to indorse it, and then has it discounted at bank. If interest be at seven per cent., R. will receive only $9,65o in bank-notes, and at the maturity of the note must pay $10,000 to take it up : the bank thus gains 5360 as interest or rent of the bank-notes for six months. Under no circumstances would the bank discount the note unless it were deemed perfect security for the return of the money and the payment of the interest. R.'s note, indorsed by S., and held by the bank, is secured by the property of these men ; and the bank-notes secured by the indorsed notes are also secured by the same property of R. and S. If the bank-notes circulate for six months, R.'s indorsed note also secures to the bank the re- turn of $360 more than it gave for the note. A similar illustration may be made on a more extended scale, say on $5, 000, 000 ; about the sum kept under discount by some of the larger banks in New York. Suppose a bank to dis- 35 count notes, drawn and indorsed by various individuals in o;ood credit, for $5. 000,000 having- (to simplify the process, and bring the gains under one item) twelve months to run. It would pay to these individuals $4,660,000 in bank-notes : and the S35o,ooo deducted as dis- count would be clear Qrain, less the labor to make and exchange the bank-notes. If the public need the $4.65o.ooo to meet their busi- ness obligations for the year, the money will continue to circulate, and the bank will not be called upon to redeem it, during that period. At the close of the year, when the indorsed notes become due. if the drawers should col- lect every dollar oi the bank-notes issued $35,000 would still be wanting to pay the bank the indorsed notes for $5, 000,000 ; and the peo- ple would be dependent on the bank for a fur- ther discount of notes to obtain the money due as the year's interest. If one bank furnishes all the money of the nation, the people would be dependent on that one for money to fulfil all their obliorations. Increase the number of banks to a thousand and the indorsed notes in proportion, and the transactions will be more numerous and appear more complicated, as they actually are ; but it will not alter in the least the principles upon which the banks gain the interest out of the earnings of the public, while the public furnishes all the security nec- essary to make the bank-notes safe to circulate as money. The people furnish double security to make the bank-notes safe that they give to each other in the ordinary purchase and sale of products. 36 The farmer sells his produce to the merchant or miller on credit ; the miller sells his flour, the wool-oTower his wool, and the manufactu- er his goods, mostly on two, four, six, eight, ten and twelve month's credit to city merchants, who re-sell them on like credits to other city or country merchants, and these dispose of them chiefly on credit, to farmers, mechanics and other consumers. Farmers, mechanics and merchants, in ordinary good credit, can buy goods on their own responsibility ; and their purchases are generally limited only by their own discretion. But they cannot take book accounts to the banks, and get bank-notes in exchange on the responsibility of the man who owes the money. Notes offered for discount must have only a certain time to run, must be drawn by men known to the directors to be responsible, and indorsed by one or two others in equally good credit. Thus the people do give at least double the security to make the bank-notes safe to circulate as money that they do to secure themselves against loss in the sale of the products of their own labor. Yet they pay to the banks five or six times more than a fair equivalent for the material and labor to make and exchange the bank-note for the in- dorsed notes; and this is a total loss to the producing classes, and a clear gain to the banks. We will now estimate the proportion of cap- ital stock furnished in specie by the stockhold- ers of the banks in the State of New York, and the proportion furnished by the balancing power of paper against paper. The following table, taken from the State Register, shows s/ o\ th(! State currency, in 1844 and based upon specie, and how much how niuci" 1845. was was IxAsed upon paper notes Capital ('ireulatioii. Vmal Fund 1 Feb. 1, I Mav 1, Auj>;iist i., Nov. 1. I 1844. 1 1874. I 1874. 1 1874. . S48,*i49,887 .'«43,462.31tk^:43,44.3,005.S 13,(518,007 ..; 1G,335.401' 18,.3{i5.08l! 18.091324! 20.152.219 . .! 1.483,8431 1.50(5,167 1,210.794' 1,534,.V)3 Depo.sit.s ■ 29.()2(),413 3<>.742,289 Due JJailks... '.•>.7l!)..^)r)4i IG.4. 7.494 Loans ainl Discoiu! Stocks and proiiiiss n(»trs Specie Cash Itein.s IJaiik-notes ro.tij '34|.'$74.r)27,8f)8 Mie from i^anks 10.267.20? 11.052,4581 10,362,.330 20.(186, 42| 9,455.1()1 4. .".02. 179 5.99f».9.>2 2.155.1721 3,148.421 n 7.279 89, .112 l(i. 102.922 *75,546,592 10.648,211 10.181,974 4,916,862 2.511,316 8.859.328 30,391,622 14,431,103 •¥77,347.718 10.773.678 8,968,092 6,047,528 2.868.467 8,767 ,.513 Feb. 1. 1875. $43,674, 146 18,513.401' 1,607,572 25,976.246 11,501,10-2 '•;70,888,57s 10,244,04;; 6,893,236 4,839 ,88f, 2,387.50s 7,684.30i-; From the fore^^oing" table, it will be perceived that th(:i banks were indebted at the above pe- riod to the amount of from $101,272,468, up to $110,128,104. The average indebtedness, in- cluding the refunding of the capital stock to the stock-holders, was $106,931,004. The av- erage amount of their specie at the different periods as above, was $9,1 19,001. Deduct the specie from the indebtedness — /. c\, $9,119,001 from .$106.931,004 — -and we have left $97,812.- 000, which sum must have been cancelled by paper. Our banks have specie enough to re- deem only about one-fifth part of their capital. The balance of their capital stock, the redemp- tion of the bank-notes in circulation, and the payment of the deposits, are secured by the indorsed notes of the people, binding the prop- erty of the drawers and indorsers. Their property as much secures the bank-notes, as it does their own notes. The bank-notes are representatives of the property of the people, and not representatives of the property of the banks. Not a single dollar of the paper issued 38 over and above the actual amount oi specie, is secured by their capital stock, because, if none of these indorsed notes and bonds of the State were ever paid, not a single dollar of the in- debtedness of the banks, either for bank-notes or deposits, above their actual specie would ev- er be paid. The $97.,8 12,003 would be a total loss to the holders of the bank-notes, to the depositors, and to the stock-holders. The interest collected on the indorsed notes and State bonds supports the banks, and pays all their extravagant expenditures in granite buildings, salaries of officers, etc. The)- can pay their presidents and cashiers from $3,000 to $5,000 each, and other expenses, house-rent. etc, in proportion, to the amount of $40,000 or $5o,ooo yearly. They can also pay to the stock- holders from three to five, six or seven per cent, in dividends every six months. The banks under legislative authority make the public fur- nish the capital and then pay interest on this capital. But although the industry of the peo- ple supports the whole, they have no voice in the management. The directors in the banks can at any time call upon them to pay off their notes and cancel the bank-notes ; and If the) fail, the)' are blamed for over-production and over- trading. When the banks contract their loans rapidly, and distress the people, the direc- tors are said to be prudent and judicious man- agers. Yet if the people should demand spe- cie, the banks could not pay it, unless they could collect it out of the Indorsed notes of the people. But these indorsed notes were never founded upon specie, and could not be paid in 39 It. because the drawing and indorsing of the notes by the people, and the engraving of the bank-notes by the banks, and the exchange of the bank-notes for the indorsed notes, do not create gold and silver coins to pay either the bank-notes or the indorsed notes. There has never been a time when the banks could have paid specie for a week, for their average depos- its are more than three times their whole amount of specie. The table shows that the average amount of the capital of the banks in the State of New York, during the period mentioned, was $43,- 569,591, and their average indebtedness was SI 06,93 1 ,004. The difference of these two sums is $74,361,413. The annual interest upon $73,365,413, at seven per cent., was $4,445,333, which the people of the State paid to the stock- holders and officers of the banks for furnishing bank-notes above the amount of their professed specie capital. The people wrote their own notes, had them indorsed, and took them to the banks to be discounted. The banks en- graved their bank-notes, and gave them in ex- change for the indorsed notes. For engraving these notes and making these exchanges, the people of the State paid to the banks annually $4,535,333, or as much as the farmers of the State receive for four millions four hundred and thirty-five thousand three hundred and thirty- three bushels of wheat, at one dollar per bushel. The labor of producing such an amount of wheat was great ; that of the bank-notes was small, yet the interest paid on these bank-notes would have bought this quantity of wheat. At 40 the end of the year the people of tlie State returned all the bank-notes to the l)anks, to- Money at 4 Money at 5 Money at 6 Money at 7 NToney at 8 Money at 9 Mone\' at r^ per cent, doubl es \n 23 17 14 1 1 10 9 8 7 years Nintteen thousand inillion dollars at 6 pt^r cent, interest anually is bleedino- the American people. As the total wealth of the United States is but about thirty thousand million dol- lars, in 1 8 years Shylock will have received an amount equivalent to the whole value of our iTovernment. Fiat paper money is our only savior. With this money the people by hard labor may pay the interest. Without it our land will become a nation of paupers and slaves. LIFE AN IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. From tables of life insurance companies it appears that 36 years is the average of human life in the United States. Each person, by judg- ing of his own troubles and difficulties, can make a feeble estimate of the irrepressible con- flict of life in our nation. Misery is antagonistic to happiness. To avoid misery should be the study of all. As- all increase of substance to sustain life comes from labor, all either with liands or head should add their quota to the common stock of wealth. .As money does not possess any accumulating power, governmtMU does an injury to itself by enacting laws which sanction the right of money to accumulate. It builds up an idle class of nobility whose only study is to rob labor of its superior production. Money is a tremendous power tor good or evil. Statesmen, who can wipe away the tears of the oppressed, should understand that those who produce the money of the nation, have a na- 58 tural rio^ht to control that power. The people will probably soon demand that their servants in Congress stop ''tinkering'' the finances for the benefit of the money power, but that the government shall assume the banking interest of the nation. The ei'eat conflict of the house is the Money Power against the People. GOLD AS A BASIS A FRAUD. The institution of money possesses four qual- ities, viz., measurement of values, representa- tion of values, exchange of values, and a reas- onable accumulation of values, as a necessity. As expense attaches to a circulating medium, the nation should charo-e a reasonable rate of interest to sustain the government, and then distribute the profits to the people who by labor produce the increase. The four powers of mon- ey we shall probably discuss at length in another book. No national power inheres to mineral or paper to make them money, for they do not sustan life, as they only represent the value of human necessities. If mineral or paper repre- sent the four qualities above named, law may declare it money, and it will be mone^ It will pay all debts and purchase substances The kind of material that possess • no in- trinsic value, and is most convenient, the gov- ernment should select, put its stamp upon it, and use it as money. If the material possesses intrinsic value, it is a commodity, and is subject to the laws of supply and demand, like all other .^9 inc^rchandise. If the material be leather, we cannot use what bears the orovernment stamp to protect our feet ; if it is wheat, we cannot eat it ; it it is woolen cloth, we must substitute cotton, linen or something- else with which to protect our bodies ; if it be gold, so much there- of is taken from the natural chanwel of merchan- dise. Therefore, money in and of itself should not possess any intrinsic value, but should be hat })aper, and rest for security upon the soil, oold, silver and everythin^i else intrinsic in the nation. This is the only natural and solid foun- dation upon which money can be permanently based. Nature never declared that gold should be money ; if so it would have produced enough for the purposes of money. If used as money, nature has provided just enough to build up an aristocracy to the few, at the t^xpense of the many. The population of. those countries that use gold alone is 180,000,000 ; those that use silver, 877,000,000 ; those that use both silver and gold, 133,000,000. Jewett, a hard-shell author, says that the amount of gold coin in the world, in 1875, was ^[.972.500,000 ; that of silver coin. $1,800,000,- 000. Total, 53,772.5000,000. The amount ot paper money was $3,886,000,000. The excess of paper money was $113,500,000. This does not include drafts, checks, orders and immeas- urable paper balances. Now, what is the mon- ecome master of the waters of our globe. Now this is just what we want — the government to issue, upon the credit of the nation, all the paper needed for business purposes, loan the same on long time, the rates of interest not to exceed three per cent. This accomplished, our manufacturers can compete witli any nation on the earth. Hav- 62 ing the raw material, cheap food, the best of machinery and skilled workmen, the Unite] States could beat the world. Our ships would double their capacity in five years. Then will the United States become the commercial cen- ter of the world. Plenty of m.oney, with low and uniform interest, our republic would soon be the most successful, the strongest and most desirable for a home of any, if not all other orovernments upon the earth. Fiut we must stick to the text, gold and silver basis a fraud. We have bank commissioner's reports of near- ly all the States before the civil war. From these reports it appears that the banks, on an average, never had one twentieth part of coin to redeem the bank bills put in circulation ; hence, the subsequent failures and terrible loss to bill holders. True, now and then one would demand gold or silver for his bank notes, but forty-nine out of fifty were satisfied ; indeed, preferred paper. If the people had at any time required the banks to pay specie, they would, almost every one of them, have "bust- ^:d." Suppose those who borrowed of the bank had represented that :heir securities were '^ound, and it proved to be a falsehood, they would have subjected themselves to criminal suits, for obtaining money under false pre- tences. But the banks can cheat the people by misrepresentation, and when exposed go unpunished. Is it right for banks to claim that they will redeem their bills when it is not in their power to fulfill these promises when put to the test ? Who knows the number of banks that turned out " stump tail '' or 63 ' red and vhIIow dog?" Who can estimab: the enorniovi-, amount lost by the people through these pompous specie paying banks? Eternity alone can reveal the trouble, anguish and distress to millions who toiled, caused by fraudulent specie paying banks. In 1836 the the banks in Boston ifailed for thirteen mil lions. The loss fell principally upon the la- boring classes. The owners of the banks, in their palaces, go unpunished. In 1837 the fraud of specie paying banks became more prominent. Eight or ten banks in New York city concluded to suspend ; the banks in this country and Canada followed. Millions of these bills carried on their face. •* This bank promises to pay the bearer or or- der on demand five or ten dollars.'' In 1880 the general banking law in Michigan created banks that Hooded the State with their money and in a few months collapsed, and distressed the people to the tune of $ 1 5 ,000;000. What a damnable fraud ! The toiling millions have to grin, suffer and bear it all. Are the people blind, or under- witted ? We have had expe- rience enough to get our eyes open. The truth is. no banking system can be permanently es- tablished that promises lo redeem in specie. The national b.mks to-da\ are the best we ever had. They are generally sound because found ed uj)on the (principle we advocate, viz. the credit of the nation. This point we regard a.s proven. In another article wi^ shall show that the government should do all banking and loan at two and one half or three per cent. This accomplished, we shall have a safe and 64 equitable monetary system. But to the ques- tion, gold and silver a fraud. How many thous- ands of hanks that secured the deposits of the people, represented to the bank commissioners ( borrowed of their neighbors and returned the^ same before the call of the commission) showed^ more specie in the vaults than belonged to them. By this trick they were reported sound. The people had confidence and made their de- posits until hard times compelled the banks to close their doors and hnalh pay off depositors from lo to 80 cents on the dollar. How many banks robbed theniselves forsooth, claimed to have lost heavily, or all. in order to swindle depositors? It is not uncommon for banks to have their pimps, and although they have the people's money on deposit, are often "hard up- money close." But John Smith, their stool pig- eon, is loaning for Eastern parties. Uncle John looks very w^ise and says money is very scarce, a party East wants him to loan for them. As he will be to some trouble, he must have 10 per cent or 5 per cent, as tiie case may be. for get- ting the money, i. e,. will let the humble supp- cant have $9CO for a term of years, at 10 per cent semi-annually, provided he gives his note for $1,000 with gilt-edge security, or will shave L;;ood notes if well secured. It does seem as it the dear people like to be bulldozed. From the bank commissioners' report, shown in the tables of treasurer, of the banks in New York City 1844 and 45, we find the average in- debtedness $106,931,004; average specie. $9,- 1 19.001. Now deduct specie and a balance of $97,81 2,003, which was canceled by paper. Right 65 ht'Vi::, it will be seen, a bio- screw was loose. o. . I^fty "saints'' in Wall street could have collected a large proportion of the banks bills and de- manded s'pecie of the banks. This woufd have forced the banks to suspend and sell their state bonds at a discount of'irom i5 to 40 cts. on the dollar to get gold. Those "saints'' would have made a ♦fine speculation in buying the bonds with their gold. This would have created a panic, disturbed all business relations and plung- ed again the people into hot w^ater. This has been done, and will be as long as the absurdity shall obtain that gold and silver shall be a basis of a paper currency. Now, can the $3,772,500,000, of coin in the world represents the $19,048,000,000 of indeb- tedness of the people of the United States ? As paper money must represent indebtedness it should rest upon the wealth of the nation. As labor is capital, pays all debts, produces the in- crease, and as money is not capital, but simply represents capital, labor should have honest money, and would have if Uncle Sam should deal it out. Why is money called "capital'? It does Tiot produce increase or accomplish anything. It represents labor that accomplishes all things. Money does not add wealth to wealth any more than other 7neas2ircs. The measure does not add to the wheat, neither do weights add to coffee or tea. It is labor that makes money in- crease. iMoney. a commodity, absorbs seven- eights of surplus production. What would you think of a half bushel that. takes 7 bushels out of 8 for measuring the same? Our monetary system backed up by the laws of the land, and 66 Sherman's army to protect said laws, is the most bare-faced fraud ever perpetrated in civihzed society. In his "wealth of nations" Adam Smith, the great political economist says: "Labor it must always be remembered and not any par- ticular commodity or set of commodities is the real measure of the value of both silver and jrold and all other commodistes." On this point the Chicago Telegraph, Oct. 2, hits the nail on the head. "With labor the standard of value, and dollars simply the standard measurement of values, the people will little care whether the yard -stick ot measurement is paper, silver, or gold. In enlight- ened countries the object and use of money is not to represent the value intrinsically. but simply to effect the exchange of products. Whether the money be bread tickets, or barber tickets, greenbacks or blackbacks, silver or gold ; if the products are exchanged, the object is accom.- plished for which money is created. Wealth represents the vast accumulations of labor. So much labor produces so much gold, or so much wheat. Ship both to England, and the wheat and the gold are alike vveighed on a scale and purchased at a price fixed by the God ot the uni- verse, according to the l.iw of supply and Of mand.'' Untrammeled by this ariificc that reco^.'^nizes only the labor represented by so much gold, and ignores the labor represented by so mucn wheat, this grt-at law of sup>ply and demand, directed by the wisdom of Jehovah, would neither rob the poor man of his hire, nor the rich man of his wealth. 67 With a nation, according to the latest esti- mates, worth the labor requisite to produce in gold, seventy- five billion dollars, the proposition known as resumption now is to adjust our mon- etary system on a basis which recognizes the labor only which is necessary to produce, and dig out of the earth one hundred and fifty mil- lion dollars in gold. In other words, the pro- position is to give the gold digger only the royal privilege of coining the products of his labor into money — while the coal digger, the lead digger, the iron digger, and the potato digger are no more to be allowed to coin their labor into money. But the National Greenback- Labor Party, like a plumed knight, like a mailed warrior, springs to the rescue of laboi robbed of its divine prerogative of equal rights and equal laws, and says to the coal digger, the lead dig- ger, the iron digger, the potato digger, and all men who dig with muscle or brain from boun- teous nature the products of wealth. "Go, free- man as you are, brothers in the common family of humanity. Go, demand of the treasurer of your common country that he coin also the pro- ducts ot your labor, and print it upon paper and name it a greenback, and declare it a legal ten- der for the payment of all debts both public and private hereafter to be contracted, .^nd let this greenback, the joint obligation of all, with all. bearing no interest, taxing no industry, be the bond of our unity as a nation ; the symbol of gold labor, the coal labor, and hand labor, and brain labor, coined into money, attesting the death of that barbarism which hid in the earth its *'one" talent of gold and the life and the ac- 6S tuality of that Christianit\- of iaith in tlu; labor, the honest common patriotism ot all. which ren- ders "two other" and "five oth^er talents of plenty of happiness, of intellectual and material j)ro^Tess to the master — the Ciod and kee|)er ot us on the day of reckoning". And who doubts that freedom and greenbacks, inseparably con- nected andfast bound up in fortune and by fate with the destiny of our republic — that arose like incense of blessings fVom the alter ot our country, drenched wMth fratt^rnal blood and frat- ricidal gore — will, when righth' presented and properly guarded, secure to our nation from the King of the universe the grand applaudit : "Well done thou crood and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over few thmgs, I will maki^ thee ruler over many things." And the sails of vdiir (•(nijincrc'r Shall stiul evcrry sea, A?id the horn ot .My hoiuity Shall b« turned out on thee : While the steps of thy mansions Like those ot old Job. "Shall run down with butter" And feed the whold < I lobe ; While the wheel of thy industries Shallirandlv turn rountl. As tieeoiuid. 69 CLINTON COUNTY, IOWA. Our county officials inform us that two-thirds of the real estate in this county is mortgaged, and that chattel mortgages are being recorded fearfully by the farmers, to pay the interest. Now, let us candidl}' examine the state of affairs in our county. The assessed value (i). ol the real estate in Clinton county is $6,145,442. Tliis amount would make the real or supposed value $18,436,326. Two- thirds of this amount, $12,- 290,884, is covered b)' mortgage. The exact amount we cannot give, but will approximate with a margin against us. It is believed that in very many instances the property is mort- gaged for one-half or two- thirds of its value. But, suppose we assume that the average is one-third of its value ; this will give us ^$4,096,- 961. In seven years at 10 per cent., com- pound, it will amount to $8,193,922. In four- teen years, $16,387,844. In twenty-one years. $32,775,6^8^ and in forty-nine years it will amount to $524,41 1,138, when the assessed val- ue of the whole State of Iowa, real and per- sonal, in 1877, was only $404,000,000. No wonder the farmers grunt at ten percent., com- pound. The deplorable condition of the farm- ers in this, w^ill apply to every other county in the north-west. If contraction continues, which the money power demand, farmers will very soon be obliged to mortgage their household furniture and tools to pay the interest. Before the war, in 1859, the recorder of this county told us that about seven-eights of the farms in the county were mortgaged, and in all probability a majority would be obliged to give 70 up their farms. Fortunately for them, a civil war of tremendous proportions loomed up. Ne- cessity, as usual, forced the nation to expand — issue plenty of money based on the wealth of the nation. Our aoricultural and manuacturin;^^ interests took fresh courage, all hands were pro- ducing wealth. Remember, surplus production is wealth, not money. After the war, in r866. the recorder of this county told us that nearly all of the mortgages on farms had been paid. The farmers rightfully seemed lords of the coun- try, many of whom, being out of debt, and having toiled hard, began to expend money for some of the luxuries of Hie. The next thing we hear from the money power is " contraction, '"* which means death. We must get back to the ( old fraud) specie basis. We began to contract, and now^ what is the result ? During the war lOO pounds of pork brought $10. Now it takes three or four hun- dred pounds to bring the same amount. As usual contraction cheapens production and la- bor. This always injures the producer and ben- efits the money loaner. Those farmers who got out of debt of right began to improve their homes and secure some of the comforts of life. This required money, and they borrowed, b\ contraction; they find that after paying taxes, their help. etc.. they cannot sell their product- ions to pay the interest. Hence the piling on of chattel mortgages. The hard shells, who ad- vocate the gold and silver fraud, say that the farmers have been extravagant, that they have purchased costly farm machinery, pianos and organs, and have run in debt, and now cannot 71 |.a\- the interest. Gracious God! If there is an)one on earth who needs to make liome in- \ itinor it is the farmers. " All work and no play niakes Jack a dull 1)0\." The monotony of a farmer's life needs somethinor to make home cheerful. The money loaner. who never }3ro- duces a thin^- to benefit society, can live in his mansion, have pianos, organs, fast horses, and everything- his heart desireth. Why this great disparit)' between producers and non-produc- ers ? It is owing to contraction and high rates ot interest. Now nearly all farm products are ten percent lower than in i860. If contraction and the old monetary system shall continue, a majority in this country had better give up tlieir farms than contemplate living slaves. A monetarx- s)'stem that robs producers and sup- ports non-producers in luxury, is unjust and devilish. This system vvas introduced by the Prince of darkness, lor the good book says. *' Ever} man should eat, drink, and enjov the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God." If the larms rnortgageij in this county were to be sold tomorrow who could bu)' them ? The mon- e\- power. What would they give ? They would ])robably give less than their claim, to hold the labor of their victims, perhaps for life. He who borrows money of loaners under our pres- ent monetary -system, which is a necessity in order to do business, steps into a spider^s web, to be bled by feelingless spiders. Are the big spiders to blame for being smart and geting all laws in their favor ? We say No. The blame rests upon the producers themselves, who per- mitted the enactment of laws to oppress the 72 sons of toil. In two years, if the people do their duty at the ballot box. an equitable finan- cial system can be inau^rurated that will equal- ly distribute property. The following question should be discussed in every lyceum and around every hearth in our land : ''Resolved, That in- terest on money is the cause ot moer misery than any other evil on earth." ''FIAT" MONEY. What does ' Fiat " mean ? Webster defines it " let it be done ; a decree ; a command to do something." All money — gold, silver, paper or copper, is fiat. A decree by the nation makes money, whether paper or gold, fiat. The mon- ey monarchsof the world declare that the in- trinsic value of the gold fiat is the true money of nations. The people declare that the paper hat, based upon the credit of the nation, viz., the soil, orold. silver, and all other thino^s in- trinsic, is the honest money of the world. A war between Gog and Magog, the gold fiat vs., the People, or paper fiat, will become universal all over the civilized world. So far as answer- ing the real purpose of money, we declare the gold fiat a fraud. During the 406 years of pros- perity in Venice its paper money was fiat, for the government so decreed. During England's greatest prosperity, from 1707 to 1820, neces- sity required Parliament to declare that the paper fiat take the place of the defunct specie hat. Durine the French revolution in 1848, as usual In time ol trouble, the specie fiat gave out. The government took the matter in hand and decrer^d that the Bank of France issue an increased volume of paper fiat money, which kept up the industries of the nation. Both Eng- land and France suffered in their industries when they returned to the gold fiat. Flistory repeats : In 1870-71, when France was wofuU ]y defeated by Germany, the government was compelled to suspend the gold fiat, and rely on the true and national paper fiat. The increase of circulation was hundreds of millions of francs. To-day her finances are better than those of either Germany, England, or the United States. During our civil war the specie fiat could not be relied on ; but the o-overnment was forced to issue paper fiat, and with It we whipped the South and saved the Union, God bless the pa- peper fiat money ! We need It now, for our in- dustries are languishing. But it seems the fiat ot Wall street is strong^er than the fiat of Con- gress. The onward march of time will surely prove that the paper fiat will be omnipotent. OLD BEELZEBUB. It was not enough for the serpent to tempt Lady Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit, which justice required God's fiat : *Tn the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,'' But to increase mans' misery, Old Beelzebub whis- pered in the ear of the Jews, selfishness, (that Is the trouble in this world,) to rob labor of its 74 fruits, by collectinor the certificates of |)roduc- tion, and charo-ing- interest on an indespensable tool of toil. To make the grip more sure, offi- cials of the government were bribed to mak • interest legal. Old Beelzebub, prince of devils. beats the world. Producers, remember the bal- lot box, if you would enjoy your owm and be happy. HEARTS-GIZZARDS, The mone}' loaners of Clinton count) . Iowa, are o^entlemen. whom we seldom hear of overt acts, (beyond what is legal.) in crushing the producing power of the count)-, but this is an exception to tlie rule. There is no business on earth so admirabl)' calculated to transfer natur- al hearts for stoney gizzards, as the loaning of money. Wrong on the start accumulates wrong on the journe)'. Hence, mone)- loaners become brazen faced, and have no sympath) or inercy. The only question with them is : '^What can I make out of my fellow man by loaning him money ?'' The shaving of good paper, drawing the legal interest, especially mortgages, from ro. 20, 30, 40, and even 5o per cent., from the man whose necessities require money to trans- act business, is worse than highway robbery. No wonder so many of our business men fail, and become demoralized. These money loaners have no respect for any body, except those who have property, trom which they can suck blood. The "lame ducks," that were once somebody. 75 are now nit^re doi^s in the community. This vast army of "doj^s" will set up a howl, bye and bye. that will terrify Shy lock. He may wish he had never been born. The poor, ignorant boys, educated on the street, consequent upon the present state of affairs, covet glory in wip- ing out this bloated arristocracy. It is a necessity. We hope that it may be accomplished at the ballot box. and for this we shall labor. Remem- ber, moral means, not physical force. USURY THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. In brief, the historian informs us that the Jews vi'ere first to violate God's law in reference to usury. We mean the taking of money for the use of money. While they were forbidden to take usur)' from their own people, they did oc- casionally from strangers. The laws of the Saxon and Norman kings confiscated the prop- erty of those who took usury. Usury was then 'defined : "To lend money in the hope of gain.' This natural and Divine law was inforced un- til the reign of Henry the VIII, in i530. About this time certain wealthy Jews made England, especially London, their centre of operations. Subsequently John Calvin, the great scholar and reformer, who exerted an influence among the courts of kings, indorsed and accepted the idol of the Jews, viz., the taking of usury. Laws were passed allowing interest on money, and many of the Jews became immensely wealthy, especially the Rothschilds. Usage changed the 76 meaning- of the word usury. Now usury is defined as taking interest above the letral rates. Before this epoch, begorini^ and poverty were scarcely known in England. But since then the fluctuation of the money market by those who controlled it at various times the people have been forced to "eat sea weed and rob hog troughs," for subsistance. It's terrible and heart- rending to the producers of the wealth of Eng- land. Usury and high rents of land have made Ireland the great poor house of Europe. Blackstone's Comment, Book 2, page 458, says : " The school divines have branded the practice of taking interest as contrary- to divine law, both natural and revealed, and the canon law proscribes the taking of even the least in- crease, for the loan of money, as mortal sin." During the reign of Louis XIV, in France, many wealthy Jews and Calvinites went to Paris and set up the first "fifteen banks," in that city. They made friends with the King by loans of money to carry on successful wars. The nation was involved in debt. Taxes, tariffs and usury were unbearable. This departure from the good old paths required scheming in hope of being relieved of debts and interest ; hence the East India Company, the settlement at iVIada- gascar, and other enterprises, to effect usury abroad as well as at home. On the whole, usu- rers were not satisfied. Now the money power luled the civil, legislative and military, just as Wall Street rules in this country. The people robbed began to mourn and complain. A small cloud, as the mariner sometimes discovers on the smooth ocean, and as we now see in Ger- n iiiany. arose to fearful dimensions, it culminat- ed in the reion of terror. History repeats itself. Like causes produce like effects. We predict that usury will produce the reign of terror in Germany, the United States and England. — • The life of King William, a good man, and that of Bismarck, the great statesman, are in jeop- ardy. If the leaders are banished from Ger many and tht-y come to this countr)', the ball will he set in motion here. If so it will commence in New York and white-capped mountain waves will sweep over the nation trom Portland to the Golden. Gate. England, a conservative govern - nient, wil' be the last to suffer, for usury, or in- terest, is only from 3 to 4 per cent. As the $19,000,000,000 of indebtedness drawing inter- est in our county is all the producers can pos- sibly bear, and as the money power is only 3 per cent, to the whole, they own more property than the 97 per cent, of producers, it would be a stroke of wisdom if the usurers would now withdraw from dictation, for they have enough to support themselves and their children in lux- ury through life. They should not interfere with the people, who want plenty of "Fiat" pa- per money, with reasonable interest. If they continue to crowd the mourners, the}' must ac- cept the consequences. HOW TO GET BIG INTEREST. "He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and that w^hich he hath given, 78 will he pay him back again." — Prov. 19 — 17. This truth is proclaimed all through the Scrip- tures. So he who desires "big interest^' should never oppress, but help the poor, for the Lord will pay him at least 10 per cent, daily, com- pound, through all eternity. Will he, who by usury oppress the needy, receive any interest hereafter? This is not for us to judge, but fc^r the creator ot all things to determine. Remem- ber, he who acknowledges a common brother- hood, does all in his power to help and elevate the distressed, will be rewarded by the common Fathei of all. LOSSES BY BANK FAILURES. Report from the Secretury of Treasurjij. Feb. 11, 1841. The capital of 20 bauks failing- between 1780 and 1811. amounted to $3,000,000 From 1811 to 1830,195 banks failed with an aogregate caDital of. . $36,787,309 From 1830 to 1841. the capital of 150 banks broken or failed amounted to $45,000,000 Thirty banks failed in the Southern and Western States, with an auoTcoate of. $12,000,000 The whole number, 305. and their whole capital SiXi 3l>'.> liOsses by the community through the deprecia- tion of bank paper during the suspension of specie payment, from 1814 to 1817 $7.5iM».MOO Whole loss from 1814 to 1817 $22,5OO.()0(> Ac the suspension of 18.37. the whole circulation out, was about $150,000,000 The whole loss from 1837 to 1838 $44,000,000 79 At the .suspension in ISoli, limitfil to the coun- try South and West of New York, the circula- tion out in that part, was about $75,000,000 The whole loss from 1839 to 1841 $22,000,000 Loiiises Jty hanks icliich Juice fmled since 1789, computed on their capital., circulation, deposites, and halttnces owing. 1. The whole capital of broken banks since 1879, is estimated at $96,787,309 The probable 1- tss is computed at $43,393,65-4 In other eases, the loss is computed at .. $24,196,827 I'Siis would make the loss on capital $72,590,481 Loss on capital $72,590,481 Loss on circulation 1 8,147,620 Jioss on deposits, c^c 18.147,620 The whole loss by failures would then be $108,885,721 Aggregate fosses since 1879. to the people through the exis- tence of hanks and use of hank-paper. \ . Losses thrctugh banks that have failed since 1789, on their capital, circulation, and de~ deposits $108,885,721 2. Losses by depieciatiou on bank notes through suspension of specie payment 95,000,000 3. Loss by destruction of bank notes 7,121,332 4. Loss by counterfeit n(-tes 4,444,444 Summary. 1. Losses by bank failures $108,885,721 Losses by suspensions of specie payment by banks, and consequent depreciation of their .lotes 95,000,000 -'». Loses by destruction of bank notes by ac- cidents...' 7,121,332 4. Losses by counterfeit bank notes, beyond losses by ooin 4,444,444 5. Los.ses by fluctuations in bank currency aifecting- prices, extravagance in living, sac- rifices of property '. 150,000,000 Aggregate computed $365,451 ,497 o So '•It has been the practice, in nio.st \n\ns of the e(tU!itry. (o put banks into operation chiefl; upon the stock notes of* the proprietors. By reports of the LeL>ishiture of Massachusetts, in 1838, it appears that many of the hanks in that State, which are L>enerally as safe as any in the Union, have been put iiitu operation upon the naked promissory notes of the stockltoldtrs. v^'ith little actual capital, exce;>tin_u' that which has accumula- ted from tlie operations of the banks. These promissory iiotts are the principal basis of th'^ paper currency issued in the li)sf instance If confidence should happen to be buoyant for a succession of years, the interest on the currency paid in ad-- varc^, compounded as it always is at short periods, enables the >itock notes to be withdrawn without the applicatioi; (tf any capital whatever, by the oriuinal stockholders.' Levi Woodbury, Se<'ietaiv of the Treasiuv TollK' rresideiit of the Sennte >>f tlie I'liitcd States, Three hundred and sixty-five million.s, four hundred and fifty-one thousand, four hundred and ninety-seven dollars lost by the failures of specie paying banks from 1786 to 1841 — Si years. Poor, deluded Americans. After throw- ing off the British yoke, put on a more galling one. The loss has been greater from 1 842 to 1879 — ^J years— which will be shown when we get officialy the details. Hard money is the greatest fraud Satan has ever had the impu- dence to palm off on honest toil. Uncle Sam's Bank, based upon the production of 45,000.000 of people, will not fail. GREATEST TRICK OF SATAN. 'I'o secure a network of laws whereby drone bees take all the honey, and in case the work- ers need a little to sustain life, they must by rigid contract not only pledge reserved but fu- 8i ture labor to fulfill agreements, when by failure from sickness or otherwise, the drones take all. and turn industry out in the cold. This truth is Santan's masterpiece. KENO. A. B, C and D stake their money at keno. The banker, who holds the stakes, sets upon his cushiond chair and declares A. "keno." After taking- out lo per cent, he forks over the bal- ance to the winner. A, according to the rule, cannot sneak out, but must give the others a chance. If the crowd continue the play long- enough, the banker takes all in the pot. Inter- est in time takes all a man hath. The latter is legal ; the former illegal. CREDIT. Credit is a necessity. No man anticipates pay in advance for labor to be performed, there- fore he gives his employes credit. No school teacher presents his or her bill to treasurer of school district, before services are rendered. Our legislators do not demand pay from State or Nation for services in advance. They trust the State and ask pay when the work is done. Credit, therefore, is a national obligation. Too many abuse this credit, which is an injury to themselves and others. It should be remem- bered that all the wrong we commit in life is the abuse of what was intended for good, Human X2 law, allowincr money to increase exorbitant in- terest, taken out in advance, when it does not possess any accumulating power, is the greatest wrong ever inflicted upon our race. Our law makers will please look into this matter, and re- port to their constituants. UNITED STATES BONDS. The following comprises all the Treasury notes, legal tenders and other species of money issued bv the United States during the war, from 1 86 1 to i865 : TREASURY NOTES OF 1861. Description of money. Anit hitued. The act of March 2 1861,(12 Stat. 178) authorized the issue of $35,000,0(10 of Treas- ury notes, to be received in payment of all debts due the United States, including custom duties, and were redeemable any time within ten years. Amount issued .". $3.'),3H4.4.")<> DEMAND NOTES, The Act of July 17, 1861, (12 Stat. 259) au- thorized rljf- issue of S50^ooo,000 of Treasury noti's. not Ix-iiring interest, payable on demand. T!i(. Act of Fr}>. 12, 1862, increased the amount aurlniriz-'! 10.000.000 all of wliirh were made full lept! teiid.Ms by Act oF March. Amount issued ' $ij!>.(iii().i)!Kt SEVEN-THRTIES OF 1S61. The Act oJ July 17, 1861, (12 Stat. 250) au thorized a loan of ^250, 00(1,00(1. r.art of which was to be in Treasury notes, with interest at 7 and 3-1 }>er centum per annum. payabl<3 three years after date. Amount issued S140. 004.75(1 LEGAL TENDEli NOTES. The Act of February 25, 1862, (12 Stat. 345) authoriz<->d the issue of $150,000 ,000 United Stares tiotr's, not hearing interest, payable to bearer. These notes to be a legal tender, except tor inteniit on the public debt and duties on iui ports. Act of July 11, 1862, authorized an ad- ditional $15().OO(),()0() of these notes. Act of March o, 1S<;:5. (12 Stat. 710) an additional $ir).(MI(l. 01 this class of notes there were issued $915,420,0:^1 CERTFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS The Act of March 1 , 1 862, (12 Stat. 352 ) au- thorized the issue of certificates of indebtedness ' got up in the form of money ) to public creditors, who mii;ht elect to receive them to bear interest at the rate of per cent, per annum. The Act of >Iay 17, 1S62, (12 Stat. 870) authoriz- ing the issu<- of these certificate in payment of disbursing officer's checks. Interest and prin- cipal payitf)le in lawful money. Amount issued $501,753,241 FRACTIONAL CURRENCY. Total amount authorized $50,000,000 ONE YEAR NOTES. Act of March 3, 1803, (12 Stat. 710) author- ized the issue of $400,000,000 Treasury notes, with interest not to exceed G per cent., redeem- able in three years, principal and interest pay- able in greenbacks, and to be legal tender to the extent that greenbacks were. Amount issued $44,520,000 TWO YEAR NOTES. The Act of March 3, (12 Stat. 710) author- ized the issue of $100,000,000 Treasury notes iiiterest (i per cent., principal and interest paya- ble in greeiiback.s. after ten years, and to be legal ten,321 .200 FIVE- TWENTIES. Act (-f February 25, 1862,(12 Stat. 345 ) •.luthorizcd a loan of $500,000,000 for the pur - pose of funding the Treasury notes and floating debt of the United States, and the issue of bonds thwrefor, with interest at 6 per cent. These bonds were redeemable after five vears and 85 payable in twenty years from date. By Act of March 3, 1864, the amount of bond.s was in- creased by $1 1,000.000, and tlie Act of Jan. 28, 1805, by $4,000,000. Jnter^^iit payable in coin. Amount issued S51 4,771 .()00 TEN-FOKTIES OF 1864. The Act of March 3, 1863, (12 Stat. 709) authorized the issue of $!)00,000,000 bonds at not (\xceedintr 6 per cent, interest, redeemable after ten years, and payable not more than forty years from date. — principtd and interest in coin. Amount issued !$75.0()i> TENFOIITIES OF 1864. The Act of March 3, 1864, (13 Stat. 13) au- thorized the issue of $200,000,000 bonds, at not exceeding 6 per cent, per annum, redeemable after ten years and payable not more than forty years fnm date. Principal and interest pai/ahle in coin. Amount issned $ 1 04 ,567 .3( »0 FIVE-TWENTIES OF MARCH, 1864. The Act ot March 3, 1864. (13Stat. 13)au- thorized the issue of $200,000,000 bonds, at not exceedinu 6 per cent., payable afvcr five years. Amount issued $3,^82,500 FIVE-TWENTIES OF JUNE, 1864. The Act of June 30, 1864, (13 Stat. 217) au- thorized a loan of $400,000,000, and the issue therefor of bonds, redeemable not less than five nor more than thirty years (or forty, if deemed expedient) from date, with, interest in coin^ at not exceeding 6 per cent, per annum. PayaV)1e .^emi annually. Amountissued $125,561 ,30<) FIVE TWENTIES OF 1865. The Act of March 3. 1865. (13 Stat. 468) authorized the issue of ?600,000.000 bonds or Treasury notes. The bonds t(.' be for not less than $50, payable not more than forty years nor lass than five. Interest payabh in coin at 6 per cent, per annum or 7.30 per cent, if paid ia currency. Amount issued . $203,327,250 CONSOLS (5-20s) OF 1865. The Act of March 3, 1865, also authorized the issue of $600,000,000 bonds (or Treasury H6 notes ) ill addition to previous amounts, the bonds to be for not less than $50. payable in not less than five nor more than forty years. Interest (ft ^ per cent in coin or 7.80 in currency. Amount issued $332,!)98,950 CONSOLS OF 1867. The Act of .March 3, T8.*5, (13 Stat. 4(38) au- thorized the issue of $60(1,000,000 bonds, oi' Treasurynotes, in addition to amount previously authorized. The bond to be for not less than $50, payable from five to forty years, with in- terest at (3 per cent, if paid in coin, or 7.30 if in currency. Amount issued $370,016,050 CONSOLS or 1868. The Act of March 3, 1865, also authorized the issu<^. of $600,000,000 bonds or Treasury notes, in addition to amount already authorized. The b(uids to be for not less than $50 payable from five to forty years, interest semi annual, at 6 per cent, in coin or 7.30 in currency. An^mnt issued $42,539,350 The last three issues of consols were for the purpose of ab- sording- and funding the legal-tenders and greenbacks. They were the contraction bonds and used for that purpose. No Act under which their issued authorized their payment in coin, and even the interest was payable in currency by the addition of one and three-tenths per cent. FUNDED LOAN OF 1881. The Act of July 14, 1870, authorized the issue of $200,000,- 000 bonds at 5 per cent, interest, $300,000,000 at 4^ percent, and $1,000,000,000 at 4 per cent. Principal and interest payable in coin. The Act of January 20, 1871, increased the amount of 5 per cents to $500,000,000. The object of these bonds was to take the place of the 5.20's. which under the law, were not specifically payable in coin. About half of th3 5.20's have already been funded in these bonds, and the balance are being so funded as fast as the ex- change can be made. 87 EDUCATION. It appears to us that the essence of the Bi- ble is summed up in the following : "Love God with all thy heart, might, mind and strength, and love thy neighbor as thy self.'' If we love God we will admire his works and study his laws. Nature's laws are absolute. God never concedes, for he is always right. Human laws change ; are often repealed, and others substi- tuted, because man is falable. If we love our neio-hbor as our self, we will "do as we would be done by.'' Upon these two duties "hang the law^ and the prophets." To learn to do right is the chief or real education of life. As we have said before, "do right, for one with God is a majority.'' Question. — When money loaners foreclose on an unjust mortgage, though legal, and turn father, mother and little children out in the cold, is that doino- as we would be done by ? Our children should be taught that we were created to help each other ; that with hand and head they should produce equivalent to what they consume ; that if they would be hap- py they would try to make others happy ; that interest on money is the cause of most of the misery on earth, and that the improvement of every latent power, so as to secure a symetrical development, is a duty they owe to themselves and to society. In short, the education of our youth should be compulsory, and they should be restrained until orood habits become second nature. As no skunk on this globe will drink whisky, chew tobacco or swear, children should be restrained until they are of age. Last, but not least, that the human race were created for 88 a higher life, and to worship a just and omnip- otent God, instead of the golden calf of earth. An education that qualifies for eternal life, is all that is really intrinsic in this world. If there is no hereafter, this life is a farce, and a curse to a majority who labor, in consequence of de- vouring interest. Some new political party, like the former Abolitionists, should educate the people to throw off the galling yoke of the money despot. HOMES LOST. Is it true that 200,000 farmers In Nebraska, Kansas, Texas and Northern Iowa will lose their farms in consequence of mortgages and de- vouring interest ? If the virgin soil of this country could only keep clear of the Jews or shylock, what a prosperous and happy nation we would be. TERRIBLE. We are informed that loan and trust compan- ies in the East hold mortgages oil farms in half a dozen states in the Mississippi valley of over $300,000,000, drawmg 10 per cent., compound. Thirt)' millions of dollars per annum of the surplus production of said states are transferred from western farmers to the money princes of our land. It seems as if there Is a harmonious alliance between the money power of Wall Street, New York, and L( ndon, Great Britain, to rule the people of each country with a rod of iron. Our laws transfer I of the surplus pro- duction of the people into the hands of the feel- ingless few. 'There is danger of the producing power, now owning lands and homes by deeds of fee sifnjde. loosing all. It is a duty govern- ment owes to itself to control the finances of the nation ; to issue all th-e money needed for b sipicss purposes, loan the same at rates of in- t( rest in harmou) with labor, and the profits to 1 : placed to the credit of the people. There ould be a huv, tliat will not only make it crim- inal, but confiscate the property of any who deal in money, The right inheres to producers of wealth to control the same. ECONOMY. A. a capitalLst, owns a mansi.>n that B carries the ''tin pall" ; works 300 , cost f 10.000 ; furniture, f 3,000 ; piano; days at $1.50 per day, which earns for '82,000 ; oil painlings, *l,000 ; span of him :?4,".0 \}ev annum. He pays out for li<)rsr*s and carraige. §600. He ex- himself and family 7.5 cts. per day for pends $i, '"00 for food and clothiug an- food. '$2*2.5 per year ; house rent at aually. He goes to all the lectures, $8Ki per month, fioo ; clothing for self concerts aud to a few shows, which is and family, $100 ; churcli expenses, all right, because he pays for his en- SIS ; Taxes, $4 ; oysters once and one joynient^H. basket of peaches. $1.25 : occasional- ly Harper's Monthly, Frank Leslie and Ledger, $1. Toial. ,$449.2.'.. This IS the most favorable sid<' for the 'Tin rail." It will be seen that B, by not attending lec- tures, concerts or any shows, not ev^en subscrib- ed for a news paper, has saved 75 cents per an- nunn above necessary expenses. Now, if B^s daughter gets a fancy bonnet, or a cht^ap organ is brought into the house, the money loaner says B is extravagant, and that he should econ- 90 omize, for he has no riij;-ht to the luxuries of life, unless he can pay for them. How did A come by his property ? Ans. — He inherited it, or by "superior executive ability^' obtained it. Now. let us see. A never produced or earned a dol- lar in his life, to add to the nation's wealth. How did he !J;-et such a colossal fortune ? Ans. — By excessive rates of interest, or by specula- ting on the labors of others ; if in land the la- bor of the many made his land valuable. B is a producer, and adds to the wealth of the na- tion. A never produced any thing, but a few extravagant children, and reared some pointer pups. That B has no right to any of the lux- uries of life, unless he shall exercise the most rigid economy, don't read straight in my Bible, OUR MONEY SHOULD STAY AT HOME. Money, produced in the United States, should remain at home to aid those who pro- duced it. Any custom or law, whereby one nation can take the money of an other, injures that nation in the same proportion that it bene- fits itself. The money of this nation represents the property of this republic. Balances against us injure our circulating medium. 1 hus balan- ces in our favor help us. The true theory; is that each nation is entitled to the use of its own money for its own benefit. Therefore, a paper currency, based on the productive wealth of the natio 5. is better than gold or silver. The real currency, a paper medium of exchange. 91 should be such that It will not wander off, like the prodioal son, but sta)' at home for the use af the American family. This would not only be in harmony with natural law, but would aid American industry. The United States posses- es every facility for securing" subsistance, com- fort and happiness. If our wives and daugh- ters desire silk dresses, we have something bet- ter — cotton and woolen goods. Imported wines are a curse rather than a benefit. Coffee and tea can be cultivated here. If a wall could be built as high as heaven and as low as the cen- tre of the earth around our nation, provided al- ways that there be one double gate to let in the oppressed of other nations, who have been dis- tressed by the money power, having stationed at the gate a strong police force to stop every dollar going abroad for the necessities or luxur- ies we can produce at home. GUARDIAN FOR UNCLE SAM. While v^e are dependent upon our fellow man, owincr to the interlacino^ of human inter ests, man should mainly rely upon himself for the common necessaries of life. What is true of an individual is true of a community, bod)' politic, state or nation. Our government when in distress, needing money to preserve its life,: should rely upon itself, instead of advising through Belmont with the Rothschilds, who would dig up the bones of Christ, if upon the earth, and demand oold of the christians, or 9-^ even skin the devil for his hide and tallow. The Rothschilds when advised of our necessities, looked verv wise and said : " If the govern- ment will issue bonds, and not tax them, put them on the market we will furnish the ^rold." The bonds sold for about half their face, and will be redeemed for lOO cents on the dollar, with interest in gold. It does seem as if the Rothschilds and their allies aie bound to skin the people of the United States. Is Uncle Sam an idiot ? He certainly needs a cruardian. TAXES. Synopsis of the Iowa Tax Law. — Taxes become due on the first of Noveoiber, and delinquent on the first oi Febru- ary. On tlie first (»f March one per cent, interest is collected; first (;f April two per cent.; first of May three per cent.; first, of June five per cent.; first of July seven percent.; first of August nine per cent., first of September twelve per cent.; first of October fifteen par cent.; first of November eighteen per cent., and three per cent, per mf>nth thereafter. On tlie first Monday of October ofedchyear the lands are sold for taxes, when a further penalty of twenty per cent, attaches, and that with the principal, draws interest at the rate oi ten per ct. per annum on the first of March. After the sale the.purchaser has the right to pay subsequent taxes and collect the same penalty and interest as on the sale. This law by authority of the State of Iowa, oppresses the poor, whose homesteads are sold, and who would, if it were possible, pay prompt- ly these taxes. This would not be so calling if paid to the State instead of to usurers. If any man can show any state or nation that has a more usurious law this side of brimstone, please report. Our next legislature should re- form some of the errors upon our statutes. . . 93 "LAME DUCKS." Interest has made more human " lame ducks " than powder and shot ever did ot the feathered tribes. Our laws require producers by their labor to support non-producers ; to perform impossibilities, hence the litigation in all the courts. UNCLE SAM, BANKER. We have statistics showing that about six hundred million of dollars have been lost to the United States within the last hundred years by the tailing and swindling of specie paying and savings banks. The failure of business firms consequent upon the money derangement, viz., hard times, panics and revolutions have been double. The same course in the future will pro- duce the same result. The only cure for this terrible evil is to change the money power from the g^reedy few to the government. Money exerts almost an omnipotent power. The temp- tation to cheat, swindle and deceive is too great to be controlled by selfish non-producers. Its abuse is almost an absolute certainty. Those who make the money ( the representative of production) of the nation, the right inheres in them to control the same. As the prosperity and wealth of the nation depend upon labor, it is a duty the government owes itself to con- trol the money in a manner that will encour- age production, secure the necessities of lite to all who contribute to its weel, especially those 94 who toil to produce the fruits of earth. The g^overnment therefore should issue a currency based upon the soil, gold, silver, copper, lead and iron, ( the three last most useful,) and up on all other things intrinsic. This is a sound, natural basis furnished by nature tor a circu- lating medium. This basis would never fail if the people obey " By the sw^eat of thy brow shalt thou earn thy bread," unless God should send a famine, and in such an event the gov- ernment, holding the surplus earnings, could distribute to those in distress. Our plan would be something like this, subject -to amendment : Uncle, Sam banker; the property of the nation, capital stock ; the owners thereof, of course, stock-holders. Profits placed to the credit of the people in national, state and county treas- uries. As the average profit on labor is from one and a half to three per cent, Uncle Sam, desiring harmony between capital and labor, would not exceed 3 per cent interest on long time with good security. The government should issue about $5o per capita ; loan to States secured by State bonds at one per cent ; the State loan to counties at one and three fourths or two percent, and re- ceive count}' bonds ; the county loan to the peo- ple at two and a half, not to exceed three per cent. This would be equitable and secure harmony, sympathy and love between the peo- ple and government. Such a system as this would strike a death-blow to communism and socialism, a secret fire- collecting material for an explosion. Postmasters in business localities by giving good security would make good bankers; 9^ the safety and fidelity of the money order ar- rangement, prove it^ Uncle Sam's bank would never fail and all depositing in said bank v^oukl never lose a cent. To encourage the poor who wish to lav up their savings it may be policy to give one and a half or two per cent on time de- posits To.stimulate those who may have a sur plus of currency, especially the old man un- able to work or do business, the government should issue two per cent, bonds and take up the paper and re-loan the same. Profits of state and county paid into the national treasury to pay the expenses of the government, especially the interest on national bonds. Our views in detail may appear in another book. When a monetary system something like this shall have been adopted, all kinds of business will flourish, manufacturies will start up and be as prosper- ous as they were in England from 1799 to 1820, when the Bank of England suspended the fraud, specie payment, and issued paper freely. In ten years our shipping would surpass the world and our surplus production feed the globe. All of this, and[ more too, is in store for us if the government ( we mean the people, for they are the government ) shall adopt a just and equita- ble monetar)- system. In time of war many jjeople do not have confidence in paper money. Especially, then, it is important that the gov- ernment should have control of the gold and silver of the nation, for the benefit of producers, and those who risk their lives to save the State, instead of a selfish few who contrive all Avays to swindle both the government and the people. Even in times of peace this class control 96 the currency, to the injury of industrw Expan- sion is a natural law ; contraction is death. We should expand, and expand until we have a ship canal from Boston to the Golden Gate, with double locks over the Rocky mountains. WHAT'S THE MATTER ? While wheat, pork, beef, and nearly all com- modities have shrunk one-half to one-third ot their former value, and real estate, from which is derived all^ wealth, now defunct, to adjust themselves to specie resumption the curse oi traders and. farmers in distress failing every day, interest keeps up and mortgages do not shrink ? W*hy this great disparity ? Because legislation is for shylock — the dear people left out in the cold. That's what's the matter. DISINTERESTED BENEVOLENCE. Our nation furnishing credit of bonds and then paying national banks to use them, is disinter- ested benevolence, unprecedented. As usury by the few has created a debt of nineteen bil lions of dollars, the government ought now to loan its own capital and pay off this indebted- ness, for the producers of the wealth of the nation are discouraged. 97 CHRlST-USUPxY. Christ, the greatest philosopher philanthro- pist and teacher ever upon earth "overturned the tables of the money-changers." "But,'' sa)s the objector, "we find one or two passages in the Bible that outueigh all others upon usury, viz., Mathew xxv, 27: 'Thou oughtest, therefore, to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received rny own with usury.' " Commentators say "not usu- ry, for that is unlawful interest, and more than the mone)^ can produce." As money does not possess any accumulating power the word "usu- ry.'' as used by our Savior, cannot mean inter- est. Besides, up to the middle of the fifteenth century, both biblical and profane authors de- clare that usury was the taking of money for the use of money. In Luke xix, 22, we find : "Therefore, thou gavest not my money in bank, that at my com- ing I might have received my own with usury." The^ two are the only passages in the Bible, that we know^ of, that admit of a question. Usu- ers cling to these passages of scripture as law, gospel and physic. Benson says, in regard to the parable of tal- entS; that it was not customary'among the Jews at that time to .take usury or interest. The parable means the improvement of all gifts for our own benefit, the benefit of others and the glory of God. This is in harmony with the verses preceeding and succeeding Mat. xv,'^7.> The servant that had received two talents gained two more, and he who received five talents gained five. His Lord said : "Well 98 done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.'^ To improve our talents, genius and skill, as well as add to the "goods delivered to the servants, is sound political econ- omy. It will be lemembered tliat the Jews did not take usury from their own people, but at times were allowed to from strangers. Clark, in his comments on Exidus xx, 25, on usury, gives its origin, viz., "Neshceh — Hebrew — to bite, cut or pierce with the teeth ; biting. In Latin usury is called "Nachach," because it resembles the biting of the serpent, w^hich is so small as scarcely to be perceived at first, but the virus soon spreads and defuses itself till it reaches the vitals ; so usury is at first not per- ceived nor felt, but at length grows so much as by degrees to devour another's substance. That's it. Twenty millions of dry human hides are on the fence, and hundreds of green ones are coming ofif every day in the United J^tates, caused by interest or usury devouring anoth- er's substance. Webster^s Unabridged defines usury : "form- erly, interest or premium paid, or stipulation to be paid for the use of money ; (usury formerly dentjtt^d any legal interest. i)ut in this sense th'! word is no longer in use.) — Present usage : in- terest above the legal rates, or interest above the rate of interest established by law.'^ Apple- ton's Cyclopaedia, Vol. i5, page 863, defines usury : "Originally this word meant any taking of money tor the use of money, and he was a usurer, who in lending money'required in pay- ment an\' more than the amount which he lent. 99 This was once considered a great moral wrong, Vor many ages, however, the opinion, if it has not ceased to exist, has lost much of its practical or Uigal force, As the lender can op- press the borrower. Christian nations have fixed l)y law the rate of compensation for the use of money.'' Chamber's Encyclopaedia, Vol. 5, page 606, we find : "A strong prejudice against ex- acting interest existed in early times, arising from a mistaken view of some of the enact- ments of the Mosaic law. As late as the rei^^n of lulward VI there was a prohibitory act. for the alleged reason that charging of interest was a vice most odious and detestable, and contrary to the will of (iod. Calvin, the famous reform- er, was one o! the; first to expose the error and impolicy of this vice." In Scotland an\' charge tor interest was pro- hibited before the reformation. We declare positively and absolutely that usury in the Bi- ble from Genesis to Revelations means the tak ing of money for the use of money. As it is a measure of values, no charge should be made, any more than for the use of other meas- ures. But selfish men have taken God's wis- dom at a discount. They have discounted and discounted the paper of producers until there is not much left to disconnt. We give Martin Luther's views, condensed, who in 1540 wrote a pamphlet admonishing ministers not to take or favor the taking of in- terest for use of money ; that the selfish inter- ests of the Jews, capitalists and rulers of gov* ernments were in opposion to the teachings of the Bible ; that the taking of interest was usu- lOO ry, condemned from the first to the last page in the Holy Scriptures ; that if allowed it would build up partition walls in society ; that a selfish arristocracy would live upon the earnings of in- dustry ; that if Christians should imbibe this worldly spirit, the church would lose its hold on the masses, and consequently fail to accomplish the work commenced by the Master ; that Christianity would lose its prestige and become a part and parcel of the world ; that the church wall be governed by the wealthy, who will pay tithes with other people's money, extravagant and worldly, to the injury of the poor, whom we always have among us ; that law allowing interest is legal robbery, which has and will ever create antagonism in God's beautiful world. Here we give the exact words ot this thunder and lightning reformer : "Who will help us now, when shame has got to be honored and crime a virtue. When you let money and take more in return it is usury, and is cursed by the rites. The capitalists say 'everybody takes interest, therefore I can.' The world is cursed and damned for it, and if you adhere to the. same you will suffer in Hell with her. You don't ben- efit your neighbor by lending him money and taking interest. You injure him as you would by stealing from him.'' Martin Luther's views on this subject ought to be studied carefully by every preacher on this globe. Calvin opposed Luther on this question. Lu- ther contended that mone\' taken for the use of money was usury, and forbidden in tie word of God. Calvin, Luther's superior as a scholar, argued the cjuestion scholarly and with great lOI power ; that money is a commodity, and that a man has a right to use his own, as to him seemeth good. Luther clearly showed that money should not be a commodity ; that its functions were to measure values, and for a me- dium of exchange, and that no man has a right to use his own to the injury ot others. Calvin's views took with usurers and the money power, which in Scotland, Switzerland and France built up strong and popular churches for him. By means of the money power, Calvin followed the mighty Luther. At this juncture of affairs the scale team was turned in favor of taking inter- est, which has grown with the growth and strengthened with the strength of the Christian Church. To-day the protestant church, except one branch of Lutherans, in this country, recog- nises the right to take interest, and has perliaps more sharpers, in proportion, in the church than out of it. This is the reason why the church has lost its prestige. Christ labored to bene- fit the people in temporal as well as spiritual things. A Baptist missionary in India, by his labor in the famine lately, baptised ten thou- sand people. If the christian church imitate the Master, in "faith and works," its influence would be ten times greater upon our globe this very hour. Now, the masses do not find a home in the church. They are prejudiced and lean toward infidelity, and their children are being educated to favor "free'' Sabbaths. If the church should work for the temporal, as well as spiritual interest of the people, infidelity would be shorn of its power. I02 The world has too many in the church Hke the deaco 1 in Iowa, w,io said he "could not see how a christian could take more than 32 per cent, for use of money in hard times." We are informed that not more than 1,000 miles from Ripon. Wis., not long- ago, an influ- ential Presbyterian deacon loaned money. A widow lady desired to take up a mortgage on her house and lot, and asked the deacon to lend her the money. The deacon said he would, provided she would give him 25 per cent., the rates which he was then getting^. The widow said that to pay over 10 per cent, would distress her. The deacon replied, "suppose we pray over it, and perhaps your eyes will be opened." They both knelt down, and the deacon prayed earnestly. The widow consented to pay the 2 5 per cent. At Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1840, a responsible citizen, being hard up, called upon a capitalist to borrow $200 for three months. The money loaner said that the times were so awful hard he could not accommodate, unless he had big inter- est. The borrower offered to pay at the end of 3 months just what per cent, the capitalist should think best to take. By this pledge of honor he got the money. At the end of the 3 months, the borrower layed down $400, and told the lender to take all he thought best. The capitalist took $300. At night he told his wife that he had made $100 off his neighbor, and could have made $100 more. She reproved her husband for not taking it. He replied : "Don't you suppose I have the conscience of a christian ? " The truth is, the church has become too 'worldly. A majority of the people have little or no confidence in church members. The strength and weio^ht of John Calvin, in favor of usury has built up an arristocracy, at the expense of industry. The Presbyterian church, w^hich is doing a noble work in this world, is not to blame for a mistake of its founder. The money power of the world could well af- ford to resurect the bones of John Calvin, put the same into a gold coffin and deposit them in Westminster Abby or some other popular place. But there is one difficulty in the way, and that is that his bones in a crold coffin would not be any more safe than A. T. Stewart's. In a usur- ious country locks, bars and bolts could not pro- tect them. Truly, "the love of money is the root of all evil." IRISH CONSTRUCTION. Pat says to Sullivan, "what does 5-20, 7-30 and 10-40 bonds mean ? " Sullivan says, "I know all about it — 5-20 means to get up at 5:20 in the morning, and work until 7:30 in the evening, so that the banker can lay in bed until 10:40." JUSTICE. Bunyon, one of the best men that ever lived, who brought our 10 different characters in his allegory ol the pilgrim, was put in Bedford ro4 street jail for i 2 years because the laws forbade his preaching the gospel until he stepped in that divine calling "through the right door." Thousands of our race struoralino- to live and support their families, have been sent to state prisons, because the laws favor the money pow- er. History will bring out facts that will make future generations shudder. MONEY. If the orovernment has the rio^ht to create money, why don't it pay its debts, instead of saddling a terrible burden upon the people ? THE RAG BABY. Whenever there is an "over production" why is it that very many laborers are ragged and half starved ? Because there is a scarcity of "rag babies." One of the sons of toil said to me : "A few years ago when a 300 pound hog brought ^25. I had the mone)' and bought one. Now when 300 pounds of pork can be bought for $8, I have not got money enough tu bu)- a chicken." Who ever knew a dull market when there were plenty of "rag babies? ■' Dur- ing the 400 years of prosperity of Venice, in which no panics or revolutions occured, the "rag babies"* were $80 per capata. During England's greatest prosperity, from 1799 to 1820, the gold fraud gave out, as it now shows its weakness in io5 Glasgow and many parts of Great Britain, Par- liament ordered plenty of "rag babies." She prospered more during that 21 years, than any half century before or since. In France the gold fraud "busted^' several times, and every time the "rag baby" kept up the industries of the nation. As usual when the United States was in trouble, gold and silver sneaked off to the vaults of the usurers. The government was forced to bring forward the "rag baby" to pay soldiers, and by it we whipped Jeff. Davis and saved the nation. God bless the "rag ba- by,'^ for people everywhere prefer it to gold or silver. ROTHSCHILDS-RED SHIELD. At F'rankford, Germany, in 1743, there was a Jew named Meyer Anslem. He died, leaving a son, who was bound to become rich. This son packed up his duds and tramped to Hano- ver, where he engaged as clerk in the office of a money broker. He saved every cent over and above bare subsistance, got married, set up on a small scale in the money broker business, bought up old coin, shaved notes and dealt in jewelry, under the sign of "Red Shield," from which was derived his name, "Rothschild.'' He seemed to have embodied the spirit of the sev- en Herods and those Jews who sold Christ very cheap, and hence was a success in getting mon- ey. During the wars of that age he seized up- on every opportunity to make a fortune by the misfortunes of others, for he was a lew. No- io6 bles, Princes and officials of crovernment heavi- ly mortgaged their property, at ruinous usury. to obtain a little money. In a tew years he made eight millions of dollars, and died. His will required his five sons to keep together, go Into the banking business, take mortgages, deal in government stocks, or anything to make money, provided always they got good-security. His sons at the bedside of the dying father, took an oath before a magistrate, that they would carry out the provisions of the will. They do so to the very letter. Each son labored with all his ability in the department of business to which he was best adapted. Nathan, the sharp- est, was to "drive" the bargains, another to keep the books, the third to examine securities. &c. In 1798 they set up a "shaving'* shop in Manchester, England, and made millions of dol- lars. In 1803 they went to London, to specu- late in government stocks. In the wars with Napoleon England's exchequer was often emp- ty. The Rothschilds, at a very great discount, often bought exchequer bills, turned them over to the government at par, by furnishing money. One of these Jews was on every battle field, and reported by carrier pigion to their house in London, to take advantage on change. They won "on every heat.'' They gambled with half a dozen aces in hand. This deception and rob- bery, sharpers call great executive ability in fin- anciering. At Waterloo, Nathan went upon the heights to watch developments. In the afternoon of June i8th, 181 5, he saw that the combined armies of Blucher and Wellington were too powerful for the F'rench, and that r07 Waterloo was won for EniJ^land. Nathan, who had no thought for the killed and wounded, widows or orphans, mounted the swiftest steeds, stationed for his benefit, and flew to the En^ lish channel. The wind blew a gale, and the waves swelled to ''mountains hioh." No cross- ing ! He offered $400 to a skifTman to take him across, x^t a great risk of his life, he land- ed on the shore of Dover, thence, without food or rest run down several horses for London, declaring all the way that Waterloo was lost to England. Stocks fell to ruinous prices and their agents bought all they could oi those shak ing in their boots. In 24 hours news came that England had won the battle oi Waterloo- The Rothschilds made in one day five millions of dollars. Those who think Satan can beat that, have a higher opinion of him than we do. This firm will be likely to get up a corner in the re- gions of brimstone. During our civil war the Rothschilds sent over Belmont to advise our government in finances. Our nation obeyed. The Rothschilds, it is said, hold over, one hun- dred millions of our bonds, purchased at about half their face. Good Lord, deliver us! ROMAN CHURCH. It is a cardinal doctrine of the Roman Church not to take usury or interest. If it should now bring "usury" to the front, it would take the world, by being in sympathy with labor. INDEX Banks '. 30 .Chicago Rebuilt 47 Credit 82 Clinton (-ounty 69 Christ— Usury 97 Devouring Capacity of In- terest 21 Disinterested Benevolence 96 Economy 89 Education 87 Fiat Money 72 Gold as a Basis a Fraud.. 58 Greatest Trick of Satan. 80 Guard'an for Uncle Sam. 91 How Interest Accumu- lates 44 How to Kill >!atan 56 Hearts -Gizzards 74 How to Get Big Interest 77 Homes Lost 88 Interest a Hard Master. . 14 Indebtedness of United States 48 Interest, Death to our Re- public 56 Irish Construction 103 Justice . . ...103 Keno 81 Lite an ^Irresistable Con- flict 57 Lame Ducks *. 93 Losses by Bank Failures. 78 Mortgages on Churches. . 51 Money 104 No Interest on Money 5 Nature's Law " ... 9 M ever give a Mortgage..' 16 Old Beelzebub 73 Onr Money Should Stay at Home 90 Pavintr Interest 16 Raa: Baby 104 Railroads no Monopoly. . 45 Roman Church 107 Rothschilds— Red Shield. 105 Sinners 21 Siucide ; . . . 49 Solid Men 50 Tin Pail Noblemen 8 The Moitgage 19 The Fat Ox 19 The ^'Lillies" 55 Tinkering the Finances. . 55 Terrible 88 Taxes 92 Unfortunate Farmers 15 Usury the Root of all Evil 75 United States Bonds 82 Uncle Sam, Banker . . 93 Wall Street il Warning to Strikers. . 51 What's the Matter 96 ERRATA. Page 55-"Li'lies," nearly all wrong. Pao-e58. 6th line— '-honst^'' should be ''hour. ' !'age58— "substance'^ shoul(l be ''subsistence." Page 6o. 8th line— "of" should be "or"* ; in 10th lint should be 'nunpy." ., Page 63. 16th line— "1880" should I e "1840. Pao-e 101, 11th line— -iollowe.!-' should be "floored. 'life" k NO INTEREST FOR MONEY, EXCEPT TO THE GOVERNMENT ; UNCLE SAM, banker: thp: wkalth of the country, including soil, minerals and the productions, the cwpital stock. PROFITS PLACED to the CREDIT of the PEOPLE AFTER PAVINC; COVERXMENT EXPENSES. SHYLOCK AND HIS MONK\ OAST OlT : FOK THE PEOPI.E CAN HAVE nE'lTEPi MONEY. MOUl': OE IT. AND A BANK THAT WILL NOT 15KEAK : ALL DEPOSITS SAFE: NO •'HAKD TIMES" NOlf KEVOLFTIONS. BY VV. H. GIBBS, LYONS, IOWA. LYONS, IOWA: J. C. Hopkins. Pkinter, Advertiser Office. 18 7 9. New Monetary SystExM, by Edward Kellogg is a sound work on Political Economy. The Money Question, by. Wm. A. Berkey, Grand Rapids, Mich., ought to be in the hands of every thinker. The Irish World, New York, a newspaper that is really American, and ought to be in every family of the producers of wealth. The author of this pamphlet intends to pub- lish a book on Political Econom) . founded on the natural rights of man as plain and simple as Webster's Elementarv Spelling Book. He will address clubs on a New Monetary System, the great question of the hour. Ad- dress W. H. GiBRs, Lyons, Iowa. i Single copy, postage paid, sent to any ad dress, for 5o cents. Liberal discount to book agents. 9' v_^ a: \' 013 730 362 0#