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Library 1991.Trials and TriuniDh
OF
I I î( )I\\
THE TEXT BOOK
The Labor Exchange.
By G. B. De BERNARDI.
» \ i
V.\L
PITBLISHED B Y
THE LABOR EXCHANGE ASSOCIATION,
Independence, Mo.
PROPERTY OF LIBRARY
NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL
industrial akd mm RELATIONS
CORNELL UNJVERSIÎYCopyright 1894
BY
G. B. DeBERNARDl.
Ail Rights Reserved.//7/V?(FRONT) RAI.ANOE OHECKQUARTER
uaïuvno
(BACK) BALANCE CHECK.APOLOGY.
Before the reader undertakes the task of perusing this
book, we desire to beg his or her indulgence for its many
shortcomings, but especially for the wearisome répé-
titions to be found therein.
We believe that we hâve discovered a truth of im-
portance to the welfare of mankind. Now the problem
before us is, how tô impart this truth to our fellow
beings, who are sufïering in body and mind for want
of it.
We had been taught from infancy by parents and
teachers not to bow down to stocks and stones. Yet
the same parents and teachers were simultaneously, and
as earnestly, impressing upon our tender heart and bud-
ding intellect the worship of gold and silver, to whose
invisible and indescribable power they, with the public
in general, erroneously attributed the matèrial pros-
perity of individuals and nations. At the dawning of
reason, our attention became riveted upon both the in-
consistency of the teachings, and the mysterious energy
believed to exist in those two stones; and early in life we
began an investigation of the subject, with the resuit to
be found in this book. We now desire to impart this
resuit to the world. In our attempts, however, to ex-
plain verbally the faets and principles herein discussed,
we found that while an argument would reach some in-
tellects, others would require the addition of illustra** 2	APOLOGY.
tions, and still others could be reached only by a varîety
of présentations. Our object is to be understood by
as many as possible; hence we prefer to subject our-
selves to the criticism of redundancy rather than of
brevity. The reader who becomes imbued with the
following truths will, we feel sure, realize their import-
ance, and grant us the privilège of reaching others by a
variety of methods.
We desire also to State that no reflection is herein in-
tended against legislators or government. We are aware
that human laws are not made, but grow; that, with but
few incidental exceptions of limited effçct and duration,
they are the crystallization of general thoughts, habits,
customs, opinions, and tendencies of a people, and that
these laws change with the intellectual social and moral
évolution of the same.
The présent monetary System of civilized nations,
which is the leading subject of this work, is the nat-
ural outcome of ancient methods of exchange, distorted
from their channels by the exactions of despotism, and
now by spéculation. Our metallic money originated
in the infancy of commerce, in periods of universal in-
security of life and property. In such periods, sur-
pluses of wealth, such as land, game, cattle, improve-
ments, and products of any kind, which in time of peace
could not be consumed, and in time of war could not
be carried away, hidden, and preserved for future use,
became, at the time and place, absolutely valueless.
Hence, the owner would be willing to give volumes of
such property for any, however small, portion of gold,
silver and other so-called precious stones, which, though
worthless for life’s comforts, are rare, durable, porta-
ble, and pleasing to the eye as ornaments. It is here,APOLOGY.
3
jU

in these conditions, that we must look for the value of
precious stones, and not in any of their inhérent natural
qualities. The value of gold and silver, and other
precious stones, we repeat, is due to the comparative
worthlessness of commodities, which, owing to the cir-
circumstances of the owner, are, for the time being, un-
available to him. No starving person would give a loaf
of bread for a mountain of gold. On the contrary, a
million loaves of bread, which cannot be used at theKJ^
time, or preserved for future use, will readily be giveiJ
for the smallest bit of gold or silver. Thus value,
about which so much is said and written, is a relative
term; and said relation is a condition of men, not of
objects. Without men there cannot be value in any
object; consequently, to find the value of anything, we
must look at the condition of men relative to that thing.
Thus the âges of social chaos and continuous wars,
making the tenure of property precarious and uncertain,
gave value to gold and silver. In the course of time,
and from that very fact, these metals naturally became
médiums of exchange. If they had been confined to
this function alone, the mountains of public bonds and
private indebtedness, which in our day are crushing the
life out of the industrial classes, would not hâve existed.
But they were not so confined. For some unaccountable
reason, the governments of the world, beginning some
twelve hundred years before the Christian era, elevated
these two metals to the throne of Legal Tender in pay-
ment of debts and taxes, and thus laid the foundation
for that human misery which has been the curse of the
race in ail countries and ail âges, and which to-day
threatens to drown our boasted civilization in blood.4
APOLOGY.
But a little discernment and observation will reveal
the fact that a medium of payments has a very different
function from that of a medium of exchange. A
medium of exchange is an innocent instrument inter-
vening to facilitate the interchange of commodities and
services, and the purchase and use of it is a voluntary
act on both sides. In the case of legal tender, on the
contrary, the purchase of the article is enforced upon
the debtor, with ail the rigor of the law, under pen-
alty of absolute ruin, and in âges past, of imprison-
ment and death itself. It matters not what the article
may be which a tyrannical government endows with
this royal prérogative—gold, silver,or paper—the debtor
class, always the most numerous and most industrious,
is placed at the mercy of the creditor class, and the
conséquences are seen in the millions of rumed men,
women and children the world over. No médiums of
exchange, as long as they are confined to such useful
function alone, hâve ever done any harm to humanity,
for they hâve ever consisted of natural articles, port-
able, durable, and divisible, to which common consent
came to attach a peculiar value. But a legal tender,
holding the key out of the prison of debt, is the émana-
tion of tyrants, and has reduced the happiness of mali-
kind more than ail the wars, diseases, failures of crops,
and other general calamities, taken together. It is not
upon médiums of exchange, as it is generally claimed, but
upon the despotic throne of legal tender that the fabric
of finances has been erected, and is maintained; a fabric
altogether separate from any idea of commercial inter-
change, and having for its sole aim and object the ex-
ploitation of man by man, and the extraction of wealth
without producing it, and without exchanging it. WhatAPOLOGY.
5
care the money-lender, the banker, the modem financier
about production or exchange? Their concern is to
collect the legal tender, corner it, if ail the world is
thrôwn out of employment, .and to cast their mortgagé
net upon the waters of industry only when they see a
fair chance for a haul.
But, as this monetary System had one common ori-
gin, and has foliowed the same line of development in
ail countries, and under ail forms of religious and polit-
ical institutions, it is présumable, at least, that it has
been in analogy with the developînent of man himself,
and the advance of civilization, and that no person,
class, or nation, no form of religion or govemment,
should be held responsible for the fact or its consé-
quences.
What we contend for in the following pages is, that
the System itself should be subiected to such an overL
hauling as will divest it of its oppressive features, and
that it be reconstructed upon such plans as will make it
subserve the general welfare.
What we assert herein is that the precious stones (?)
of our ancestors are no longer necessary or useful to
modem financiering, but are, on the contrary, positive
and detrimental obstructions in the patb of modem in-
dustrial progress.
What we endeavor in this book to establish is a moner
tary System in perfect analogy with the mental, moral,
y social, and material requirements of our time.
Extrêmes touch each other; and, firmly impressed
that the présent monetary System has reached the
utmost limit of its power, where it is ready to weep
over the lack of more worlds to conquer; while the toil-
ing masses hâve, at the same time, reached the limitsAPOLOGY.
of poverty and dégradation, where “forbearance ceaies
to be a virtue,” we believe the approaching irrépres-
sible conflict is imminent, and the glorious reformation
àt hand. Hail its advent!
With good will to the workers in ail the avenues of
life (to whom we are indebted for ail the comforts and
pleasures we hâve enjoyed in the world, and whom we
seek, in part, to compensate, by helping to liberate'them
from poverty and bondage) and with malice to none,
we proceèd.OBJECT OF THE WORK.
Herein we propose to demonstrate the following
truths and possibilities:
ist. How a few glittering grains of useless metals,
found accidentally by savages among the sands of moun-
tain rivers, and used originally to gratify a low instinct
to ornament the body, havç ascended to a legal throne
whence they control human activity, and through it the
progress and prosperity of mankind.
2nd* That the power of money is not an intrinsic
attribute of the material of which money is made, but
that it rests upon an ancient and barbarous law, which
elevated two scarce metals to the pinnacle of legal
tender, thus giving to the owners of these two metals
the only key out of the prison of debt.
3rd. That the vast inequality of fortunes among
men, the hardships of the multitude to obtain a bare
living, and the wide-spread poverty and want in a world
•filled with abundance, are almost exclusively due to
this barbarous monetary System.
4th. That a rational, scientific, and équitable mone-
tary System should be a method of accounts, pure and
simple, and independent of any material which may be
used for the purpose. Money would then no longer
affect the relative value of exchangeable commodities
and services; it would no longer cause artificial fluctua-
tions of prices, and conséquent spéculations; it would
1
8
OBJECT OF THE WORK.
/
U
W:
K"'
S:V:
C"'
l;> ■
no longer breed monetary panics and financial disasters
by its insufïiciency, but instead would bring calm and
.equity in the stormy sea of commerce.
5th. That the Labor movement has been, ,and is yet,
in error as to the evil which is oppressing the produc-
ing classes in every land, and consequently in error as
to the remedy thereof. The questions of high or low
wages, high or low prices, child, convict, and foreign
labor, the eight-hour law, etc., are ail questions alien
to the problem at. hand. The question should be the
ABOLITION OF THE WAGE SYSTEM ALTOGETHER, and the
élévation of labor to a plane of ease and comfort to s
which it is entitled.	,
6th. That the workers in ail departments of activity
hâve it in their power, without any action of législation
or government, but by and through a proper System of
co-operative production, and mutual exehange, to lib-
erate themselves at once from the restrictions and ex-
actions imposed upon them by monopolies and the
money power.

ê 'PREFACE.
Two powers hâve, in ail âges of which we hâve any
record, controlled and robbed the hive of labor, viz:
Despotism and Money. The workers hâve ever been
the victims of conquest or of purchase., or the descend-
ants of conquered or purchased parents.
In ancient times, and times not very ancient, bands
of marauders, foliowing a chief, would invade a coun-
try, destroy opposing forces, (patriots who dared to dé-
fend their homes), commit the most atrocious outrages
on innocent women and children; after which they
would lift their murderous hands and blasphemous
voices to Heaven in thanksgiving for the blessings of
victory, and proceed to divide the land, the booty, and
the people among themselves without scruple or re-
morse. Part of the unfortunate people they would hold
as slaves, and part attach to the land as. appendages or
beasts of burden.
The conquerors would then constitute themselves
into an upper class of civil rulers and military chief-
tains, whose self-assumed right divinç {?) was to makç
the laws, govern, suppress insurrection within, and
resist invasion from without; in compensation for which
arduous (?) services they would claim the fat of the
land.
Under despotism the producing classes constituted
the mudsills of the social fabric, supporting the whole,
■" é
•j.
.1
r6
APOLOGY.
of poverty and dégradation, where “forbearance ceases
to be a virtue,” we believe the approaching irrépres-
sible conflict is imminent, and the glorious reformation
at hand. Hail its advent!
With good will to the workers in ail the avenues of
life (to whom we are indebted for ail the comforts and
pleasures we hâve enjoyed in the world, and whom we
seek, in part, to compensate, by helping to liberate them
from poverty and bondage) and with malice to none,
we proceed.PREFACE.
II -
When the conquered masses had been reduced to the
degree of submission above described, the social fabric
(the govemment) was considered established on a solid
foundation of law and order. It was now able to
suppress ail innovations and ideas of progress under
the horrifying epithets of heresy and rébellion, and
tô inscribe on its escutcheon and banner the motto,
“Esto perpétua,” which interpreted means, “We are
stuck forever. ”
Despotism in Europe reached its meridian of splen-
dor and glory under the reign of Louis XIV., king of
France. It received its death blow at the French Rév-
olution in 1789, and has ever since been on the décliné.
Its sun, with its baronial and titled appendages,v will
soon sink below the political horizon, there to remain
forever.
Side by side with despotism arose and grew the
money Power. This power had a different origin, ad-
vances on different lines, and opérâtes differently from
despotism. It does not invade a country, but invests
in it; it does not conquer, but acquire the same;
it does not govern, }>ut Controls the inhabitants; it
does not enslave, but hires the working classes. In
ail these évolutions the money power enjoys advant-
âges over despotism, and uses thèse advantages to bring
despotism itself under bondage and tribute. Instead
of exposing an army of men and its owü fortunes to
the périls of war, the money power launches, into the
field to be conquered, a few cubic inches, or feet of
white or yellow stuff in loans, and the victory is gained.
„ While an army would meet with résistance, the arrivai
of the precious (?) metals is hailed as a blessing. “Cap-
ital is coming into the country !” will be heralded by

12
PREFACE.
tire great dailies, and the people will read with joy.
While any citizen, who should aid and abet any foreign
army, would be shot as a traitor to his country, he who
negotiates the loan, who draws and harbors the metals,
is exalted as a benefactor; while one who should guide
the enemy forward in its invasion would lose his life as
a spy, the agent who locates the loans is rewarded for
his accommodation.
Again, the owner of slaves is burdened with the care
of them, and when one dies he replaces him only by
purchase. The capitalist, who hires, is not so burdened;
and if one of his workmen perishes, another is 'ready to
take his place free of cost. Slave owners in America,
when they had a dangerous work to do, hirèd a white
man, to save their negroes.
When firmly established in a country, or a part of it,
by public bonds and private mortgages, the money
power fears no insurrection or invasion, and has com-
mand of the government forces, free of charge, to exé-
cute its mandates, to enforce the collection of its reve-
nues, or the spoiliation and éviction of the inhabitants.
These are but part of the privilèges and advantages
which the money power enjoys over despotism.
The effect of both despotism and the money power
upon the people is alike. Both live by prey; both act
as incubus and vampires upon jndustry and commerce;
both divert production and distribution from their nat-
ural channels, and make them subserve their whims and
caprices. -The érection of costly palaces when thou-
sands hâve no homes; the manufacture of luxurious
équipages when thousands are destitute of the necessa-
ries of life; the holding of numerous persons in their
service when thousands are overwhelmed with toil, arePREFACE.
*3
ail instances of such diversion* Again, both retard
progress, mental and physical; both deprive the masses
of proper éducation, of homes and comforts, of a pol-
ished existence, and of that enjoyment of which they
are the creators.
But look at these two artificial powers, créatures of
brutal force and human laws, from every standpoint we
may, money holds the supremaey. It sits on a throne
higher and safer than despotism, and, holds its subjects
in control, not by costly and dangerous standing armies
and navies, but by a cunningly devised System of block-
ade and siégé; by cap tu ring and holding, not man, but
the sources of life,s supplies and the means of inter-
communication. Thus it is enabled to exact tribute
under penalty of starvation.
Again, the money power is more uniform in its meth-
ods of operation; in fact, it hasbut one method ail over
the earth; thus it is more generally difïused and more
catholic in its doctrines and tenets. It has no jarring
forms of government, no wars abroad, no révolutions
within, and hence has been able to devote ail its talent,
ail its resources, to one single object—booty.
The money power will also be harder to suppress than
despotism, because its means of subjugation are milder,
and do not corne in direct contact with the resentful
feelings of its victims. A man captured or imposed
upon by physical force is ever ready to fight when op-
portunity ofïers. But when robbed of home and com-
forts, and reduced to servitude by the cunningly devised
System of loans, mortgages, and foreclosures, he at-
tributes his misfortune to his own voluntary act, or to
causes unforeseen and beyond his control. Thus no
feeling of resentment is awakened against the loaner,14
PREFACE.
nor against the System by which said loaner deprives
him of his property.
The ruler, the baron, the lord are fenced within an
imaginary citadel of privilèges, whose walls the peasant
and working classes seldom attempt to scale. In the
field of the money power the gates are open, and
everybody mày enter the arena and is free to aspire,
and does aspire, to reach a plane where he, too, may be
able to live in affluence on the sweat of his neighbor’s
brow. It is this fact thatr h as made of humanité an
arena of wild beasts in a struggle to devour one thé
others, and which has forced upon them the necessity
of strong Government, volumiiious and ever-chang-
ing laws, innumerable legal contests, hosts of lawyers,
judges and officialslo re-establish and maintain the peace
—a peace that is holding the working classes still, while
the money power is emptying their pockets, and sacking
the country.
Despotism is no longer to be feared. The habits of
the people will no longer permit its revival. But the
pressure of the money power is just beginning to be felt,
yet scarcely understood. The toiling masses squirm,
groan, and lament their losses, but are yet in the dark
as to whence the blow, and how to avert it. But the
climax is approaching.
We bëlieve that, as was despotism under Louis XIV.
in its zénith, so is the money power in our day. Here-
after it will be impossible to sürpass the multi-million-
aires, and financial monopolies of our time. They con-
trol governments and people: they absorb ail the ben-
efits of civilization. Such powers can rise no higher,
nor remain stationary. Hence, following the destinyPREFACE.	15
of ail things temporal, they, also, are doomed to dé-
cliné, and set to rise no more.
With the downfall of despotism and the money power
will end the struggle for existence. War and spécula-
tion, invasions and investments, conquests and acquisi-
tions will no longer build thrones and fortunes ou a
Golgotha of human misery.
A perspective view of human history présents the
fact that we are now traversing a déplorable and lugubri*
ous period. The social atmosphère is dense with ill fore-
bodings, full of contentions, upheavals of vast labor
organizations, capitaliste combinations, strikes and
boycotts on the one side, black-lists and shut-downs on
the other.
It appears that society is dividing into two camps and
forming for battle, and the government forces art al-
ready set in motion to maintain order. Meantime the
causes of this contention continue to intensif y; moun-
tains of wealth continue to accumulate on one side, and
appalling poverty, dégradation and suffering on the
other.
Such is the field within the range of our observation:
a night dark and dense. To the West of this social
night, ominous clouds of révolution are hovering, and
threatening to engulf the money power; to the East, in
the dim distance, we discern already the dawn. of
Labor’s Day. Yes, the setting of the Dark Ages of
industrial chaos, oppression, and plunder, and the rising
sun of industrial liberty and equity, are the evening
and the morning of the stormy period we are now tra-
versing. May God avert the clash of arms.	. ,
This humble production will point out these facts
succinctly, and direct the attention of the oppressed to
the only road which promises to lead them peacefully
out of poverty and glcom, into liberty and affluence.STRANGE.
How a few glittering grains of useless metals, found
accidentally by savages among the sands of mountain
rivers, and used originally to gratify a low instinct for
ornament, ascended to a legal throne, whence they
control human activity, and through it, the progress
and prosperity of mankind, is one of those social and
psychological problems which*philosophers hâve so far
neglected, but a problem too important to longer évadé
the crucible of modem universal investigation.
These are times when ail institutions, however sacred
or made venerable by âge, will be put to the severest
test, and the question “what are gold and silver?” or
“what is money itself, that men should bow down to or
be hampered by it?” will demand a more logical answer
than has hitherto been given by political economists
and financiers.
The attributes lavishly bestowed upon these so-called
“precious metals,” as “médiums of exchange,” “rep-
résentatives of wealth,” “measures of value,” “stand-
ards of value,” etc., will no longer cover their deform-
ities as the most gigantic “médiums of torture and
robbery,” the most prolific breeders of commercial
panics and financial disasters, and the grandest avenues
to modem slavery and dégradation.
Science is about clearing away the mists which hâve
befogged the essence of those metals for centuries, and
they will soon stand exposed, the mere créatures of
legal tyranny and mental aberration, bearing away theSTRANGE.
17
palm over the grossest, the most ludicrous and most ex-
acting imaginative productions *of ancient mythology
and modem greed. Tear away the legal mask from
these precioifs (?) stones, demonetize them, and they
will shrink back to the place assigned to them by
nature, and cease to hamper progress and torture the
human race.
Before we proceed, however, to demonstrate the
force of these two apparently harmless words, Legal
Tender, vested on gold, silver or paper, it may be ap-
propriaté to observe that the iniquitous decree, which
endowed them with such royal prérogative, to the exclu*?
sion of ail other products of labor, cornes to us as a wolf
in sheep’s clothes, as a devil wearing the livery of
Heaven. It cornes under the guise of a benefactor to
the debtor class, when, on the contrary, it places
that class entirely at the mercy of their creditors.
Legal Tender is the burden of their thoughts and energy
by day; the ghost which disturbs their rest at night;
and is the object of their solicitude at ail times. Favor-
able to thé debtor class indeed ! It is black irony to
even think of it. Who ever heard of a debtor sueing
his creditor to force him to accept the legal tender com-
modity? On the contrary, who has not witnessed hun*
dreds of times, if not experienced it himself, instances
of debtors who h ad made ail possible efforts to convert
other commodities and services into the legal tender
one, and, failing in this, had tendered these commod-
ities to the creditor at reduced value, only to seç them
refüsed and themselves pressed to ruin under the sherifPs
hammer.
What causes periodical seasons of general distress?
Is it lack of property, or lack Qf legal tender? Andi8
STRANGE.
what logical and moral reason can be given for doom-
ing millions of innocent, mostly industrious persons,
' to a life of misery because of the lack of a worthless
element (for, be it known, this prérogative of Legal
Tender has never been corfferred upon any article of
any benefit to the body or mind)?
We hâve kept awake at night, thinking of the trials
and tribulations, the sorrows, the privations of parents
under the burden of a mortgage, in a struggle to save
that spot sacred to every family—their home. How
day after day, month after month, and year âfter year
they pursued this legal tender fire-fly, followed tÿ.is
fleeting, floating, ever-receding, deceitful mirage in
vain, until finally, like millions had done before, they
fell exhausted by the wayside, forced by adverse fate
to submit to their galling doom, and went to swell |thç
hostof American Sovereigns (?) who hâve arisen to the*
rank of Russian serfs!
If ail the fiends in the lower régions had held a mid-
night council to devise means by which God's purpose
in creating man could be defeated or thwarted, a World
of plenty turned into a desert of want, and a paradise
of bliss converted into a vale of woe, they could scarce-
ly hâve hit a more effective scheme than Legal Tender
money. The demoniacal System (as it is styled) has
worked to perfection for âges, and has improved with,
the advance of civilization. Behold the mighty trap
' ever set and ready to devour, its jaws wide open, and
its tentacles outstretched in every direction.
Every product of labor, every article of merchan-
dise, every trick of a depraved conscience, are ail legal
highways to “lead Aies into the parlor of debt:” but
the moment a victim, is caught, the legality of ail theseSTRANGE.
19
highways ceases, these avenues ail close behind, and
no product of labor, no gift of the Creator, no skill or
genius of man can expiate for the sin of borrowing.
The very thing which led into debt is no longer avail-
able to lead out of it. The legal tender fire-fly alone
under heaven can light the pathway to liberty.
If we could gather ail the victims of legal tender
money, past and présent; if we could bring out the
daughters of Israël who had been bonded to money
lenders; ail the misérable wretches who hâve been quar-
tered by the spring of four horses, and their bodies
divided among creditors; ail those bled and knifed to
give Shylock his “p°uncl of flesh;” the thousands who
suffered in the dungeons of Europe (seventeen hundred
of them, at one time, in the Tower of London alone,
and, alas! in prisons of free (?) America also up to
1832, when imprisonment for debt was abolished), and
• add the millions who, in our day, are groaning under
the weight of the mortgage fiend,—if we could gather,
we say, this ghastly host in the valley of Jehoshaphat,
their wails would reach the vault of heaven, and the
réverbération théreof would drown the legal tender
abomination forever.
Woe to the ruler, woe to the legislator, woe to the
nation, woe to the church, woe to the capitalist, woe
to the wretched man or woman who, for any motive
whatever, shall resist the overthrow of so tyrannical an
institution, so stupendous a farce, a fraud of such mag-
nitude, such heartrending tragedy, when the people shall
awaken to a realization of the wrongs they hâve suffered
under the abomination. Blessed be the nation among
'the nations of the earth, who shall inaugurate the Cru-
sade against this nefarious reflection on the moral and
intellectual attributes of man.PART FIRST.
•LEGAL TENDER MONEY THE NEEDLE’S EYE
OF INDUSTRY.
AN ALLEGORY.
Legal Tender Monet is the Cru cible into which the products
of Labor are melted and bence run into the hands of speculators.
It is the most gigantic fraud that ever obtained complété posses-
sion of the human heart and intellect, and held man in bondage for
so many cènturies.
In the progress of human events, the Goddess of
Liberty, whom despotism had forced to take refuge
amidst the bleak mountains and narrow crags of Switz-
erland, took flight across the océan to Columbia, a new
land, which God, in his goodness, had reserved for her
development. Here she was, in due time, to proclaim
to the world, in thunder tones, that life, liberty and the
enjoyment of happiness are inaliénable gifts of the
Creator, and that the rights of government should be
derived from the governed.
The oppressed of ail nations would hear her voice,
and flock under the ægis of her standard. Then the
cheerful shout of the delivered, the din of industry,
and the song of the happy would écho and re-echo over
the land. God would bless these, his children, with a22
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
thousand blessings, and fill their homes with abundance
and joy. Finally they would become a great nation,
and none would dare to make them afraid.
Thus the prophet. The vérification followed. Pressed
by poverty and persécution, and filled with bright hopes,
family followed family across the océan, afar to the set-
ting of the sun, and there soon gathered a goodly
colony of farmers, mechanics, builders, merchants,
manufacturefs, teachers, preachers, physicians, and ail
auxiliary classes.
Appertaining as they mostly did, to the lowly of the
Old World (lowly, we say, in the possession of the
world’s goods, but strong in physical, mental, and moral
qualifies; able and determined to make the most of this
life, if only allowed to do so), they had brought with
them but few necessary effects: a scanty supply of
clothes and household furniture, a few tools and imple-
ments, some domestic animais, and some farm and gar-
den seed to start a New World with. And start it
they did.
The distance from the mother country, the absence
of other friends, the similarity of conditions and cir-
cumstances, the common wants and aspirations, the
necessity of mutual assistance, united them in the bonds
of consanguinity as one brotherhood. With one ac-
cord they set to felling trees; building houses; clearing
and fencing the forest; breaking the soil; planting
orchards; cultivating grains and vegetables; raising
fowls, flocks and herds; flax, cotton and wool; spinning
and weaving cloth; making clothes; and thus providing
generally for man and beast.
Among the immigrants there came over a restless
youth, naturally averse to ail manners of useful work,LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
23
but fond of hunting, of pranks, and of a good meal.
He lingered a few years among the settlers, ever prés-
ent at picnics, hunting, dancing, and dinner parties;
ever absent at log rolling, brush piling, house raising,
corn cutting and husking parties: often cheating a
friend out of a dog, gun and horse; a burden and
nuisance wherever présent. Finally he disappeared
westward, unwept and unlamented.
The colony grew apace in numbers, enlarged its area,
and added constantly to its stock of wealth. In a few
years the colonists had a surplus of the necessaries of
life, and were able to devote time to the comforts, con-
veniences, and récréations, as well as to advance the
cause of éducation. The unsightly log-cabins, school
houses, and churches were rapidly replaced by comfort-
able, commpdious, and élégant frame, brick and stone
buildings. Rude household furniture made way for
better polished and more convenient articles. Family
loomswere laid to rest, and wool, cotton and flax taken
to large factories, run by water power, and converted
into rich cloth. The dense forests were transformed into
an earthly paradise of green pastures, on which flocks
of bleating sheep, herds of cattle, and neighing horses
roamed, filling the air with domestic music. Broad
fields of yellow grain, and orchards loaded with lus-
cious fruits gladdened the heart of the husbandman.
Straight, graded, and graveled public roads from town
to town; everywhere attractive résidences, barns, parks,
long rows of shade trees were beginning to beautify the
landscape, while their bins, graneries, mills, and large
stores were filled to overflowing with grains and merchan-
dise, domestic and foreign. Pen could not paint the
prosperity and çnjoyments of this people. In pro-24	LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
portion to population, their wealth exceeded that of
any other people on earth.
FINANCE AS IT SHOULD BE.
Fortunately, they knew nothing of what we modems
call Legal Tender money, nor had they any use for it.
Their monetary System was very simple, inexpensive,
and most effective. Politically, they had established a
general government to attend to the affairs of the whole
colony, and to defend them against invasion or insur-
rection. This general government they supported by a
contribution from each, according to his or her means.
They had also established local governments to look
after such public affairs as did not concern other local-
ises in the colony. These local authorities, also, they
supported by a direct tax in the same manner as the
general government.
Both of these taxes were collected in kind, as fol-
io ws:	The general government had printed, annually,
on fine silk paper, a form of receipt, or voucher, divided
for convenience in dénominations from one average
day’s labor (which was their unit of value, and was
called D), down to one-half, one-quarter,one-tenth, and
- one hundredth part of a day; and upwards two,
five, ten, twenty, and one hundred days’ work, count-
ing decimally both ways. The governor would pay
these vouchers to officers, contractors, and for ail pur-
chases. These vouchers would circulate from hand to
hand in exchange among the colonists during the year.
At the end of the fiscal year, the governor would hâve
the year’s issue of vouchers summed up, the amount
divided among the tax-payers in proportion to the
means of each (which he had previously ascertained by
an assessment), and recall them for cancellation. TheLEGAL TENDER MONEY*	25
sole purpose of the recall of these vouchers was to
ascertain that each citizen had paid his or her portion
of tax. This ended ail the financial operations of the
civil government.
By such a System, the colonists were enabled to pay
their taxes with their several products and services, be-
cause they had a chance of selling to the officers, con-
tractors and manufacturers their products before the
tax was due. They also paid the exact amount neces-
sary to support the government, and no more. No
other parties were thus allowed to corne between the
governor and tax-payers, and speculate on the transac-
tion. If the governor needed any article from abroad, he
could easily obtain it from, or through, the merchants in
the colony, as they were exchanging surplus products in
the colony for foreign articles of every kind.
The local authorities collected the tax by local vouch-
ers in the same manner as was done by the general gov-
ernment.
There was no danger of either class of warrants de-
preciating, because, annually, every tax-payer was com-
pelled to provide himself with at least enough warrants
to settle his tax, and this requirement absorbed the
whole annual issue.
Another good feature of this System was, that tax col-
lectors did not need to give bond. The documents
they received were cancelled in the presence of the tax-
payers, and thus rendered yalueless.
Under such rational System, the governor and the
local authorities were never under the necessity of bor-
rowing money, goods, or services. Barbarous nations,
who hâve adopted an inverse monetary order, believing
that money goes in advance of industry and exchange,2Ô	LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
borrow money first, with which their governors prétend
to pay the people for what they get, then demand the
same money to be returned in taxes, with a surplus,
wherewith to reward the lender. Herein lies the trouble
of barbarians in money matters.
To enlarge further upon the colonial monetary Sys-
tem, it consisted of the following three circulating
médiums of accounts, but no legal tender commodity
of any kind. Ail commodities stood equal before the
law.
ist. Colonial Warrants, indicating the amount
that bearer had contributed to the support of the gen-
eral government.
2nd. Local Warrants, indicating the amount that
bearer had contributed to the support of the local
authorities, and public improvements.
3rd. Merchants’ Certifiâtes, or Money of the
Merchants, indicating the amount that bearer had in
deposit in the stores of the colony. These Merchants’
Certificates were good only for two years, and redeem-
able only in consumable wealth, which was the only
wealth deposited for exchange.
The Colonists did not believe in economizing on
food, clothes, éducation, luxuries, and wholesome enjoy-
ments, ail of which would perish or be lost if not used.
The stingy, the parsimonious, the miser, and the saving
man they considered the mc^t wasteful men, and almost
criminals, because, failing to consume the products of
others, they forced these others into idleness, ruin, and
often crime; for poverty leads to crime. Thus their
monetary System did not allow of hoarding money for
future use.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.	27
Public Warrants had to be returned annually in taxes,
hence were good only for one year, and, as we said,
Marchants’ Certificates had to be used wjthin two years.
Accordingly industry and commerce were always brisk.
The wisdom of such provisions against hoarding
money is best seen by witnessing a group of producers
of perishable commodities and services, a few of whom
refuse to purchase from others, but store away warrants
and certificates for future use. They thus let a quan-
tity of goods perish, then, in after time, bring forth
said money and bear away goods produced subsequent-
ly. Parsimony is a personal disease, and hoarding
money is a social sin.
The merchan%s in the colony had corne to a mutual
agreement to receive each other’s certificates, and, for
convenience and ease of identification, had issued a
uniform blank for these certificates. Thus, the Mer-
chants’ Certificates were good in ail parts of the colony.
Commerce with other countries was merely an inter-
change of commodities. The merchants had also estab-
lished cancellation offices (in our day called clearing
houses) for the settlement of balances between several
parties, and with foreign nations.
The most important point, probably, in this whole
monetary System, was that the colonists would never
bind themselves to pay balances due in commerce, or
debts to one another, at home or abroad, in «any one
spécial commodity, no matter what the commodity may
be (as thoughtless barbarians do), lest such commodity
should not be procurable at the time, or only at enor-
mous sacrifices.
Nothing entices a man so much fo speculate as when
he can get hold of an article which he knows before-
hand his neighbors are bound to hâve at any cost.28
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
The contracts of the colonists were ail solvable ïn so
many “units of value;” never spécifie. Nor did they
ask foreign debtors to so bind themselves, and for the
same reason. The only privilège between creditor and
. debtor was in favor of the creditor, and consisted in
giving him the option to select any article he desired
- from among his debtor’s possessions, at an équitable ap-
praisement. From this privilège were excepted only a
few arfîcles of immédiate necessity to thé debtor.
Again, the colonial unit of value, of one day’s labor,
seemed to be the best known and most stable from
among the units used by the varions people the colonists
were dealing with. Everybody seemed to understand
readily what an article, which required one day’s work
to produce or make, was worth; while no one could so
readily corne to the value of a quantity of gold, silver,
copper, wheat, rye, barley, or any other commodity, as
ail of these would vary according to supply and de-
mand. And as a unit is a denominator which is to dé-
termine the value of each numerator, if this unit is
itself variable according to supply and demand, the
whole fabric of values is based on a waiving point,
opening a wide field for spéculation on its variations.
Every time the material of the units is hoarded, or the
units themselves stored away, exported, or in any way
diminished or increased in quantity, the value of ail
other things fluctuâtes accordingly. This is a very
serious defect in a unit, which should be as fixed as the
Rock of Ages.
As it was, no one could speculate upon the unit of
the colony. An average day’s labor was always the
same quantity, and procured always the same amount
of a certain kind of wealth, because it could not changeLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
29
the amount of labor in any part of it. Thus, if a col-
onist were called upon to appraise a house, for instance,
he would tell with exactness the amount of labor invest-
ed in it, by his unit% True, its commercial value may
hâve been aifected, besides, by the law of supply and
demand, but the presence or absence of money would
not, and could not, hâve afïected it. On the contrary,
if a piece of métal had been used as a unit, first, it
would never hâve given them a statement of the labor
invested in the house; next, the abundance or scarcity
of the métal would hâve had the effect of lowering or
raising the value of the house in an opposite direction
to supply and demand. It will be seen that, in such a
case, ail would hâve be'en uncertainty.
A last, but not least, merit of the colonial System of
money, was its sufficiency for, and adequacy to, the
requirements of industry and commerce, without any
redundancy. The colonists could not hâve compre-
hended why a people should be distressed, and stop
work from lack of money: and the limiting by law the
material for warrants and merchants’ certificates, they
would hâve believed suicidai.
This monetary System worked smoothly to the full
satisfaction of ail classes for many years, without a per-
ceptible defect, except in one instance, which was at once
corrected by law. The instance was this: One year, at
tax-paying time, a number of colonists could not find
warrants enough to settle their tax with. Both the gen-
eral . and local warrants had become suddenly very
scarce, and high priced in other commodities, on ac-
count ôf the urgent demand to pay taxes. It was soon
discovered that wicked men had cornered them to real-
ize large profits. When complaint was made about the30
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
extravagant price demanded, these wicked men had the
boldness to assert that “the warrants were no higher
than they had ever been,” but that “the value of ail
goods had gone down.” They had borrowed the soph-
istry of barbarians, applicable to gold money, and tried
it on the colonial System. Here it revealed its false-
hood at once. Ail could tell the number of days on
each warrants face, and ail knew also the labor in each
article offered for them. Scarcity of warrants could
not hâve the effect here that scarcity of gold had among
barbarians.
The colonists had not been accustomed to such in-
fernal tricks, and as soon as they discovered this, their
wrath rose higher than the value of the warrants. They
remonstrated with the governor and local authorities, and
had the law so modified as to make merch4nts> certifi-
cates receivable for taxes, and, at the same time, enact-
ed a law that “ail warrants, not presented in payment
for taxes within two years from the date of their issue,
should be null and void. The warrant spéculation was
thus stamped out at the very beginning, and it never
made its appearance afterwards.
DISASTROUS EVENT.
The colony continued to prosper uninterruptedly for
many years, when late one afternoon, a ragged, fur-clad
hunter from the West made his appearance in one of its
towns. He proved to be the Adventurer, who, years
before, had disappeared with horse and dog. The citi-
zens gathered about him to learn his adventures and
talk over old times.
He narrated his many encounters with wild beasts
and wilder men; the many times he had suffered hunger,
thirst and cold; the sleepless nights he had passed inLEGAL TENDER ,MONEY.
31
trees and in caves watching for enemies. He described
the boundless prairies, the herds of buffalos, deer, and
antelope grazing over them; he entertained them with
the deceptive mirage, the mountains he had ascended,
whose tops were often hidden in the clouds, and some
capped with snow the year round. But when the in-
quiry turned to “what hehad done for himself, what he
had gathëred during his long absence to support and
shelter him in his old agë,”he could produce only a
skin purse of yellow sand, which he claimed to be as
valuable property as the accumulations of any of the
colonists. They could not comprehend his meaning.
They looked at him doubtingly. They examined the
sand carefully, then looked at him again: but he reiter-
ated his assertion, adding that in a country south of the
mountains he could purchase a farm equal to the best
in the colony, with one-half the contents of his treasure.
The colonists were amazed, but they could not be-
lieve his assertion. A farmer observed that he would
not part with one acre of his land for ten times the sand
in that bag. “What could he do with the staff?” he
queried. “How could he raise food for, and clothe
his family with it?” A blacksmith, also, examined the
sand, and, “upon my life,” he emphasized, “it is too
soft for any purpose.” As forgiving a farm or a housé
for it, they ail considered it a huge joke. The hunter
had always been inclined to jest when young, and the
habit had followed him to old âge, they said. Farm-
ers, blacksmiths, merchants, mechanics, and ail, con-
ceded that the hunter’s sand was a curiosity to behold,
but good for nothing else.
While they were yet listening to and reasoning with
the hunter, the Governor of the colony made his ap-32
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
pearance, and seemed to enjoy the stories of the Ad-
venturer. He had been in the habit of visiting ail
parts of the colony to famîliarize himself with the wants
and dangers of the people, and this was apparently his
object now.
He questioned the Adventurer as to the country he
had traveled through, the different tribes of savages
who roamed over it, their character, habits, manner of
living, their weapons, etc. He questioned him about the
roads, the rivers, the people across the mountains, and
dwelt especially upon the country south of the moun-
tains where the Adventurer had said that his sand was
so highly prized. He then examined the sand, and pro-
nounced it, as the colonists had done, worthless for any
purpose of life, but a curiosity to look at, and he repri-
manded the Adventurer in these words: “As you must
acknowledge, friend, you hâve wasted the most valu-
able part of your life in vain. The world will not be
better for your having lived in it. What would be the
condition of this colony had a majority of the people
done as you did? Here you are, approaching the âge
of inability to do any manner of work, and no provis-
ion hâve you made to meet it. What hâve you done
for others, that they should feed, clothe, shelter and
care for you in old âge? The stuff you hâve gath-
ered at the mountains, and which you prize so highly,
and hold to so tenaciously, has no visible utility
for man or beast; and if barbarians south of the moun-
tains were, as you say, willing to give valuable and use-
ful property for it, you, yourself, know that it was
merely the effect of mental delusion and superstition
on their part.”LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
33
ln this strain did the Governor continue for a time,
then, beckoning the Adventurer to follow him, he led
the way out of hearing of the colonists, under the shade
of a clump of trees, where, assuming a pleased counte-
nance and subdued tone (as the Adventurer himself
narrated in after years), “Friend,” said he, “I hâve
resolved to establish a new monetary System over my
colony, in which System your grains of gold will corne
into play. In fact, the project I hâve in contemplation
will virtually make you lord and master of the whole
colony, as time will show. But,” he added, with a
wink, “we must be partners in its benefits.”
“And what is the new monetary System?” inquired
the Adventurer, elated. “Keep cool, and listen,” re-
turned the Governor. Then he continued: “Having
left in the early days of the colony, you are not expect-
ed to be acquainted with the System established herein
since your departure. I, the ruler, hâve been in the
habit of drawing checks, on paper, upon the colonists
for whatever was necessary to support the government.
I hâve now decided to draw these same checks on gold.
To this effect, I shall hâve built a suitable factory where
you can bring your sand and hâve it smelted and worked
up into convenient pièces and stamped into checks.”
“But whose checks will theybe?” asked the Adventurer,
somewhat afraid that the proposed arrangement might
mean confiscation of his gold. “The checks will ail
be returned to you free of cost,” replied the Governor,
“and with them you will be able to draw taxes from
the people. ”	‘ T can but feel grateful for such bounty, ”
said the Adventurer, “but how will you and your offi-
ciais live if you give me the checks to draw the taxes
with?” “As well as before,” answered the Governor,”34
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
“except that, as ownér of the gold, you become the
fountain head of the financial System. I will order the
colonists to bring the checks to me, then hand them to
my officers, soldiers, contractors, and servants to pur-
chase commodities and services from the colonists, as
under the présent System of paper checks.”
“I see,” said the Adventurer, “by the new System,
you compel the colonists to be tributary to me for the
checks, then to you for the tax.”
The Governor acknowledged that such would be the
case, and that the Adventurer would hâve it in his
power to demand as high a tax as he chose by simply
raising the value of his gold checks. “But what will
the colonists say to such a monetary System?” again
asked the Adventurer. “It is not for my colonists to
object to any law I may pass,” replied the Governor
with positivity. “They are my subjects, and it is their
duty to obey.”
The sand was taken to the Governor’s mint, made up
into coins, and the coins returned to the Adventurer.
Then followed the within
# PROCLAMATION.
To Our Beloved Subjects, Greeting:
I.n virtue of the power in us vested, we hereby do
proclaim and command that henceforth the Adven-
turer’s sand, as coined by us, shall be the only legal
tender article in payment of taxes, debts, fines, pen-
alties, etc., and no other money shall circulate in the
exchange of commodities and services in the colony.
Let ail our subjects heed and obey, on penalty of
confiscation of their property, and imprisonment.
Given under our hand and seal.
The Governor.LEGAL TENDER MOJîEY.
35
This proclamation, short and terse, cast the whole of
that prosperous and happy people into consternation
and gloom. What a predicament! Every one felt that
he was at the mercy of the Adventurer, and knew that
he was not a merciful man.
Meetings were at once convened in ail parts of the
colony to protest, remonstrate, pétition, or devise means
of averting or overcoming the dire calamity hanging
over them. One of the pétitions, which may be taken
as a sample of ail others, ran thus:
To His Excellency, the Governor:
We, your humble subjects, are struck with dismay at
your Excellency’s last proclamation. We are at a loss
what to do. No gold has ever been found in the col-
ony. It is not a general product of the earth, and
hence unreliable for any purpose requiring certainty, as
is the case in a tax to support a government. The
Adventurer himself States that it is found only in rare
spots of the mountains. If such a spot were ever dis-
covered in the colony, it would benefit only the finder.
The rest of us would be at his mercy.
We ail feel this, your decree, puts us under the foot
of the Adventurer. Let Your Excellency hâve mercy
upon his people, who hâve ever been ’ devoted and
faithful to him.
Under the présent wise and équitable monetary Sys-
tem, the support of the government is scarcely felt, as
we are enabled to supply ail its needs directly with our
own several products to the officiais and contractors
who need them, and we are thus provided beforehand
with the checks to settle the tax. The proposed Sys-
tem compels us to produce the tax-checks before we
hâve them, and forces us to offer our products to the36
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
Adventurer who needs scarcely any, so that, if he should
purchase these goods, it would be only at reduced prices
and for the purpose of speculating on us and on you
and your officiais. Thus we are first placed at the
Adventurer’s mercy for the checks to pay the tax, then
you and your servants^re next placed at his mercy to
obtain the goods. What a harvest for him! What a
plight for us ail! How will it be possible to save our
property from confiscation under such grave circum-
stances? And as for doing away with the “money of
the merchants,” it is fearful to even think of it. ’ Such
money is equal in amount to ail the goods we hâve in
the stores for exchange and consumption. How will
we be able to perform our exchanges? We shall be
compelled to part with the goods to obtain gold, then
double our toil to produce an equal volume to inter-
change among ourselves. What a costly method of
doing business we are here forced into. Again, as pop-
ulation will naturally increase, and the volume of ex-
changes increase also with it, we shall, in the future, be
forced to produce double the amount of wealth neces-
sary to supply our wants, and continue to give away the
half to obtain money wherewith to interchange the re-
maining half. Alas, for us and our families! Ruin
stares us in the face and we see no escape from it!
Again we earnestly implore Your Excellency to hâve
pity on his subjects and repeal said ominous proclama-
tion.”
Remonstrances, however, nor pétitions had any effect.
Finding the Governor inexorable, the colonistspressed
in crowds to the Adventurer to purchase of him the
necessary coin; lest, if too late, the bag might be
exhausted and the toil of years, the accumulations of aLEGAL TENDER M0NEY.
37
life time, the most sacred spot on earth, a home, may
be lost in one hour.
They found the Adventurer stiff, supercilious and
haughty. He was well aware of his new position and
prepared to use the advantages he now held over the
colonists. He had no use for their products, he
said, and he refused to sell his coins; but he would
accommodate them with lo an s sufficierit to pay their
tax, on condition that they should return the loan be-
fore tax-paying time the following year with an addi-
tional sum of six per cent interest, and secure the pay-
aient of both principal and interest by a mortgage on
their homes. “But,” expostulated the people in their
consternation, “assuming that we succeed in obtain-
ing ail the coins from the Governor through the
purchases of his officers, where is the additional six
per cent interest to corne from? This is indeed a dire
calamity that the Governor has placed upon us, and so
needless. What was wrong that he should make this
change?” “These are my terms,” zeplied the Adven-
turer. “You may accept or reject them as y ou please.
We live in a free country where everyone is at liberty
to act according to his or her will. If you do not like
my offer, go to the mountains, as I hâve done, and
search for gold there. You will then find what it costs
to obtain it.”
With dejected countenances and hearts full of grief,
these hard terms had to be complied with. The gold
coins were torrowed, the mortgage given, and the taxes
paid. The Governor forthwith handed the coins to
officers, contractors and servants, who spent them with
the colonists for products and services to sustain life.
Immediately on receiving the gold each colonist rushed38
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
to the Adventuter to cancel his bond and release his
home. But “the debt is not due yet,” said the Ad-
venturer, “and I cannot accept payment unless you
pay both interest and principal.” This, of course, the
colonists could not do. It was an absolute impossibil-
ity. So they had to let the debt go to the end of the
year, when they found themselves in a worse predica-
ment. They ôwed now ail the gold they had borrowed
from the Adventurer, which, if not a particle was lost,.
they could pay; they owed the interest which they could
not pay; and they owed the matured year’s taxes in
gold again, and ail of these possibilities and impossibil-
ities they were expected to perform, by both the Adven-
turer and the Governor, under penalty of utter ruin.
God alone knew what the colonists were to do in the
dilemma. Some did succeed in extricating themselves
from the difficulty by cheating their neighbors out of a
portion of their coins wherewith they paid the interest
as well as the principal. These neighbors were in con-
séquence unable to pay even the principal and lost their
mortgaged property.
But to settle debts, interest and taxes was not ail the
trouble the colonists now labored under. The suppres-
sion of Merchants* Certificates heretofore used in ex-
changes had made the scarcity of money felt as detri-
mentally in the channels of trade. Merchants could
no longer purchase goods from producers, nor sell to
consumers except to the extent of the borrowed gold;
consequently commerce was cramped, goods were ac-
cumulating on farms,factories, and stores, whilenearly ail
needed food or clothes or comforts. The cry for gold
became loud and louder, and how to obtain it became
the probtem of problems in the colony. Finally facto-LEGAL TENDER MONEY.	39
ries began to shut down, close, and suffering became gen-
eral in ail the land. The Governor nor the Adventurer
could solve the industrial problem, for the amount of
gold fell far short of the requirements. Thus year
after year the distress increased; yet year after year
the same rotation of monetary loans, mortgages and
foreclosures; year after year discouragement and dés-
olation over the once happy land.
Space and time fail us to depict the sad story of this
doomed colony; how the Adventurer gradually revolu-
tionized the entire business System; how he hindered
progress; how he got possession, one by one, of farms,
stores, factories, mines, etc. Matters continued to go
from bad to worse; poverty and gloom took the place
of prosperity and joy.
In a few years the condition of affairs in the colony
was déplorable indeed. The Adventurer was installed
in U marble front building in the center of the town,
his gold fortified in iron safes behind iron bars, and he
had a palace for résidence. His business was dealing
out gold loans and receiving the same with an in-
crease, or real estate at one-third value. Very many
borrowers had now lost farm and home and were drag-
ging a life of toil as renters and wage-workers, held in
contempt by their neighbors who still held up under
the pressure. The homeless and destitute composed
already two-fifths of the population.
goldolatry.
It is sometimes to be deplored that man is instinct-
ively a worshiping being. Relative to his fellow beings
this instinct makes him humble, obedient, cowardly,
abject, low and servile. It deprives him of ail that is
lofty and noble. It destroys his self-dependence; his40
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
strength of character; weakens his reason and disfig-
ures his manhood. We cannot call a crouching slave
an image of God, without feeling that we are detract-
ing from the idea we should hâve of the Creator. But,
born helpless, man imbibes from infancy a tendency to
lean upon others for support and protection. In in-
fancy he leans upon mother, father and friends. As
he advances in âge, he extends his appeals to strangers
in higher stations of life, to idols, and finally to God.
Savages hâve a good spirit whom they implore, and
a bad spirit whom they try to appease by prayers, in-
cantations, songs, dances, and immolations. The child
of civilization, from infancy to manhood, passes through
three distinct stages of mental development—Faith,
doubt and reason. In infancy he places implicit con-
fidence in what he is told, and is inclined to endow
material objects with life. The watch and clock are to
him animate beings; the thunder is an angry God. This
is eminently the âge of feticism. Next cornes the
period of doubt, rof infidelity, which in mature years
gives way to reason.
The mental condition of the colonists, under the
baneful effect of that tyrannical legal tender decree, and
the losses they had sufïered, seemed to hâve been cast
back to the âge of feticism. The division of employ-
ments had rendered the interchange of products and
services absolutely necessary. Barter trade had be-
come impracticable, and, finding themselves suddenly
deprived of the use of public warrants and merchants*
certificates, wherewith to carry on exchanges and pay
taxes, they had become as helpless, apparently, as chil-
dren, and, like children, had fallen into a State of feti-
cism, which may properly be called goldolatry, forLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
41
they actually worshiped gold. During the colonial
monetary System, “finance as it should be,” they had
been comparatively free from debts, and, if in debt,
they could pay with the products of their own hands
at appraised value. No one had ever conceived the
idea of a time coming when farmers, mechanics, and
merchants, men of ail trades, professions and callings,
would be coiiipelled to pay debts and taxes in stamped
jewelry, so scarce that it could only be procured, if at
ail, at appalling sacrifices of property. And who could
hâve believed that logic would ever hâve been so rude-
ly dethroned as to give as a reason for so extraordinary
and cruel a departure from commonsense, that the ob-
ject was “to facilitate exchanges?” History does
not présent another act of législation so irrational, so
incongruous, so barbarous, so iniquitous, and so tyran-
nical.
The shock produced on the colonists by this mone-
tary révolution had completely overturned their under-
standing in regard to the essence of gold. Was gold a
9 good spirit, who could save them from ruin, or was it a
bad spirit, who had brought ruin upon the colonists?
What was gold? Books after books were published,
by learned men, to explain the mysterious properties of
gold. The glowing descriptions given of this métal had
raised it from the list of earthly productions into a sort
of messenger from Heaven. Ail classes vied with each
other in extolling this glorious minerai, and the colonial
literature was bespangled or besmeared in its praises.
At the same time the colonists, terror-stricken at the
aspect of ruin if gold could not he obtained, had fallen
into idolizing it, not only as a savior from financial dis-
aster, but also as a sort of sentient, and almost omnipo-42
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
tent entity, the soûl of industry and commerce, the
author of ail human achievements, and the foüntain
whence flowed ail earthly blessings and enjoyments.
One could no longer reason with them on the subject.
Ail arguments and illustrations adduced to demonstrate
the falsity of any energy being inhérent in gold, had no
effect whatever on their brains. From the most igno-
rant to the most learned; from the most depraved to
the most moral, ali lived alike under the awful delusion.
It was asserted that gold was, as it were, vested by the
Creator with an indescribable quality called value,
and St. Paul himself could not hâve wrested that creed
from them. To harken to gold eulogists, one would
almost hâve been persuaded to believe that ail the
blessings, nàtural and artificial, which man enjoys in
this world, were due to gold. The gifts of the Creator
and the work of man were accounted but as secondary
factors in those blessings. It was a common expres-
sion that gold was improving the colony, stocking and
cultivating the farms, opening mines, building and run-
ning factories, navigating rivers and océans; that gold
was erecting schools and colleges, rewarding teachers,
raising and educating the rising génération. It was
customary to lay by a lump of gold for food, clothes,
and shelter in old âge, and some rich ones bequeathed
a portion of it to build and support educational institu-
tions. Such was the faith that said métal could com-
mand the services of the benighted colonists, that they
relied on it as they did in the succession of days and
nights. The proof given to corroborate this faith was
the fact that, in the absence of gold, human exertions
would corne to a stand-still; that industry and commerceLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
43
would languish, schools close, production cease, and
men and women mope about in despondency and gloom.
It is doubtful to us whether any ancient people, in
the darkest days of superstition and idolatry, ever had
as strong a faith in their most sacred gods, or had vest-
ed these gods with so extensive a power, except, proba-
bly, the Devil, as the colonists did gold. In truth, the
worship of gold might properly hâve been cônsidered
the only religion in the colony, and, as long as it con-
tinued, it was folly to inculcate the spread of any other,
for the good book affirms that “Ye cannot serve two
masters. ” “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”
Meantime every move, every enterprise, was measured
by the gold standard. Calculations for raising food or
making clothes were ail made on the quantity of gold
required. The support of the government, of the army,
the navy, and the church, were based on gold. If much
of the stuff was in what they called the treasury,
these institutions prospered; if little, they languished;
if none, they were bankrupt. The same with ail enter-
prises.
We attempted sometimes to awaken their reason by
arguing that, if their belief was correct, then, in the ab-
sence of gold, we could hâve no food, no clothes, no
army, no navy, no government, no church; that, conse-
quently, we would fall into atheism and anarchy, rob
and destroy one another, or be destroyed by an invading
army which should be fortunate to hâve gold! If so,
we would exclaim in dérision, Blessed be gold, the
patron saint of the human race! Then, becoming
serious, we would add, “Do y ou know, friends, t^at
men hâve lived happier and loved one another more
intensély, when and where there was the least, or no44
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
gold? And do you know that the greatest conquering
armies we read of in history, were not supported by,
nor paid with gold? Nay, do you know that the love
of gold has been the very cause of the downfall of
many nations, and, we fear, may yet be the ruin of this
colony?” But it was useless to reason with them about
that métal. Some of the attributes bestowed upon gold
would cap the climax of absurdities. It was said that
gold was the blood which coursed in the veins of in-
dustry and gave it life! “If so,” we would remark,
“then the man who withdraws a drib of gold from the
veins of industry in interest, rent or profits, and stores
it away, is a démon in human form. Knowing that man
cannot live without industry, and believing that in-
dustry would perish if gold is extracted from it, and
stili draws gold from it, is a murderer of his fellow
beings.”
Yet, notwithstanding such mental conditions in the
colony, not only did Adventurers draw interest and
rents in gold, but even ministers of religion gathered
up dribs of it in contributions from their devotees and
ornamented the temple of God, presuming, we sup-
pose, that the Creator participated in the vénération of
that métal, and was also fond of ornaments. Mean-
time it was sad to see on the one side the misery, the
gaunt, dejected countenances, the lifeless motion of the
many destitute of gold, and pressed to pay interest,
rent and taxes; and, on the other side, the well dressed,
cheerful countenances, the firm step and supercilious
demeanor of the few who had a surplus of the stuff for
oppression.
Talented men in the colony, who had made a spécial
study of the action of gold upon the affairs of men,LEGAL TENDER MONEY.	45
(called JPolitical Economists), had laid it down as a
positive truth that the quantity of gold was the limit of
industry and commerce; that production, éducation and
progress itself should not cross the boundaries marked
out by that métal; whatever was done beyond these
boundaries was styled “over-production,” “over-
trading,” “extravagance.” The portion of gold which
Adventurers chose to invest, during the year, for the
employment of labor was, learnedly, styled “wages-
FUND,” and it was gravely maintained that no more
men could be employed, nor wages paid, beyond this
fund. Outside this gold radius, was a wide, rich région
inhabited by a benighted people, who suffered from
the lack of articles which they could themselves pro-
duce, but it had been found risky to cross the gold
limits, to eut loose from the gold moorings. The least
debt, the payment of which should be enforced in
legal tender coin, may carry away the accumulations
of ÿears of toil. Millions had thus lost their ail,
and it was a warning to ail. We witnessed many enter-
prises where the persons engaged were. skillful, indus-
trious and honest, and the products thereof much
needed, yet failing “for want of a market,” it was said,
but in truth on account of the shortcomings of gold.
It was no longer the ability of men, the abundance of
materials, nor the wants of the people which were to
be considered, it was the flow of gold in and out. This
had become the only thermometer of success, or failure.
No ingenuity of man could make an enterprise live, if
the flow of gold was adverse to it. But here we deviate
to remark that, since the volume of gold in the colony
was limited, nay, distressingly short of the requirements
to maintain ail useful industries in a healthful condi-46
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
tion, it resulted that, when gold flew to one, and made
it prosper, it, at the same time, drained others and
caused their death. Behold the predicament the col-
onists had fallen into through that perverse monetary Sys-
tem. If one prospered, others were doomed to fail.
Bearing in mind the condition of afïairs as above de-
scribed, is it any wonder that millions worth of goods
were perishing unused, and millions of persons sufïered
for the need of them? That millions were houseless,
foodless, and almost clotheless, yet remained, in in-
voluntary idleness and sorrowing that “there was no
demand for work?” What else could be expected
6*om crazy people? When they had supplied the Ad-
venturer with what quantity and quality of food,
clothes, houses, luxuries, ornaments and services he
exacted, the colonists fell back into their accustomed
lethargy and want.
We often would ask them why they did not go to
work. ‘‘There is no demand for work,” was the ready
reply. If we pointed to the very many in need of
almost everything, saying that there appeared to be
plenty of work to be done yet, they would cast a stolid,
inquisitive glance at us, and query: “Do you not know
thatthese poor foodless, ragged and homeless people hâve
no gold to pay for work?” We would venture further:
“Admitting that these poor people hâve no gold, is that
a valid reason why they should be deprived of food,
clothes and home? Did God create man to find gold
or perish?” To such questions they would instantly re-
ply: “We told you that, without gold, they cannot pay
for such comforts,” holding the same stolid gaze on
us, as if impressed.that we lacked understanding. “Why
do you not—we mean ail of you who are poor but ableLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
47
to work—help one another, and in this way raise food,
make clothes and build yourselves homes?” we added.
At this question a glimmer of returning reason ap-
peared to beam over their countenances. Some even
fellinto a pensive mood; but it would soon pass away as
a vision in a dream, and be followed by the same persist-
ent hallucination that “nothing could be done without
gold,” then turn from us in disgust as if our questions
were boring them.
We once ventured to tell the Adventurer that it was
a pity that the colonists had fallen into such a delusion
regarding gold, as there would never be gold enough to
carry on the necessary volume of business. He curtly
replied that there was plenty of gold and anybody could
get it, if he had anything to give or pledge for it! This
was double irony on the colonists, seeing that paying for
the use of gold was the very cause of their misery.
Despairing of ever witnessing a return of the old
prosperity in the colony under such depressing circum-
stances, we left the colonists to their fate, and under-
took a journey to other parts of the world, to relieve
our mind.
REDEEMABLE NOTES.
On our return to the colony, after an absence of sev-
eral years, we were greatly surprised at the numerous
and extensive improvements which had already been
accomplished and many more in process of execu-
tion. They had actually built large cities and mag-
nificent palaces and parks within those cities; they had
built numerous towns and countless houses ail over the
country; they were working mines, founderies, rolling-
mills and large factories of every description. They
had built railroads, telegraph and téléphoné lines, and48
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
extended the colony and improvements in ail direc-
tions far beyond our most sanguine expectations previ-
ous even to the tyrannical decree which had enslaved
the colonists to the Adventurer.
Naturally, we became anxious to learn how ail these
improvements had been accomplished; how the colo-
nists had regained their reason in regard to gold; how
they had freed themselves from the Adventurer, and
had thus been enabled to accomplish such works.
“How was ail this done?” we inquired.
“By the industry, skill and energy of the people,”
was the reply.
We could but believe it. What else could hâve per-
formed such industrial wonders? Not, certainly, an inert
métal, no matter how precious it may be considered,
what laws may be passed in its favor, or how supersti-
tious the people may be about it.
Just then there happened to be a large conférence of
a class of people called bankers. We attended this
conférence, partly through curiosity and partly for in-
formation. One of these bankers made a speech in
which he said:	“Here are assembled the men who
built our cities and towns, our railroads and telegraph
Unes; the men who made ail the gigantic improvements
to be seen in the country. Here are the class of men
who propel our immense commerce, domestic and
foreign, over land and océan. Before me are the men
who opened our mines, built our factories, etc.,,, and
he went on in this strain.
We looked over the crowd of well-dressed men, and
were at a loss to conceive how such men should be
house-builders, mine-diggers, wood-choppers, manufac-
turers or mechanics. In fact, when we succeeded inLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
49
seeing the chair, we spied the Adventurer himself pre-
siding over the assembly, and, if he were to be taken as
a sample for the balance, it was évident that none of
them ever engaged in any useful occupation.
“How did these men perform such great deeds as
their speaker stated?” we inquired of an attendant near
us. We were promptly informed that these men did no
manner of work. “But the speaker said that they were
the very men who made ail the improvements in the
colony, and the crowd applauded him as if he were
telling the truth,” we exclaimed. Our informant stated
that the speaker meant that they were the men who
paid the workmen for the performance of the work.
“How did these bankers find gold enough to employ
and pay so many men?” we asked further. “They did
not pay them with gold,” he replied, “they paid them
with bank notes.” “What sort of a thing is a bank
note?” we troubled him^gain. He was kind to explain
to us a bank note. It appeared that some ÿears before,
when the colonists, under the gold hallucination, would
not work, nor sell anything, unless paid for with gold,
and consequently business was dragging because of the
insufficiency of gold, the Adventurer made an inven-
tion. • It is said that “necessity is the mother of in-
ventions.” It proved true in this case. Finding that
his gold fe.ll short of his greed for wealth and power,
even at the enormous price he was charging, and that it
had not grown by interest, as he made the colonists be-
lieve it would, he now inspired them with the belief that
he had vast amounts of gold in what he called his vault.
This belief was easily implanted in the benighted
colonists by simply counting the amount of sand he
started with, which he called the principal, then
PROPERTY OF LIBRARY
WW YORK STATE SCHOOL ________________________50	LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
adding to it the supposed accumulations of years’ inter-
est. Under this belief, he had induced the colonists to
work and sell him goods and accept, “for awhile,” he
said, little strips of paper (bank notes) in the place of
gold. “Gold,”he reasoned with them, “is too heavy to
carry, and had better be kept out of danger of fire and
thieves.” These notes of his, he explained, would
answer the purpose ôf gold, were lighter to carry, and
every way as good as gold, because the bearer could
always obtain the gold for them at the bank, if he
wished, dollar for dollar. To strengthen faith in the
notes, he had stamped on their face the words “re-
deemable in gold.” After this, to fully establish and
keep up the déception, he did actually redeem what
few notes came to the bank for rédemption with the lit-
tle gold called reserve which he kept on hand for the
purpose.
The, scheme gradually became fixed as one of the
institutions of the country, and worked to the full satis-
faction of the A'dventurer. Workers and traders began
to pass these notes among themselves, and, when some
one seemed to doubt their redeemability, he was in-
duced to step into the bank and satisfy himself of the
truth. Finally, the testimony of some, fortified the
faith of ail, and very few notes would corne back to
the bank for rédemption.
These “redeemable notes” were subsequently styled by
eminent writers, who are always intent on giving names
to things, “représentatives” of gold, and proved a
greater bonanza to the Adventurer than his bag of sand,
or a gold mine. They saved him the time, risk and
labor of going to the mountains, cost him virtually
nothing, were limitless as to the amount, and, by stylingLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
51
them “représentatives” of gold, they enabled him to
purchase as many goods, hire as much labor, and
charge as much interest as if they had been real gold.
The latter claim for the notes was the strangest part of
the game, for he virtually drew interest on what he
borrowed. See: A farmer would corne to the bank with
his note, well secured by a mortgage on his farm, and
swap it for the Adventurer’s note destitute of any
security whatever, except the faith that the said Adven-
turer had gold, and by this foolish transaction, the
farmer became the debtor and paid interest to his
real debtor, the bank or Adventurer. Well could we here
exclaim “What fools we mortals be!” What a fruitful
invention to the Adventurer! We once made bold to
ask him how his conscience could permit him to ap-
propriate unto himseif the toil, the goods and the
homes of poor, benighted colonists for so trifling a
thing as a mere strip of paper? He replied with the
utmost indifférence that those who got the notes from
him could with them hire as much labor and purchase
as many goods and homes from others. “Yes,” we
said, “but it is the business of the colonists how they
exchange goods and services, one with another. What
hâve you to do with such. exchanges?” we asked. “You
hâve neither goods nor work to exchange with them.
What équivalent do you give for the property which
cornes into your hands?” He declined further argu-
ment on the subject, and hinted that we were a “com-
muniste in order to alienate the colonists from us. You
could perceive, however, that he feared lest they might
discover the part he played in the game.
The colonists were making everything, even the pa-
per and ink used to make his notes, then gave him52
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
millions worth of goods, or paid him interest for, what
may be called, his permit to work and trade among
themselves! Had they studied the trick and drawn the
right inference from it, they could hâve made the notes
in partnership and used them free of oost, as their
ancestors had done. As for the redeemable quality
of the bank-notes, it proved repeatedly but a gigantic
fraud. Yet we must admit that, bad as it was, the
bank-note invention proved bénéficiai to the colonists
also. They would hâve retrograded into barbarism or
starved if they had depended on gold alone. With
bank-notes, if the Adventurer received the lion’s share
of the products and improvements, the colonists could
at least live, wear coarse clothes and be sheltered in
a tenant house. So hail the bank notes!
In a book published at the time, we read a paragraph
boasting of the great increase of population and wealth,
in which the author attributed the one to the discovery
of vaccination, the other to the invention of bank-
notes, and no doubt he was correct.
The Adventurer issued millions after millions of
these “redeemable” (?) notes, although he did nothave
gold enough to redeem one in ten, and his wealth
loomed up into the millions. The only trouble in his
mind was the fear oi a run for rédemption, or that the
colonists may learn to issue co-operative notes redeem-
able in goods. He finally overcame the latter danger
by obtaining from his friend, the Governor, the exclu-
sive monopoly of the issue.
Thus again it was that, while this vast flock of bank-
notes fluttered over the colony, the people worked hard,
fed and clothed themselves by interchanging products
and labor through the notes, and the Adventurer andLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
53
his craft absorbed the surplus in purchases, interest,
rënts and discounts (which we shall explain hereafter).
At times some thinker among the colonists would
catch an idea from this bank-note scheme. Seeing
how they answered ail the purposes of gold in employ-
ing labor and exchanging products, he would suggest
that working men and merchants form a co-operative
association and issue the notes themselves, and thus
cease paying tribute to that fifth wheel of the industrial
coach, the Adventurer. True, the colonists would not
hâve gold to redeem said notes, but they had merchan-
dise and services to redeem them with, and merchandise
and services were ail that man needed on earth from
his fellow-man. The Adventurer, on the contrary,
had neither goods nor services. Such suggestions,
however, would instantly be silenced by the unanswer-
able (?) argument, originating generally from the Ad-
venturer himself, viz: “that workmen and merchants
had no legal tender money wherewith to redeem the
notes. ”
DISCOUNT.
Besides the interest derived from lending gold and
bank-notes, the Adventurer realized large profits by
discounting mercantile notes.
Crippled as the commerce of -the colony was by
scarcity of gold, and even bank-notes, yet it had be-
come immense. The merchants, eager to do business,
had resorted to crédit, recorded in account books and
to promissory notes. The number of these notes had
multiplied beyond control. They issued from every
department of trade, from pins and needles up to train-
loads and cargoes of grain, cotton and merchandise of
every conceivable kind. They represented railroads,54
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
ships, factories, mines, real estate, private and public
affairs of every description. Retail merchants gave
their notes to jobbers, the jobbers gave their notes to
the Wholesale dealers, and these, in turn, to the manu-
facturers. The manufacturers gave their notes for
raw materials. Every product in transit had three
or four notes issued on it before it reached its destina-
tion, and continued to originate other notes as it passed
from hand to hand. Even after goods had been con-
sumed, notes issued on them were still floating unpaid.
The market carried millions of these notes for the goods
on the way; millions for goods no longer in existence,
and millions more for goods that had not yet sprouted.
No greater evidence of the scarcity of a medium of ex-
change in the colony could be found than in the multi-
plication of these notes. They had taken the place
of the merchants’ certificates, of times gone by, and
formed the main currency of Wholesale commerce.
But, unlike the merchants’ certificates, which were pay-
able in goods, these new notes were payable in legal
tender, and thousands of merchants failed in consé-
quence of this restriction.
Before entering upon the operations and effect of
discount, we must illustrate the condition of these
commercial notes.
Let us suppose $1,000.00 worth of goods passing
successively through the hands of ten persons, changing
owner every week, and paid every time in a note run-
ning three months from date. At the end of the ten
weeks, there would be in existence, say $10,200 worth
of notes due one .week from one another, and ail
resting for security on a basis of $1,200 (assuming that
each trader had raised the value of the goods) of actualLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
55
wealth. Relying upon that transaction alone, we ask,
would payments of the notes be possible? And would
a basis of $1,200 be sufficient to secure $10,200 worth
of notes? We answer that payments would not be pos-
sible at the time they become due, and that the basis
would not be sufficient if payments were enforced in
legal tender gold, for there is no such element in the
transaction; but* amply sufficient if the assets of each
trader were made available to pay liabilities. The en-
forcement of legal tender money is the only embar-
rassment in the seulement of mercantile balances.
In order to establish a condition of mercantile notes
and accounts, which should aid, instead of hampering,
the équitable seulement of balances, four points should
be considered:	#
ist. The period of maturity of the notes and ac-
counts. When, in our case, the first trader should pré-
sent his note to the second, the latter could not pay it
because his note on the third trader has yet one week
to run. The same difficulty will run through the ten
notes. If the time of maturity had been reversed,
making the last note due first, such difficulty would
hâve been obviated. But this cannot be done. We
cannot reverse the course of time. So other methods
hâve to be resorted to.
We give these facts only as a hint to thinkers.
2nd. The necessity of a clearing house to make
assets available, and settle debts with crédits by sim-
ple cancellation.
3rd. The différence in value of the notes issued on the
same goods. Under legal tender this fact involves a
difficult problem to solve*. Every trader is bound to
sell his goods higher than he paid for them, else he56
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
could not prosper; consequently every note issued on
the same goods is more valuable than the note given for
them. In our illustration we hâve allowed $200 rise in
value to compensate the ten merchants. But this rise,
under legal tender, intensifies the difficulty of seule-
ment. We should bear in mind that demanding more
money does not increase the stock of it; that lifting
the price of goods $foo, would not bring that additional
amount of gold into the colony, nor pump it from
other parts of the colony, for it is présumable that ail
merchants, in ail parts of it, hâve done the same, and
that they are pumping as hard to absorb our $1,000
stock of money as we are at theirs. These facts were
universally overlooked by ail the merchants and hence
many were doomed to corne to grief. The time had to
corne when traders would no longer attempt impossi-.
bilities, viz: cease to gamble upon thè probability of
gold coming or going, rising or falling, and be satisfied
in accepting a share of the goods they handled as com-
pensation for their labor.
The 4th point is explained above, and consists in
making notes and crédits due in articles of possible at-
tainment—goods and services, which are ail that indus-
try has to give.
With these four points explained by way of philoso-
phising, the reader will the better understand the opera-
tion of discounting commercial notes.
The merchants were constantly pressed for gold to
meet notes and accounts coming due. To make ready
for such contingencies, they deposited with the Ad-
venterer what cash they had collected from sales and
crédits; but, as these deposits fell generally short of the
requirements, they also placed notes receivable as col-LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
57
latéral, and borrowed gold to cover deficiencies, and
paid a discount (which was interest in advance) for
supposed loans. Let us now see what these loans con-
sisted in. Suppose our ten merchants had on deposit
$500 in gold each, making $5,000 in the aggregate.
Now, when the second merchant needed $500, besides
his deposit, to pay his note to the first, he placed his
note on the third merchant as security, called collateral,
and borrowed it for one week. The same would be
done by the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, çth and ioth
merchant, until the last note was paid. At the end of
the ten weeks the Adventurer had discounted $4,500 of
notes and had only used $500 out of the deposits
of $5,000. The balance of these deposits, or $4,500,
he kept loaned out for his own benefit. That is, the
ten merchants had really loaned him gratuitously $5,000,
and y et paid him interest for the use of $500 of their
own money.
Well may we exclaim “what fools these mortals be!”
This is not ail. Since the ten merchants kept money
and notes deposited with the Adventurer, mailing pay-
ments to one another by means of checks, it resulted
that instead of using money -to pay the successive notes,
he merely made a transfer of accounts in his ledger and
thus could loan and did loan to them ten times the
amount they had on deposit.
Now when we consider that the discounting of com-
mercial paper went up into billions of dollars annually,
we may form an idea of the harvest which the Adven-
turer realized from this source; yet he passed for a
gigantic benefactor for having invented a way of econo-
mizing the use of legal tender!LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
5*
Does it seem possible that the merchants in the col-
ony who, as a class, were shrewd business men, could
hâve been so blind on financial affairs? Could they
not hâve established a co-operative clearing house and
save the immense tribute that they paid to the Adven-
turer? However, as to such material tribute, there was
a reason for their indifférence, for they recovered it
from consumers by enhancing the price of the goods.
But another as important point should hâve prompted
them to sever their connection with the Adventurer.
It was the loss of character as men. The System had
brought them into dependence and subjection to him.
They had corne to regard him as Pluto in wealth, a
Solon in wisdom and a Napoléon in power. No one
of them dared to say ought against him lest they should
incur his displeasure and be refused accommodation
when most needed.
MENTAL CONDITION OF THE GOVERNOR.
The chief difficulty in the way of dissipating the de-
lusion of the colonists and repealing the legal tender
decree, was the fact that the présent governor was also
afflicted with the same hallucination. He had also
become a confirmed believer in the potency of gold, and
feared that the colony would surely go to ruin if gold
was to take wings and disappear. Accordingly, he set
in motion many devices intended to hold and increase
the stock of that métal. He encouraged its importa-
tion by bounties and sought to prevent its exportation
by duties on foreign goods. In ail his treaties with
foreign nations, he had in view what he called a
“favorable balance of trade” or to make gold flow in
faster than out; and when, notwithstanding ail his care
and précautions, gold became scarce through exportationLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
59
or hoarding, he sold the colonists, “en masse,” into
bondage for the loan of it. Besides this delusion as
to the necessary presence of gold, he feigned to be-
lieve also that the value of this métal should be upheld.
He cared nothing about the fall in value of ail labor’s
products, he rather desired it, but “the value of gold
must be maintained at ail hazard,” he argued. Of
course it was plain what motive actuated him to such
policy. His salary, and that of fiis servants, was paid
in gold. If it had been paid in corn, or barley, ail his
efforts, and ail the laws emanatingfrom him, wouldhave
tended to uphold the value of barley and corn.
Notwithstanding the above fact, some of the colo-
nists were petitioning the governor to relieve them
from the exactions of the Adventurer, by an issue of
legal tender public notes. Vain hope! It was as if
partridges had .petitioned the hawk to relax his talons;
or lambs petitioning the wolf to dull his teeth. How
could it be expected that the governor would work in
direct opposition to his own interest? “Charity begins
at home,” and often ends there.
Thus the dépréssion of the colonists was aggravated
by many legislative enactments, whose deformity was
hid under the plea of “establishing justice.”
We could adduce enough such enactments to fill a
large volume, but will limit ourself to very few.
The chief and fundamental one of such pernicious
acts, the parent of ail the others, was, of course, the
legal tender decree. Then followed the grant of the
monopoly of issuing bank-notes to the Adventurer,
who needed them least of any in the colony. Such
notes should hâve been intended for use in the inter-
change of commodities, and the Adventurer had noth-6o
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
ing to exchange. It was, therefore, évident that the
vesting of such important monopoly in him, could hâve
no other object in view but robbery.
A third inéquitable law was the requiring of a deposit
of gold before the colonists would be permitted to co-
operate in large enterprises, such as the working of a
mine, the building and operating of a railroad, the
lighting of cities and supplying them with water, etc.
This requirement placed ail such enterprises in the
hands of the Adventurer, who never intended doing a
stroke of work, and prevented the association of those
who had ail the work to do.
This iniquity was followed by another one equally un-
just, though not so far-reaching. It was that, in industrial
enterprises rights were bestowed on dollars, not
on men. We mean that, in such enterprises each man
was allowed to vote according to the number of dollars
he had invested in them. The man who should hâve
ten thousand dollars invested, though he be a worth-
less, profligate fool, had as many votes as ten men who
had but one thousand dollars each, though every one
of them should be a skillful, honest and talented man.
Consider what power such class of laws gave to the
ri ch against the poor! The last enactment that we
shall adduce is a most despotic one, and is - based
on that infernal System of legal tender gold. It is, as
we hâve often stated, the assumed right of bonding the
colonists to adventurers at home and abroad for the
loan of gold. This diabolical policy was based upon
another false assumption that the governor had no
right to take property from his people without compen-
sation. The falseness of such doctrine was proven by
the fact that he would force his same people to returnLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
61
to him the gold he paid them, with an additional sum
as tribute to the lender. And it was also proven by
his political constitution that he had the right to tax
his people for whatever he stood in need of, which
means that he had the right to tàke from them without
compensation.
A friend of the colonists pointed out these contra-
dictory doctrines to the governor, showing him the
embarrassment they would involve both him and the
colonists in in case adventurèrs should refuse to fur-
nish the gold or did not hâve it to furnish, venturing
to advise him to adopt a more rational and more
humane method of dealing with his people. But the
governor frankïy confessed that he was ignorant of
any other method of compensating his people for pro-
ducts and services except with gold which was the only
legal tender, and that, if he did not hâve this gold on
hand, he was compelled to borrow it. “But,” reiter-
ated this friend, “you do not need to pay your people.
It is absolutely impossible for governments to pay their
people. It is absurd to think of it. Not one of these
people expects it. They are willing to furnish ail you
want gratuitously. Ail they expect from you is a just
and équitable apportionment of the tax according to
ability. Borrowing gold and placingthem under bond-
age and tribute, lowers them, dégradés them, and op-
presses them; makes the tax heavier, sometimes double,
by the discount of the bonds,” and ended by beseech-
ing the governor to abandon such ignominious and op-
pressive method and return to the rational System of
his predecessors, called “the colonial warrant Sys-
tem.”62
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
The govemor took the criticism and advice in good
part, but replied that one of his predecessors, before
his dynasty had been established and when the colony
was at war with the mother country, had tried paper
notes, and they had so depreciated that they ceased
circulating, causing thereby great losses to the people.
He had reference to the continental scripts during the
Revolutionary War. We took up the subject and en-
deavored first to convince him that the act of issuing
or stamping a quantity of paper, which is originally of
no value, then, after a time destroying it or casting it
away as worthless (which is exactly what it was origi-
nally) could not possibly do any harm to a people, ex-
cept the very small loss of the material and labor in
making and stamping the paper. On the other side,
we reasoned, if the issuing of such paper served to em-
ploy labor and was thus the means of improving land,
opening a mine, building a factory or a railroad, etc.,
it was a boon to that extent. When a people ceased to
use such paper as a circulating medium, because they
may hâve concluded that, being mere paper, it is worth-
less, they surely would not consider the improvements,
made by its aid, worthless and cast them away also.
Consequently, instead of losing by the issue of such
notes, they really gain and gain greatly. Therefore,
the question with a people is not whether they should
déclaré war against pièces of paper, harmless when
made and harmless when destroyed; the question is,
to learn how to use these pièces of paper profitably
and equitably. “We hâve been .using them wrong,”
we said. “Let us use them aright and not forbid their
utility. If, by the use of notes, we can employidle
labor, we hâve already accomplished a good work.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
63
Our next object should be to protect the œen we set to
work in the ownership of the wealth they produce. We
should not deceive these workers by false présentations
of the notes and their functions. We should tell them
that paper notes hâve, of course, no value within them-
selves, no more than a warranty deed has, but that they
serve to tally contributions of work and materials by
each man, woman or child in the wealth produced.
We should tell a worker that the paper notes we give
him are evidence of his or her investment in the enter-
prise, but not the investment itself. If, instead, we de-
ceive the holder by making him believe that the notes are
the actual wealth, because he may dupe others in the
same way, and, under this false idea, he takes the notes
for his portion of the wealth created, he will, of course,
soon discover that his paper is worthless, as a deed to
land that has been washed away by a river, and that
he has been defrauded and robbed of his property.
This is the game played by redeemable bank-notes. À
bank note, issued by adventur'ers, reads about as fol-
lows:	“Friend, let me hâve your horse and take for
him this note which will enable you to get another
horse from your neighbors, and they from their neigh-
bors, thus round and round in perpetuity.” Such a
note is a circulating pirate. “Your Excellency,” we
concluded, “should not confound a most benificent
document with a pernicious one now in use.”
The governor could not see the différence in the ori-
gin and use of circulating notes. “Ail circulating
notes,” he said, “should be redeemable in golcT, else
they are worthless.”64
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
CONTINENTAL SCRIPTS.
The history of those continental scripts, the gov-
ernor alluded to, was as follows:	A few years before
that Révolution (in 1739) the farmers of the country who
lived yet under the idea that production and exchanges
should be carried on by means of some toy, and who
had been using for this purpose beads, cowries, shells,
wampum, etc., had conclüded to try paper notes.
These notes, however, were not to be redeemed in
beads, wampum, or trinkets of any sort, but received
in payment for ail sorts of commodities and services.
If a farmer gave notes to a merchant or a manufacturer
for a plow, for instance, he obligated himself and
pledged his farm for the fulfillment of said obligation,
that he would receive the notes back, at face value, for
any of his products or work. Mechanics united with
the farmers in the scheme, and also promised to receive
the notes. The reason given by farmers for the issue
of such notes was the scarcity of beads and wampum
to do business with. Nor would they make the notes
redeemable in those toys, for the same reason.
The scheme proved'a great boon to every industry
in the colony. It revived business wonderfully, and
the notes did not carry the fruits of labor to speculators
of beads and wampum. As soon, however, as the
governor in the old country learned of the “Farmers
and Mechanics” notes in his colony, for some unac-
countable cause, he ordered every one of the notes de-
stroyed and forbade further issue of them. What harm
those notes could possibly do to the governor across
the océan, no human being could guess. It pricked
his pride, we imagine, to hear that farmers and mechan-
ics should undertake to do a new thing without his per-LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
65
mission; or he wanted to keep them dépendent on the
tribe of adventurers in his country. Be this as it may,
the note issue had to be stopped, and production and
commerce were again curtailed to the quantity of beads,
wampum and cowries in circulation.
Two prominent colonists at that time, Sam Adams
and John Coats, got quite wrothy at such interférence
by the governor in the affairs of the colony. They
aroused the colonists and formed a party which proved
the beginning of the subséquent Révolution.
When finally, thirty-seven years after that event, the
Révolution broke out, the colonists had neither wampum
nor trinkets of any kind to pay soldiers and buy what
they needed for war. Besides, it must be considered
that their minds were yet addled about monetary
affairs. They yearned yet after the gold and sil-
ver of the Old country, where some had been raised.
Under the pressure of war, the appointed governor
issued scripts, but, instead of making them receivable
for ail debts and dues to the government and between
citizens, he made them redeemable in spanish milled
dollars! Where on earth were these Spanish milled
dollars to corne from? Who was to buy them? What
and how mu ch was to be given for them? Here was
the blunder of the governor.
As soon as the Spaniards learned of such foolish,
suicidai decree, and believing that the governor would
force his people to purchase the Spanish milled dol-
lars, even if he had to put them under bondage, they
raised the value of the dollars, but were disappointçd.
To think, however, of the govemor’s nonsensical
policy! Was a colonist, for instance, to sell to the gov-
emment a beef to feed the soldiers, and receive scripts for66
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
the same, then be compelled to sell another beef to the
Spaniards, at their own price, for milled dollars where-
with to redeem the scripts in his hands? In the name
of common sense, what sort of distorted, irrational, and
pernicious monetary System would such be? Where was
the good of it? And look at the fraud it contained:
“Take this script for your beef, as temporary payment,”
would the governor say to the farmer. “In time you
shall hâve Spanish milled dollars, when you sell an-
other BEEF OR TWO AND BUY THEM WITH. ” And this
is the fraud implied in ail redeemable government
notes. In our case, the beef furnished to the govern-
ment should hâve paid the tax, and the script be vir-
tually the receipt for it. What had the Spaniards and
their milled dollars to do with that transaction? Why
shouid they be empowered to dérivé profits from it?
Why compel the coloriists to lose two beeves when one
was sufficient? Wliere would such-a System land them?
(We answer, “where it has landed us.”)
Well, the governor issued the Continental Scripts,
bought beef, bread, clothes, horses, accoutrements, arms,
and paid the soldiers. When the war was over, the gov-
ernor had no Spanish milled dollars to redeem the scripts
with, was wise enough not to force the already exhaust-
ed colonists to sacrifice property in the purchase of
them, and, best of ail, he dared not to bond them
to the Spaniards for the loan of the same. So the
whole scheme of rédemption, the whole fabric of igno-
rance, absurdities, and oppression fell to the ground*
And what of it? How is it that lamentations hâve rent
the heavens evei* since about the disgraceful conti-
nental scripts? Did these colonists lose one cent, or
one pin, or one pound of beef, or one life more thanLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
67
they had lost in war? No! Here is the history of the
“Décliné and Fall” of these celebrated and benefi-
cent Continental Scripts: After victory had perched
upon the standard of the colonists, and peace was re-
stored, the scripts took sick, and began to décliné in
strength. When they got so low that twenty of them
could scarcely lift a Spanish milled dollar, adventurers
of those times (and it appears that every âge has been
cursed with them) purchased them at the rate of five
per cent, then set to work to induce the governor to
levy a tax of Spanish milled dollars on the people, and
redeem them dollar for dollar, or to bond the peo-
ple to redeem them in the future with accrued interest.
As a plea for their nefarious demand, they appealed to
his “wounded majesty” the “crédit and honesty and
honor of the government” as if it was creditable, hon-
est and honorable to rob and enslave the many for the
benefit of a few worthless speculators. Fortunately,
the governor, either of his own free will and wisdom,
or because of the destitute condition of the tax-payers,
^or again because he feared to attempt putting under
financial bondage a brave people who had just shaken
off political oppression, refused to comply with the
adventurers’ request, and the scripts died in their hands.
They had performed their functions as médiums of ex-
change and passed away, as ail money should do.
Under the gold delusion, wars hâve generally been
seasons of immense profits to adventurers, just as bat*
tles are harvest fields to buzzards. Out of that Révo-
lution, however, they failed to gather the expected
booty, and hence their lamentations.68
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
PANIC PERIOD.
Having secured the’monopoly of “redeemable bank-
notes,” the adventurers set earnestly to issuing millions
on millions* worth of them, buying property, employ
ing labor, and loaning them to enterprising men at
interest. Soon they had $46,000,000 out, for which
they held good substantial wealth, or well secured Per-
sonal notes of the colonists bearing interest. The ad-
venturers, notes in the hands of the colonists were not
secured at ail, and bore no interest. Strange to say, the
governor himself borrowed these bank-notes, and placed
the colonists under bond to guarantee their return with
interest. At first the governor borrowed $6,000,000;
then $20,000,000; and continued to borrow until the
loan ascended to $48,000,000. In the meantime the
colonists had borrowed $100,000,000 in ail. In a short
period a goodly portion of this $100,000,000 had
already been paid back in interest, and the place of
every dollar note paid back had to be filled with a gold
dollar when the principal became due. Here was the
gathering of a storm which soon swept over the coun-
try. Now the governor ordered the colonists to bring
in $12,000,000 bank notes, which were due to the ad-**
venturers; and these $12,000,000 in addition to the
ordinary tax. If the colonists had corne. together at
this time, with ail the notes they held, they could not
hâve paid half the debt owing to the adventurers, yet
every payment of interest, or tax for what the governor
had borrowed, made matters worse. This gloomy State
of affairs was aggravarted by ail the debts the colonists
were owing to one another, which were ail payable in
gold, if the creditor required it. A slight fear arose
that there migllt not be gold enough in the banks toLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
69
meet the possible demand. It made many holders of
the bank-notes rush to the bank for rédemption, and
the adventurers, who did not hâve one dollar in gold
for twenty of outstanding notes, closed the bank doors,
and the colony was thrown into what they called a
financial panic. Then the ‘ ‘redeemable” (?) bank-notes
were selling among the colonists at 20 to 50 per cent
discount.
Did the governor do a thing to protect the people, as
it was ever his boast that he would do? Did he make
the adventurers redeem the notes? Or, if they did not
redeem them, did he make them give up the property
they had obtained from the people for the notes, or sur-
render the people’s notes? No, the governor did neither,
but let the people sufïer ail the losses, and the adven-
turers reap ail the benefits. It proved a bountiful har-
vest* to them, for such was the dépréciation of prop-
erty that every foreclosure brought them three times
the value of the debt.
A period of dépréssion followed this panic. Then the
adventurers again issued notes. They knew that the
colonists must take them or fare worse, for gold was
out of the question. Again the colonists pushed pro-
duction and improvements, and took bank-notes in
payment. The adventurers absorbed the improvements,
which cost them nothing but the paper and printing of
the notes. The colonists kept up the swap of real
wealth, for mere legal paper, yet considered this swap
an accommodation to them, and paid interest thereon
to the adventurers. Such infatuation appeared to us
beyond the bounds of reason and common sense, yet
no argument of ours could draw the colonists’ attention
to the stupendous fraud.7o
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
The governor had been in the habit of receiving
bank notes for taxes. Ail on a sudden he singled out
some favorite adventurers, and ordered his officers to
receive only the notes of these, or gold, for taxes. This
order made the colonists rush to the favorite banks to
borrow notes wherewith to pay taxes, and “such was
the pressure to obtain these notes, ” says a witness,
“that these favored adventurers could not sign them
fast enough.”
When the governor had collected a large amount of
these notes, he became afraid himself that his favorite
banks would not be able to redeem them, should he
need the gold, so he appointed some of his officiais to
go and examine the gold in the banks, to ascertain
whether a sufficiency existed to redeem his notes; but
these officiais refused to go! They were interested with
the adventurers. One, John Randolph, told the gov-
ernor that “he might as well send men to preach Christ-
ianity in Turkey as to send them to investigate the af-
fairs of adventurers. ” It was a fact that the adventurers
were rulers in the colony, not the governor. The fear of
the governor increased, and with his, that of the col-
onists. Another rush was made to hâve the notes
redeemed, when another suspension of the banks and
another financial panic follôwed.
The adventurers were now as rich as Crœsus. They
lived in magnificent palaces, and reveled in luxuries.
Rile’s Register, published at that time, says that the
prodigality and dissipation of some adventurers were
beyond belief. “We heard,” says Rile, “of the furni-
ture of one single parlor costing $40,000. In ail great
cities it was dash, dash, dash! Misérable miners andLEGAL TENDER MONEY.	71
speculators were converted into knaves of rank, through
that mighty fraud of redeemable (?) bank-notes.”
But how was it with the masses of the colonists?
How fared they? Read the same paper:	“Twenty
thousand were seeking employment in one city alone,
and a similar condition prevailed ail over the colony.
Wheat was twenty cents a bushel. A man stopped his
paper, because, before the panic one barrel of flour
would pay the subscription one year, now it took more
than three. Everything else low in proportion. Schools
closed, and school books were a drug. Wages, very
low at half time. The papers were full of advertise-
ments of sheriffs sales, and contained numerous ac-
counts of riots, incendiary fires, frauds and robberies.
The distress in the colony was intense.”
This panic lasted four years. During that time the
adventurers bought some of their own notes at#2.io
for $1.00 in gold.
Events like the above, it seems, ought to hâve put
an end to the faith in redeemable bank-notes, The
fraud had been demonstrated in a manner that ail
could understand .it. But, on the contrary,.such had
beén the sufïerings of the people during those four
years, that as soon as the adventurers offered them
work, on condition that they would accept redeemable
bank-notes in payment, they accepted the offer and
went to work for them. It is indeed astonishing to
what degree of suffering and dégradation a monetary
craze may carry a people. Religious superstition and
fanaticism are not comparable to it in intensity or ex-
tent. The adventurers had hosts of free slaves, as we
might properly style the colonists, again building houses,72
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
running factories, improving farms, etc., for them, as
they had donc heretofore.
This time, however, business did not continue ver}
long. The memory of the last panic was too fresh in
men’s mind. True, the adventurers kept issuing notes;
but the colonists kept bringing them back for rédemp-
tion as fast as they got them, so that very few could be
kept in circulation, and another panic soon followed.
This „ one, coming immediately on the heels of the
other, from which most of the people had not yet re-
covered, threw the colony into outer financial dark-
ness. No one knew which way to go; no one knew
what to do. Ruin seemed inévitable ail around.
Yet, in the face of such terrible lessons, the adven-
turers began again to issue redeemable notes, and the
starved colônists went to work again! Now the evil
was increased from another quarter. Foreign adven-
turers, seeing what a harvest was to be reaped in the
colony by the issue of redeemable notes, came over
the océan to «bank on the few grains of gold they
brought with them, and the two together flooded the
country with notes.
“Now,” says a historian, “came the era of greatest de-
velopment in the colony.” How? The combined ad-
venturers pushed the issue of notes, and the benighted
colonists pushed with the same alacrity the construc-
tion of railroads, set in motion many industrial enter-
prises, enlarged cities, built new towns, extended im-
provements, established an immense commerce, and
the whole land was made to écho and re-echo with the
music of industry. Providence seemed to take a hand
in the general movement, and blessed the colonists with
abundant crops.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
73
But, alas! the colonists, as usual, had taken the
“redeemable” notes in payment, and the adventurers
had taken the railroads, the buildings, the factories
and ail improvements. At last, also as usual, the banks
proved to hâve no gold to redeem the notes which had
not been brought back in interest, rents and discounts,
and another terrifie panic was the resuit.
Read a description of this panic by an adventurer
himself:	“In March the colonists held meetings to
devise plans for relieving the distress. They decided
to send a committee of fifty to the governor. In their
address they said:	‘The value of real estàte has depre-
ciated $40,000,000 in six months. We hâve already
had two hundred failures in one city alone. The im-
mense amount of merchandise in our stores has fallen
in price at least 30 per cent. Within a few weeks no
less than twenty thousand able workingmen, depending
upon their daily work for their daily bread, hâve been
discharged because there was no money to employ
them. We, therefore, ask whether it is not time to
interpose the paternal authority of the government and
bring back gold in the channels of trade?*”
Does it seem possible that a committee of fifty men,
chosen from among the most intelligent in the colony,
could be so blinded as to believe first, that the governor
had it in his power to bring back gold; and, second, that
such an inert* métal could bring life and energy to the
people? Oh, delusion!
But the governor could not be induced to commit
himself against the adventurers; besides, he knew that
they had no gold. Consequently the colonists again
made a rush to the banks for what little gold they had
there on deposit? The adventurers had loaned this74
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
gold out, could not .restore it to the owners, and
so closed the door of the bank. Thus note-holders and
depositors were left out penniless together.
Again, did the governor protect the colonists in the
redeemability of the notes, or attempt to do so? Never
in one instance, but on the contrary protected the
banks.
In the raidst of such financial disasters, ail origi-
nating in the absolute impossibility of redeeming more
notes than there was gold to redeem them with, an im-
possibility which the governor ignored when he allowed
the banks to issue three dollars in notes for every one
they held in gold, with causes and efïects so plain to
every observer, yet prominent writers and speakers in
the colony asserted that monetary crises were due to
the “extravagance” of the people. They maintained
that it was wrong and unsafe for a people to stir up and
undertake to improve the country, raise food and eat
it, make cio thés and wear them, and enjoy the bless-
ings of life which they made, unless there was plenty
of gold in the country!
“What do you ad vise men to do when there is no
gold?” we asked of one of these authorities. “Should
they remain idle and starve in the presence of God’s
bounties?” The answer he gave us was evasive, but
implied that a goldless people was worse than a God-
less people, and they had better go slowly, be careful
and keep on the safe side (which was the suffering side),
and await for the arrivai of the precious métal, and, if
necessary, issue bonds and purchase it.
“Do not people create wealth when at work, gold or
no gold?” we asked him further. “Yes,” he replied,
“but it is only fictitious wealth, not real.”LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
75
“Indeed!” we exclaimed, “are not the food, the
clothes, the buildings, the factories, the machinery, the
railroads, etc., real wealth?” But, as usual we wasted
our time to no purpose. It seemed that ail men, and
women too, great and small, learned and ignorant,
rich and poor, believed that nothing could be “real”
wealth if not paid for with. gold.
Meeting, one day a great man, Webster, who was
considered high authority, we asked him his opinion of
“redeemable” bank-notes. He answered with emphasis
that, “of ail contrivances for cheating the laboring
classes, paper money (bank-notes) was the worst. “It
is the best invention,” he said, “to fertilize the rich
man’s field by the sweat of the poor man’s brow. In fact,
it is worse than ordinary tyranny, oppression and over-
taxation combined. ” ‘ ‘But how would it be if the labor-
ing classes should issue notes themselves, not redeem-
able in gold,which they do not possess, but redeemable
in the products of their work, and thus hold the prop-
erty they create, instead of passing it over to idle ad-
venturers for worthless notes?” we asked Webster.
Here he fell at once into the common hallucination.
- “It cannot be done,” he replied. “The governor’s last
monetary decree forbids it. Besides, the holders of the
notes must be protected in their redeemability in the
money of the world, and laboring men hâve no money
to redeem them with.”
Always the same delusion, the same hallucination.
When and how it would end was beyond our ken.
GOLD DISCOVERIES.
The situation in the colony was now such that the
old prosperity could be restored only by one or the
other of two events. Either a miracle which should76
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
restore the mind of the colonists and induce them to
return to the former monetary System, or the discovery
and acquisition of a sufficiency of gold to meet ail exe-
gencies. It appeared that the latter event was at hand.
In February, 1848, little Miss Marshall found a yel-
low pebble at Sutton’s Mill, on the colonial branch of
the Sacramento river in California. The pebble proved
to be gold. The news spread like wild-fire both through-
out the colony and the Old World. It created the great-
est excitement we had ever witnessed. Had the people
been at the verge of starvation, and some prophet had
announced that Heaven was about to pour down manna,
it would not hâve brought greater joy. Young men,
by the thousands,and old men too,hurried to make ready
to abandon parents, friends and home, and fly to the
gold régions. Husbands and fathers felt bound to
leave wife and children in the hope of realizing gold
enough to lift them from the pangs of poverty and
want. Everybody was aroused. Everything was in
commotion. “To the mines!” “Are you going to the
mines?” “When are you going to start?” were the uni-
versal cries, the constant questions, the general topics
of conversation. Such delirium of gladness, such glow
on countenances, such cheerful farewells, such em-
braces, such flow of joyous tears had never been wit-
nessed before on earth. Imagine a multitude who had
given up almost ail hope of ever enjoying the com-
monest of earthly comforts, to see, on a sudden, a fortune
flash before their eyes. So, to the mines they flocked
until the colony seemed to hâve lost half its population.
By August of the same year thousands and thousands
were already at work mining for gold. Meantime, dis-
covery followed discovery among the mountains, so thatLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
77
the adventurers at home trembled lest their gold should
become valueless, and were already discussing among
themselves what other rare and controllable thing could
be made legal tender in the place of gold.
A short period after the discovery of Miss Marshall,
gold was found in abundance on the other side of the
earth, in Australia, and there also poured men from ail
parts of the world.
“Thank God!” we cried, on hearing the cheering
news, “salvation from financial trouble is indeed at
hand. We are entering an era of gold. Since it seems
impossible to arouse the colonists from their gold mon-
omania, they will at least soon hâve an abundance of
the stufif to keep ail of them at work, and thus make
themselves prosperous. ” Thus we reasoned.
We remained in the colony in the hope that, at the
return of the miners, we would witness a true and last-
ing revival of business in which the colonists would
enjoy ail the benefits, independent of the adventurers
and their redeemable notes. Of course we well knew
that, if prosperity ever returned, it would be due en-
tirely to their own work at home, and not to the holes
they had dug in California or Australia, nor to the gold
they had extracted from those holes. But there seemed
to be no other way to arouse them from their chronic
lethargy or hipnotism except by pandering to their de-
lusion. Redeemable notes issued by adventurers had
proven so great a field of robbery, that they had lost
faith in them, or received them only when actual neces-
sity compelled them to do so to avoid starvation.
Their most trusty friends, such as Webster, advised
them to let such notes alone. But, while difïering so
widely from their monetary religion, we had seen them78	LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
pass through so many years of oppression, robberies,
dépréssion of spirit and sufferings, ail due to that one
horrible decree making gold legal tender, that we actu-
ally participated with them in the expected prosperity
and joy, corne whence it may.
But, alas! we were again doomed to disappointment.
Now and then one of the miners would return, bring-
ing with him gold enough “to keep me,” as he would
express it, “the remainder of my days, out of trouble,”
and would at once join the craft of adventurers. The
largest number had either perished, or remained at the
mines, ashamed to corne home poor. These replied to
letters from parents and friends who invited them to
corne home:	“What is there for us to do at home?
Business is dead. There is no money in circulation,
and, if we work at ail, we hâve to take worthless bank-
notes for it, and.finally lose the whole of it in a panic.”
So they remained at the mines, catching jobs for a liv-
ing. A few more managed to make their way home,
sad, dejected, ruined in health, and poorer than when
they left. Before leaving for the mines, thèy had
sold what little effects they could spare. Now ail was
gone, and nothing was left but the open arms and wel-
come of friends.
“What became of the gold which was mined?” we
inquired of these returning miners. “It ail went to
pay expenses,” they answered. “Everything was so
high that very few had any gold left after paying ex-
penses.” “Whatdid provision men and merchants do
with the gold you paid them?” we asked further. “Some
became rich and turned adventurers, loaning money.
But the largest portion are in poor circumstances, strug-
gling to make a living, while very many hâve been soldLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
79
out, /oot and branch, by the sheriff, ” they replied.
“How can this be? Who got the gold? Who sold
them out?” we queried. One of the most intelligent
of the returned miners explained to us that, “As soon
as the miners began to arrive at the mines, merchants,
mostly from England, also arrived with cargoes of pro-
visions, clothes, tools, implements, machinery, powder,
fuse, etc., ail of which we were compelled to purchase
at theif own prices. These merchants had borrowed
money of English adventurers to purchase these things
and pay freight on them. When we complained of
high prices, they retorted that interest and freight ab-
sorbed ail the profits.” “Heaven help the people!” we
cried, in astonishment. “So adventurers in England
hâve absorbed ail the gold at last! What will ever be-
come of the workers? Where is any hope for the colo-
nists?”
Thus, at the very time when we expected the colony
to be flooded with gold from the mines of California
and Australia; just when we expected to see the colo-
nists pay off the mortgages yet hanging on their homes;
just when, we believed, they were about to free them-
selves from the adventurers, only nine years after the
discovery of little Miss Marshall in California, and
only three years after similar discoveries in Australia,
such was the scarcity of gold in the colony that the
adventurers, with ail the help from the few fortunate
miners who had joined them, could not redeem the
few notes presented to the bank, and the colony fouiid
itself involved in the most terrifie panic that Jiad ever
happened before. Thousands and hundreds of thou-
sands lost ail they had in the world and were beggared
for life.8o
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
Read a description of this panic by one of the ad-
venturers. He says:	“Up to August our commercial
afïairs were generally prosperous. Farmers, stock-grow-
ers and planters had been made rich by high prices.,,
(It was work, not high prices, which made them rich.)
“With the immense productions of the year at our
doors, the most sagacious of adventurers saw no indica-
tions of a storm in the financial sky. On the 8th of
August the adventurers had loaned out $ 122,000,000 of
redeemable bank-notes. Such volume made them
fearful that the colonists may bring them in for rédemp-
tion, so they closed the loans, and called in the debts
due them. Debtors were suddenly compelled to for-
ward their produce to market for sale. They glutted
the market and produce fell in price. A produce house
failed. One failure brought another, and this another,
and on the 24th of August a great adventurer, unable
to stand the run upon him, suspended. It struck the
public mind like a cannon shot. An intense excite-
ment was manifested among ail the adventurers. Then
failure followed failure among them, as they did among
merchants, and the colony became a babel of intense
excitement. Bank-notes in circulation stopped passing
altogether. At the end of August one of the richest
banks closed its doors against depositors and went to
loaning in the Street at 5 per cent per month. House
after house of high commercial repute went down, and
many banks were added to the list of failures. At
the same time work and commerce came to a dead
lock. The purchase and transportation of produce
ceased almost entirely.
“From this period nothing was wanting to aggravate
the general distress for money. The avalanch of fail-LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
81
ures swept down merchants, bankers, corporations,
manufacturing companies without distinction. Old
houses with accumulated capital, which had withstood
the violence of former panics, were prostrated in a day.
In the middle of October ail the banks had closed. It
was the climax of this financial hurricane.”
Such is the outline of the most extraordinary, the
most violent and most destructive financial panic ever
experienced in the colony.
Another witness of that panic calculated “the losses
suffered by the colonists at from half a billion to one
billion dollars, and this apart from incidental losses by
the suspension of business, when millions of idle labor-
ers lost millions of dollars daily.” He adds that “such
losses are fearful to contemplate in figures. How much
more fearful the reality of them, if it could be brought
at one glance under the eye! The grave of many for-
tunes; the gulf which has swallowed up the competency
of thousands; the homes, the comforts, the food, the
raiment of millions, who toil with their own hands for
their daily bread. The whole colony suddenly and
most unexpectedly plunged into indigence and grief. ”
Behold the good that the gold mines brought us!
The last writer quoted, asserts that “the panic lasted
one hundred days. ” It is lasting yet. Thousands hâve
never recovered their losses, and never will. This
writer means that it required one hundred days for the
adventurers to close mortgages and gather in the booty;
for, be it remembered that, while the law allows bank-
ers to close their doors against creditors, their debtors
are not allowed to close their doors against bankers.
Here is where “protection” cornes in!8 2
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
In connection with said terrible panic, and ail other
monetary crisis, we must call the reader’s attention to the
fact that such storms do not really carry away nor de-
stroy one single atom of existing wealth. After each
panic, everything previously existing exists still; but,
alas! millions, worth hâve changed owners. Millions
are made paupers, not by setting a match to their prop-
erty and homes, but by robbing them of the same,
while a few are made millionaires by the absorption of
said property. Then the victims of these atrocious
iniquities are charged as being the cause of the same,
by their over-production, over-trading and extrava-
gance. It is that abominable legal tender decree which
belches out more ruin than the out-pouring of a vol-
cano.
Under the old colonial System, panics were impos-
sible.
After the last panic, the most melancholy period ever
witnessed by the inhabitants, fell upon the colony.
There was left neither enterprise nor energy enough to
awaken it. The colonists were utterly discouraged.
A dark pall seemed to hâve fallen over the land. Gold
was now out of the question. No help could longer
be expected from the mines. The hard-working farmer,
who had been reduced to the necessity of borrowing
from the unfeeling adventurers at enormous rates of in-
terest to save his home, was now forced to give it
up and move with his family further into the wilder-
ness. Soon there would be no wilderness to move to.
Wage-workers were tramping the country in poverty
and gloom. The distress was universal. And such
conditions, as we said, at a period of the greatest gold
production in the world! Woe the people who shallLEGAL TENDER MONEY.	$$
ever look to gold for their financial liberty and pros-
perity.
AT THE MINES.
It may not be amiss here to give a description of the
hardships and privations which men would undergo for
the sake of that, believed to be, omnipotent métal. We
copy from an eminent writer:
“The spot was a deep ravine formed by the Buck-
land river, enclosed by steep mountain side, which ex-
cluded every breath of wind. The air in the ravine
was stagnant, and the scorching sun made it intensely
hot during the day, while at night the température fell
to a piercing cold, so that the miners in the ravine
were, alternately, in an oven and an ice-house. More-
oveç, as the gold beds lay in the channel of the river,
the miners worked up to their waists in water. To this
gold field of surpassing richness, thousands of adven-
turers had flocked in feverish haste, but disease kept
horrid sentry over the buried treasure. A peculiar
fever, of the typhoid character, was the denizen of the
spot; besides which the gold-seekers suffered severely
from the eye-blight, owing to the concentrated blaze
of the sunshine reflecting from the steep sides of the
ravine, and they were at ail times grievously tormented
by clouds of Aies.
“Bad diet and want of vegetables aggravated the dis-
ease natural to the place and stimulated by the kind of
work. In the interesting accounts which reached us,
we read of onions sellingat #1.50 per pound; cabbages,
so precious that they were eut up and sold at 60 cents
to $1.00 per pound; Holloway’s pills selling at 25 cents
each, or $5.00 per box. It was a valley of death. Con-
stitutions, that had borne the hardships of other fields,84
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
broke down here, and hundreds perished unattended
and unknown. To catch a little gold was worth
more than the life of a fellow-being! The little
levels between the stream and the base of the moun-
tain wall, for ten miles along the valley, were so thickly
studded with graves that the river appeared to run
through a church-yard. One new corner, a little wiser
than the rest, counted eleven corpses carried past his
tent during the dinner hour of his first working day,
and thinking that even gold may be purchased too
dearly, left the place instantly. Many abandoned it
after somewhat longer trials; but a greater number, fas-
cinated by the richness of the gold beds, remained in
défiance of disease and ‘took their chance.9 With
what resuit, the numerous graves of the valley witness
to this day. It was a scene ‘to point a moral or to
adorn a romance.’ Yet it was only one among the
thousands of instances of persistency in such a cause.
Whether we follow labor to the mines searching for the
dross in its natural hiding places, or witness the toils
and struggles to obtain it in dribs through wages and
prices in a coined State, it is alike a reflection upon
the divine character of man and a blight on his under-
standing. Could we for a moment divest ourselves of
préjudices and behold men, by thousands, rushing across
océans and continents to the gold fields of California and
Australia, waste and desert places in the uttermost parts
of the civilized world; watch them toiling and delving in
the guiches of mountains; ‘places that no bird of prey
knoweth, and the eye of the hawk hath not seen; which
the proud beasts of prey hâve not trodden, nor the lion
passed along, searching for the stone of darkness and
the shadow of death/ (Job xxviii: 1-2); see the minersLEGAL TENDER MONEY.	85
amidst ail manners of hardships, privations and dis-
ease, beset by extremes of weather, and surrounded by
a lawless class, unrestrained by gentle woman, and ail
this for the sâke of obtaining a yellow substance which
is not fit for food, clothes, medicine, nor shelter, we
could but infer that, either men hâve lost mental bal-
ance, or they must be bewitched by some evil genius.”
GOLD IN ENGLAND.
One night, unable to sleep through pondering upon
the future of the working classes, there came across
our mind a desire to learn what became of the gold that
was carried by miners and speculators to England, and
how the toiling masses fared there. Surely, we thought,
even if affected by the gold infatuation, they cannot
be suffering for want of employment, as there is plenty
of gold to keep every man, woman and child constant-
ly at work. Next morning early, we wrote to our friend
Patterson, in London, and he kindiy favored us with an
Essay that he had just published on the subject. “It
is astounding!” we exclaimed, after perusing that Essay.
“What will ever become of poor humanity, if this gold
craze continues? If the poor cannot rise above their
goldolatry, nor the adventurers melt to pity, the
world is doomed soon to be but a vast herd of hungry
human chattel, driven by a few inhuman masters.” In
fact, in so far as the colony was concerned, we had
almost made up our mind that the whole would finally
go irreparably to ruin. Unless in a very short time
some extraordinary unforeseen event should awaken
the colonists from their gold lunacy, some evil day,
in' utter despair, they would rise in mad fury, make for
the adventurers, and may be the governor himself, and
wipe them both from existence in a twinkle. Of course86
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
we earnestly hoped that they might return to reason,
but began seriously to fear the latter solution. We
feared it because loud and ominous mutterings from
the ranks of the working classes were beginning to fill
the air.
But here is friend Patterson’s Essay and personal
letter accompanying the same:
“Dear Friend:—It gives me pleasure to be able to
gratify, if but in part, your desire in reference to the
gold which is being poured upon us from ail parts of
the world. I will reply to your request categorically
as to its value and the use we make of the stuff in our
exchanges. I do this by mailing you an Essay I hâve
just published on the same subject. I hope it will be
satisfactory.	Respectfully,
Patterson.
“VALUE OF GOLD
“One cubic foot of gold weighs 1,203^ pounds. The
same will coin $369.124 in colonial money.
“At $2.00 per day, this twelve-inch block of gold
would keep one man employed six hundred years, about
eighteen générations; ten men sixty years, and one hun-
dred men six years! Think, reader, of one hundred
able-bodied and sound-minded men toiling six years
for a useless rock, one cubic foot in size, and board,
clothe and house themselves ail this time!
“If this block of gold was put at interest, that is, so.
adjusted by bankers as to lay and hatch a progeny
of itself, in six hundred years, or before one man
should reach the possession of it by toil, it would itself
possess the world, without any manner of work being
done by its owner. Think of it, reader! This asser-
tion may seem paradoxical, but it is a peradox of suchLEGAL TENDER MONEY.	$7
character that the amount of truth contained the;ein
bears the weal or woe of mankind; for it is by pla/ing
this rock at interest, under many forms, that u few
manipulators are absorbing the products of labov and
reducing to modem bondage the living and the unl/>rn.
“When we had slavery in the British colonies that
twelve inch cube of gold would purchase eighteen hun-
dred human beings, eighteen hundred rational h^ings
with an eternal soûl in them! In many parts À the
earth, to-day, it will purchase a larger number of daves,
and in semi-civilized countries of the East, iv vill buy
harems of women. Think of it, reader!
“But let us leave this horrifying comparison human
beings and the toil of human beings with a lifeless,
unconscious rock, and corne to the functions ifiat gold
performs in the world of exchanges, and what effect it
has over the activity and conséquent well bein^* -of man.
“COMMERCIAL USE OF GOLD.
“Gold in highly civilized countries like Enéland, has
long since ceased to circulate as a medium of exchange.
Some mysterious power (it is interest) draws it to the
banks, there to be buried in fire-proof vaults.
“Here let us pose and ponder a moment upon the
immense sacrifices made by man to extract gold from
its native places àmidst mountains; how much labor
has been spent; how much sufïering undergone; how
many graves prematurely filled away from home and
friends, and ail for the apparent purpose of burying it
again in artificial caves.
“Oh, inconsistency of man! We are indeed a mys-
tery unto ourselves.
“The largest of these banks, those which enjoy gov-
ernment privilège and patronage, hold an average of88
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
$250,000,000 of gold. This amount is equal to six hun-
dred and seventy cubic feet,and would fill a box nine feet
cube. Great nations possess each about $600,000,000,
or a twelve feet cube. Behold the god of nations!
Behold the block which is universally believed to up-
hold and move the huge fabric of industry and com-
merce in the world! Behold the luminary, without
which ail would be darkness! Behold the god who
holds in the hollow of his hands the rise or fall of
nations, and without whom ail natural and artificial
resources in the universe would be unavailing!
“WATCHING THE GOLD BLOCK.
“Let us now go to Plutus Temple—the bank, in
the sanctum sanctorum of which gold is sacredly
kept, (as was the Ark of the Tabernacle), and let us
investigate what functions it daims to perform in the
affairs of men. For this purpose we will select the
greatest of ail banks in the world, viz: the Bank of
England, located in London, the capital of the Em-
pire.
f ‘London contains a city within a city; and within
this inner city is yet another, the very heart of this
metropolis. It is a small place. In a couple of min-
utes you may walk across it from side to side and from
end to end. Yet it is the center and citadel of Eng-
land’s greatness, the heart whose pulsations are felt to
the furthest extremities of the earth. The occupants
of this precinct hâve dealings with ail the world. From
this spot proceeds the power which helps on the civili-
zation of the globe. As you look upon the low, quad-
rangular structure of the bank, you are overcome by its
imposing appearance. The dead wall around it, scant-
ily relieved by pillars let into the front, almost window-LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
89
less and doorless, bespeaks a sombre, jealously guarded
SANCTUARY. It is the treasure house of Plutus,
the sovereign and deity of this precinct and of Eng-
land. In front of it, you feel an awe and sombreness
very accordant with ail our notions of the “Old Lady
of Threadneedle Street,” the image of wealth and
power.
“Across Threadneedle Street stands the Royal Ex-
change, with its high pillared porticoes, its wide arch-
way of entrance and large inner court, open to the sky.
These two buildings, which far surpass in size any
of the surrounding palaces, fitly “represent” the two
powers whose joint action constitutes the life of this
busy world. The Bank represents money, the Ex-
change represents commerce. Generally the two act
in harmony; sometimes, however, in rivalry; but at ail
times they deeply affect one another. A panic on
Change makes a crisis at the Bank. A crisis at the
Bank makes a panic on 'Change. They are like brother
and sister; but money is the stronger. Commerce dé-
pends upon money, and sometimes it is subjected to a
cruel bondage. Linger here awhile and it will not be
long before you find what vast issues are dépendent
upon the presence of gold in that solid building of the
short pillars. Yet, strange to say, in this temple of
gold, gold cannot be seen. We know from official re-
turns that so many millions of gold lie in the vaults of
the Bank, but the precious métal makes no appearance
in the business transactions of this money center. Bits
of paper with some writing on them are the sole visible
agents of the scene. Paper, paper, paper everywhere,
but no gold, not one sovereign to be Seen. It is only
the ghost of the gold that occupies the stage of action.9°
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
The truth is, the whole operations of this monetary
metropolis would corne to a standstill, if they had to be
carried on with gold. Happily the yellow dross is no
longer wanted. (It never was wanted.) Yet, while
gold is here invisible, while thousands who operate
here never see it; visible or invisible, its presence in
the vaults régulâtes and affects ail the commercial ope-
rations of England, nay, of the whole world. Those
two brief Unes in the city papers which tell whether the
gold block in the bank is swelling or shrinking, con-
tracting or expanding, are in reality the vital pivot
of the industrial movement of England. If gold is
coming in, everybody is elated, and business and enter-
prise go freely ahead; if gold is leaving the Bank,
everybody becomes uneasy and enterprise cornes to a
stand-still.
“But why, it may be asked, should a little more or
less gold in the Bank produce such immense effect upon
the prosperity of a nation? (Echo answers why?) This
temple of Mammon is based upon gold, and this basis
has often been found to be pre-eminently unstable and
dangerous. The gold block within perpetually oscil-
lâtes; and each of its greater oscillations is felt like the
shock of an earthquake. It rises, and falls, expands
and contracts; it heaves and subsides like a breathing
monster asleep; and sometimes fears are entertained
that it will slip away altogether. Then goodly com-
mercial houses go down by the thousands; not because
they were ill-built, nor from any fault of the architect,
or the occupants, but because the foundation of a
chamberful of yellow dross, upon which they stood,
has given away.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
91
“Of late years these oscillations hâve been more
frequent, more alarming and more disastrous. Every
ten years, or so, a convulsion takes place; not of
nature, but of human folly, which spreads terror and
désolation far and wide, paralyzing the business of the
whole country as effectually as if an earthquake had
upheaved the land and strewed with ruins the pillars of
our national industry. The merchants and the manu-
facturer, the shop-keepers and the wage-workers alike
find their trade suddenly stopped, and their means of
living swept away. Suffering and want spread over the
country as if a great famine was on hand. There is
paralysis of industry, dearth of employment, and hard
times are felt universally.
“Is there something wrong here? (Echo again ans-
wers, something wrong!) Ought the presence 01 ab-
sence of a few cubic inches or feet of gold in a bank
make so vast a différence between national prospenty
on the one hand, and national disaster and wide-spread
ruin on the other? How will posterity judge us when
it reads, in our annals, that we made the huge fabric of
industry, upon the activity of which human welfare
dépends, stand like an inverted pyramid resting on
such a narrow and unstable apex of a chamberful of
useless métal? Will they not charge us with folly and
barbarism?,,
Such is the value, the uses and the power of gold in
England, according to Mr. Patterson. We do not see
from his description of affairs there, that the people
were any better off than the colonists. The same gold-
olatry—the same adventurers—the same poverty and
désolation, is cursing ail.92
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
That the reader may see the effect of such monetary
System in England, we clip from a daily paper published
in London at the time:
“THE STRUGGLE FOR WORK.
“In the Art Building at the Exhibition is a group
of figures bearing the above title. The theme was
suggested to the sculptor, Johanne Gelert, by the awful
existing fact that multitudes, yea, daily increasing mul-
titudes, willing to work, find it impossible to obtain
work of any sort. In some sections of England, when
a superintendent of a mill has a little work to offer, he
appears at one of the Windows with a handful of work-
tickets (to be scrambled for) which he drops into the
midst of a waiting, hungry throng. The scalptured
group represents one of these scenes. It consists of
six figures. The central one is a strong man in his
full maturity, made almost fierce by the pangs of baffled
poverty, yet not without tender fellow feelings. He is
represented as the winner of a work ticket, which he
holds aloft for its protection. He is surrounded by
weaker rivais. On one side is a poor old man looking
beseechingly at the strong winner, with ail the appeal-
ing features of old âge crushed by the dégradation of
the poor. On the other side is a young man, with the
agony of dying aspiration in his eyes, warring with in-
tense, desperate détermination. In front is a little
boy, a représentative of that awful outrage of child-
hood, called ‘child labor.’ He pulls piteously, with
the vengeance of hunger, at the rags of the strong
man. At the feet of this central figure is a mother
prostrate to protect a toddler overthrown in the strug-
gle for tickets. The poor mother clasps her babe, in
its bundle of rags, as tenderly as the rich mother doesLEGAL TENDER MONEY.	93
hers in its silks and laces. The entire group tells a
story that would break a heart of stone.
“Let every one who visits the Art Gallery go and
stand before this group, and, gazing upon its dumb élo-
quence, feel it to be God’s call to his soûl to consecrate
himself to the service of our race until the barbarous
System which has brought about and tolérâtes scenes
like these, be removed root and branch from the face
of the earth.	Bertha S. Boomer.”
We clip one more piece from the same paper:
“MISERIES OF THE POOR.
“The miseries among the poor are at their height.
Hundreds of gaunt, nollow-eyed, half clad men and
women drag themselves along the slimy pavement of
the east end of London. A big, pale-faced, sunken-
eyed man was seen yesterday picking from the Street a
mouldy bit of bread, half-covered with mud, and de-
vour it greedily. It was only a typical incident. Hun-
dreds of children go barefooted, when the temperatur^ is
far below the freezing point, to their Chappels where
they receive a soup dinner, their only food once a day.
The pawn-shops are packed full of furniture, clothing
and beddings, sadly needed at homes, and will take no
more at any price. Many men are so enfeebled that
they could not work if offered to them. The desolate,
barren homes of the destitutes écho with groans.
Heart-rending stories go the rounds. In Street after
Street houses are tenanted by an entire family in each
room. The wonder is that they suffer uncomplaining-
ly in despair, believing that their case is beyond rem-
edy. Yet local investigation shows that more and
more are turned out of employment every day, and
thus every day the misery is widening and intensifying,94
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
“Ireland, too, is sending up her perennial cry of dis-
tress. When the Board of Guardians of Schull, in
West Cork, were in session, the door was forced open
and a number of men in rags, and with emaciated
countenances, entered the room. They were laborers
and farmers of a few acres on the hills overlooking
Dunmanus-bay. One of the number, Dennis Dono-
van, without asking or waiting for permission, stated
the grievance of the party with an air of desperation
which drew tears from the members of the board. He
and those with him, he said with agony, were starving.
They would not hâve corne there if they had been able
to provide themselves with one scanty meal a day of
the meanest fare to save life. They had been obliged
to consume the potatoes that they had been saving for
seed in order to ward off starvation He had a few
barren acres on the sea-shore and one cow, but he was
daily expecting to hâve her seized by the rate collector
for payment of county fees. He had no food for his
starving children, and crédit was out of the question.—
London Truth.”
After witnessing the resuit of the gold discoveries
upon the welfare of the colonists, and learning, from
friend Patterson and the newspapers he sent us, the con-
dition of England where most of the gold had gone,
our expectation of relief ever coming from gold mines,
left us altogether. Therefore, the only gleam of hope
remaining was how to cure or modify the mental dis-
ease of the colonists, and thus to confine the disasters
of the legal tender decree to debts now outstanding,
and taxation. To this end we turned our undivided
efforts.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
95
«	SCRIPTS OF THE REBELLION.
We stated elsewhere that wars are “harvest fields for
adventurers.,, We were somewhat inaccurate. Wars
are to them, seeding seasons, and subséquent monetary
crises the harvest time or vintage season. The Revolu-
tionary war, as we hâve seen, proved an exception,
probably the only one in modem times. During that
war true patriotism prevailed over adventurism and did
not permit the tares scattered by speculators to sprout.
But they made it up hugely in the war of the Rébel-
lion, and by subséquent legislative financial acts of
th^ir own devising Through this latter event they
reached the pinnacle of financial glory. No âge nor
country was ever before cursed with so many million-
* aires.
Let us narrate, briefly, the financial history of that
Rébellion:
The colonists had fallen out among themselves about
some trivial legal quibbles that they called ‘ ‘States
Rights” and threatened to dissolve the Union. At the
first Sound of the cannon the adventurer hid his gold
and made his notes very scarce. He proved the truth
of the saying that “capital is timid” ahd hence shuns
danger. The governor was sorely perplexed how to
•prevent the dissolution of the country. Not that he
lacked in men or materials to put down the Rébellion,
but he thought that he lacked the money to pay the
men and purchase the needed materials. The idea
that a governor has to ,pay his own people for what
provisions and services they furnish him had not yet
left his brain. His officiais and friends were equally
troubled as to the course to be pursued in regard to
money matters. Finaily, one of his advisers “hit the96
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
nail on the head” by suggesting that the governor hâve
plates eigraven and print notes of his own. “Did not
adventurers hire men and buy goods of ail sorts with
their notes?” argued this friend. “Let us do likewise,”
he added. “But,” replied the governor, “most of the
colonists are indebted to adventurers who would not
accept our notes in payment, and would distress their
debtors for gold.” “Order y our notes to be legal
tender, as your predecessor has ordered the gold of a
hunter to be,” rejoined this patriot, “and compel these
adventurers to receive them.” To this he added
“the salvation of the colony is more important than
the surfeit of a few lazy speculators.”
“Eurêka!” shouted the friends of the Union in
chorus. “Salvation is found.”
The news of the money remedy, as proposed, came
to the ears of the adventurers in their palaces, and they
felt it like the shock of an earthquake. Demetrius,
our adventurer, who was master workman among them,
at once called a convocation of the craft (Acts xix. 24)
and said: “Ye know that by this craft (legal tender
gold and redeemable bank-notes) we make our fortune.
Moreover ye heard how a friend of the governor has
persuaded him to take this business into his own hands*
and issue legal tender notes, so that, not only our
vast note industry is in danger, but the very founda-
tion of the whole structure, gold itself, may he set to
naught. ”
When the craft heard these sayings, they were filled
with wrath and cried out, saying:	“Great is gold, the
money of the world and the only redeemer!” And
the whole tribe of them was in commotion.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
97
And when they had consulted together they proceeded
to the city of Tribulation to lay their grievances before
the governor. And here is the financial scheme they
presented to the governor for adoption:
ist. The governor to be allowed to issue a few notes
to be used for the period of two years only, then to be
collected in taxes and cancelled.
2d. To issue hundreds of millions of interest draw-
ing bonds and sell them to adventurers for “redeem-
able” bank-notes, or for the governor’s notes, called
Greenbacks!
In this scheme, as may easily be detected, the adven-
turers had but one object in view and one plan for at-
taining that object. The object, never lost sight of,
was plunder; the means to that object was to capture
the monetary System and convert it into bonds.
“A witness to this audacious proposai said that “The
plan displayed great sagacity on the part of the adven-
turers” and added that “The governor thought well of
that part of it which would compel the colonist to re-
turn his notes in taxes, because it would save him the
trouble of having to redeem them in gold; but he could
'not comprehend the balance of the scheme. “Why
should I substitute an interest-bearing bond to a non-
interest-bearing note of mine or the adventurers’ notes?”
he queried. “It is men and materials for war that I
need, not bonds and bank-notes,” he said. Here,
when the object of the proposai flashed to his mind,
his temper gave way and he came near breaking friend-
ship with the tribe of leechy speculators. The gravity
of circumstances had aroused his patriotism, and made
him think more of the colony than of financial schemers.9&
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
When, on reading the report,of that conférence, we
came to the latter part about the governor being aroused
against those traitors, we felt much elated, hoping to
see a new era in the monetary affairs of the colony;
probably the very downfall of gold and the end of
redeemable bank-notes fraud. Such era, however, had
not .arrived yet. On the contrary it developed into
periods of greater hardships Those were times trying
to men’s feelings, however, and the adventurers were
very careful not to arouse too strong an opposition. So
they tarried in the city of Tribulation patiently for sev-
eral days, and held many conférences with the clerk,
who had charge of the monetary aiïairs. Finally, by
skillful manipulations and other ways, they persuaded
him to stop the issue of legal tender notes. After this
conquest, they soon succeeded in convincing the ad-
visers of the governor that “the issue of irredeemable
legal tender notes was a violation of the colonial con-
stitution, detrimental to the interests of the colony, de-
structive of the public crédit and the cause why gold
had left us in this hour of trouble.
To make this distressing story short, the adventurers
worked their underground wires so skillfully that, at
last, they had the governor himself and ail his clerks
and advisers under absolute control. They had them
to sign a contract providing that the issue of legal ten-
der notes should go no further, and that billions of
bonds and hundreds of millions of national bank-
notes should be issued in their stead. These new bank-
notes were to be called national, for the reason that
the nation furnished the stable, the cows, the fodder
and did the milking, while the adventurers got ail the
calves and thé milk.LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
99
Thus, the monetary machinery which was working so
smoothly under the governor’s notes, was again turaed
over to the gang of leeches, without the use of a par-
ticle of gold, or security or work on their part. Every
dollar that they now collected in interest, rent and dis-
count, they converted into bonds on which the gov-
ernor was to pay gold interest, and made him collect
this interest on imported goods, so as to make the bur-
den fall upon the colonists who consumed these goods.
A painting of the monetary System as it then was will,
some day, adorn the art gallery of future générations.
It will represent a circle on which are located groups
of various industries which, in the play of life keep the
Governor’s greenbacks in motion. At the most prom-
inent point on the circle is the printing press and Uncle
Sam, who, in shirt-sleeves and pants in his boots, has
just turned out the last batch of greenback dollars and
started them to the battlefield where others had gone
before. He is now furiously rolling out bonds and
national notes. Meantime, the first detachment of
greenbacks hâve paid the soldiers, hâve passed through
the soldiers’ homes and hence to the groceryman and
merchant, and from them to the adventurer, who has
just put them up in a package with those which came
• directly to him in interest, rent and discounts, and the
whole taken to Uncle Sam to exchange for bonds and
national notes, the bonds to bear gold interest, and the
notes to meet the merchants’ checks and to loan out.
On the other side of the circle again go the greenbacks,
round by the battlefield to parents and wives, and from
these in detachments, some by way of the merchants,
others directly to the bank, hence to Uncle Sam forIOO
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
more bonds and national notes—thus in perpetual
motion.
The whole scene will be a Circus representing the
spirit-land of finances and how it is drained by the
circulating Medium.
An adventurer, by the name of Spaulding, “let the
cat out of the bag” by saying: “After the banks had
already absorbed eighty millions of bonds, their cash
was short only seven millions,,, and added that “such
was the activity of trade at that time that these seven
millions staid out one week only!” The trot of the
Medium on the circle must hâve been tremendous!
The artist who will draw a vivid picture of such
financial Circus will surely immortalize his name.
Seriously, when future générations shall study the
monetary System of the colony as resulted from the
Rébellion, they will scarcely realize that a fraud of
such magnitude could hâve been imposed upon an in-
telligent people. Under it, the soldiers fought the bat-
tles, the colonists furnished everything used, the gov-
ernor issued ail the money needed, and bonds which
were not needed, and the adventurers (who were now
called nationals) absorbed ail the products of labor.
The final resuit was to be seen ail over the colony
for years afterward, in the governor and people deeply
in debt, ail the industries mortgaged, soldiers killed or.
crippled and poor, and the adventurers masters of the
situation.
Thus, like a man on quick-sand, every monetary
move that the colonists attempted after that fatal legal
tender decree, sunk them deeper into the Slough of
Despond. Yet, how often our thoughts would revert
to that time, at the beginning of the Rébellion, whenLEGAL TENDER MONEY.
IOI
the governor had wisely and patriotically issued those
few millions of legal tender greenbacks; how they had
aroused the colonists into activity, so that they had
flooded the country with comforts and improvements;
how they had enabled the governor to obtain men and
materials to carry on the war to a successful termina-
tion. The colony had never seen such development
before. It really seemed as if the war had been a
blessing instead of a calamity. And it ail could be at-
tributed to nothing else than to those notes keeping the
whole people employed. Had those legal tender notes
been issued in time of peace, when hundrerîs of thou-
sands of soldiers could hâve been engaged in produc-
tion, instead of as they were, in destruction, poverty
and want would soon hâve been driven from the coun-
try. We actually believe that, if the adventurers could
hâve been made to see what obstacles they and their
legal tender gold were to the prosperity of the people,
and could hâve been shown, as in a panorama, what the
material and social condition of the people would hâve
been, if they had only stood aside and let the grand in-
dustrial légions pass onward in their march, surely, of
their own free will and accord, they would hâve set the
colonists free. It would hâve been to the people’s in-
terest to tender to every adventurer a pension to induce
him to retire.
After the Rébellion, with an enormous public debt
and private mortgages, the money began to gather fast
into the hands of the adventurers, there to be convert-
ed into additional bonds, and simultaneously the colo-
nists began to go down and down, financially, until
1873 when telegrams again flashed over the colony to
farmers, manufacturers and merchants to make ready102
LEGAL TENDER MONEY.
and save their property, if possible, for they were in
the midst of another terrifie panic. Jay Cook, a great
adventurer, had closed the door of his bank, and the.
closing of that door shook the colony from center to
circumference. Priées fell; business stopped; workers
were discharged by the hundreds of thousands; failures
followed failures and a dark pall once more covered
the land.
No part of man’s history repeats itself so surely as
these financial catastrophes under legal tender gold and
redeemable bank-notes.STANDARD O F VALUE.
Ancient idolatry, in order to continue its hold on the
people’s mind, constrained its priesthood to constantly
bestow additional attributes and prérogatives on the
idols, or to give different interprétations to the at-
tributes already bestowed upon them. The gods had
to keep pace with progress, else the devotees would lose
vénération for them and cease paying tithes to the
priests. Goldolatry was in the same predicament.
The attributes heretofore bestowed upon gold became
stale, hence the adventurers were compelled to place
new attributes and prérogatives upon it. One of these lat-
ter attributes was the function of a standard of value.
A grosser absurdity could not hâve been imagined. In
the prosperous times of the colony, under ‘‘Finance as
it Should Be,” an average day’s work, as we stated, was
their standard or unit of value. The word value, with
them, meant the amount of labor bestowed upon an
object. This value would only be modified, under ex
traordinary circumstances, by the law of supply and
demand. In times of famine, for instance, food would
raise far above the labor bestowed on it, while in
times of superfluity, it would sink below. But in ordi-
nary circumstances, everything was valued and inter-
changed upon a basis of the labor bestowed on it.
Thus the value of objects was readily understood and104
STANDARD OF VALUE.
computed. But now, in their befogged mental condi-
tion, the colonists had been led to believe that a piece
of gold of a certain size was the proper standard of
value, and it seemed impossible to get them to see the
incongruity of the idea. Learned men, statesmen, and
in fact ail classes, seemed now to believe that, if the
Adventurer had not made that fortunate trip to the
mountains and stumbled against that divine (?) minerai,
the world would hâve groped along in perfect darkness
as to the value of things. No one would ever hâve
known the worth of one day’s hunting or fishing; would
never hâve known the value of game or fish, nor how
to exchange one for the other. Farmers would never
hâve discovered the value of grain, méat, fruit or veg-
etables; nor would they ever hâve known how much,
or how little, of these products they could afford to
give for a plough, a cart or a coat! Wonderful discov-
ery that of Gold! It is a mystery that God should
hâve created such element so far from man, knowing
that man cannot prosper without it! Assuming the doc-
trine of the gold standard to be correct, let us hail the
Adventurer and his treasure-trove. Hail him for hav-
ing brought the human race out of such profound igno-
rance. What would hâve become of us without this
standard! Let us hail him far above the discoverers
of the mariner’s compass and those of the power of
steam and electricity. Hail him!
We would often enter into arguments with prominent
colonists about this doctrine, and endeavor to prove
its fallacy. We would, for instance, hand a gold dol-
lar to our opponents and ask them to go and measure,
or weigh with it, the value of a horse, a pig, a coat or
a house. They well knew that it could not be done;STANDARD OF VALUE.
105
that it was a positive impossibility, and hence they
evaded our question by sophisms and vague assertions.
“Friend,” we once addressed an excitable goldite,
“you assert that gold is a standard of value, do y ou
not?” He acknowledged that he did. “Now you know
what standards of measure are,” we said, adding, “a
standard must be an unchangeable and well known
quantity of the thing, material or immaterial to be
measured. Now will you please to tell us the exact
value of a gold dollar?” “It is a hundred cents,” he
answered. “A hundred cents of what?” we asked.
“Of gold,” he replied. “Friend,” we continued, “you
are either hiding behind fractions, or ignorant of the
subject at hand. A child at school knows that every
object on earth contains a hundred cents of itself.
“Wewant to know the value of a gold dollar, not the
parts of it.” If we do not know its value, how can we
use it to measure the value of other things? If we did
not know the length of a yard-stick, the weight of a
pound, or the size of a bushel measure, how could we
find, by them, the length of a rope, the weight of a bar
of gold, or the quantity of wheat in a bin? How could
we know the size of Noah’s ark until we found the length
of one cubit, which was his standard measure? We
ask you again, friend, “What is the value of your stand-
ard gold dollar?” This time he replied that it was 25 8-10
grains of standard gold! “What incongruity!” we ex-
claimed. “We asked you the value of the dollar, and
you first gave us the material fractional parts of it, and
now you give us the weight! Had we asked you the
value of a bushel of wheat, would you first hâve told
us that it was eight gallons, and then sixty pounds? Are
fractions and weight the same thing as value in yourio6
STANDARD OF VALUE.
brain? You are evading our questions, sir, and well you
may, for no man can tell the value of a gold dollar.
Value is not a material object nor the quality of a ma-
terial object; hence it cannot be measured with, nor ex-
pressed in, material standards. Value is a relation be-
tween human beings and objects useful to hum an beings,
and is based,not on gold,but on the amount of labor spent
in obtaining such objects. Without human beings there
could be neither value nor price nor preciousness what-
ever in anything. On the other hand, no matter what
the population may be, if the necessaries, the comforts,
the luxuries and pleasures of life were as free as air,
accessible to ail alike, and requiring no labor to obtain
them, there would be neither value nor price, neither
money needed nor standards, relative or absolute. This
being true, it is évident, first, that what is understood
by the term value is a relation between human beings
and a certain object, and second, that the degree of
said value is based upon the amount of effort required
to obtain it. It is in this philosophy that we must look
for value and the variations of value, and not in pièces
of gold.
Again, standards, to measure by, must be of the
same nature as the object to be measured. We cannot
measure length with the pound weight, nor time with
the yard-stick, nor can we measure value with a piece
of wood, chalk, iron, silver or gold. It is preposter-
ous to believe such a doctrine and folly to attempt it.
Governors, and their advisers, are sadly deluded when
they believe that they hâve performed such a feat as
“fixing the value thereof” by fixing the weight thereof.
The sooner they awake from this delusion the better
for the people. Besides, standards, we repeat, must beSTANDARD OF VALUE.
107
unchangeable and well known quantities! Now let us
see how your gold standard answers to these requisites.
Is not a gold dollar the same thing the world over and
at ail times? And is not a bushel of wheat the same
thing the world over and at ail times? This being true,
how happens it that a standard gold dollar will measure
two bushels of wheàt in some parts of the colony, only
one and a half in other parts, only one bushel at sea-
ports, and only three pecks in England? How is it
that it will measure one bushel one day and less or more
the next? What sort of standards would a yard-stick,
a bushel-measure and a pound weight be if they per-
formed the same summersets from day to day and from
place to place? Let the goldites answer these ques-
tions. They know they cannot do it. They are bound
to confess that gold is no standard at ail. In the above
case of gold and wheat, it is not the gold dollar nor
the bushel of wheat that changed. It is the relation
of these two things to human beings and the labor be-
stowed on them. If wheat stood in the ratio of ten
bushels to each person at every point of the globe, and
gold stood also in the same ratio of ten dollars to each
person, and it required as much labor to produce a
bushel of wheat as to mine, smelt and coin a gold dol-
lar everywhere, wheat and gold would always inter-
change at the rate of one dollar per bushel, never more,
never less.
From the foregoing it becomes plain, we think, what
value is. Of course, this value will be modified by
the conditions and circumstances afïecting the relation
of men and things; but as useless an article as gold has
nothing to do with such modifications, nor can it meas-
sure them.io8
STANDARD OF VALUE.
Again, see what absurdities such false standard is
leading us into. We ask, for instance, “what is the value
of a man’s possessions? What is his wealth?” and the
only answer we can get through that standard, is that?
if the man desired to sell out then and there, his
property would exchange for so many pounds of gold;
if he waited until to-morrow, or transferred his posses-
sions elsewhere, it may be more or less! Absurd! His
possessions do not change, nor does their usefulness to
man. We did not ask what the man could get if he
parted with his possessions. We desired to know the
extent of them, the intrinsic worth of them. Has not
civilization found a measure on which to compute
wealth without mixing it with the idea of a sale? Still
further, if we ask what the wealth of the colony is, the
only answer possible is how many pounds of gold we
could obtain for our possessions, such a quantity of
gold had never been in man’s possession, was not then,
has not been since, and probably never will be! Were
we to attempt to establish such incongruous standards
of measure in other things and give such inconsistent
answers as was done with the gold standard, we would
hâve been laughed at and deemed very ignorant oi
insane.
But the worst feature of the gold standard was in the
fact that the number of measures at hand determined
its size or value, and thus changed the value of ail
things measured by it. The arrivai or departure of
these gold standards, raised or lowered ail values.
Though a person had not a particle of gold himself,
but had an abundance of the comforts and luxuries of
life, he would be richer or poorer, from day to day,
according to the coming in or going out of this preciousSTANDARD OF VALUE.	IOÇ
standard. Accordingly, if ail the gold standards h ad
left the colony, every one of the colonists would hâve
become a pauper in the midst of his possessions! Was
ever reason more abused or ignored? Imagine a bushel-
measure, a yard-stick, a standard pound which should
expand and contract in accordance to the number of
them présent, and, by so doing, increase or decrease
the bulk, the length and the weight, or the value of ail
things measured or weighed! Imagine a surveyor’s
chain which should contract or expand the land accord-
ingto the number of chains which the surveyor is carry-
ing! Can we conceive of an idea more preposterous?
Such changeable standard made of values a perfect
kaléidoscope, and of commerce a pandémonium of
option deals.
“Friends,” we would conclude, “your gold standard
is a false measure; it is a fraud of the greatest magni-
tude. Wealth is the combined products of God and
labor, and its value can only be measured by counting
the labor bestowed upon it, modified, as we said, by
relations and circumstances. It is irreverence, it is
sacrilege, it is blasphemy to attempt to measure the
gifts of the Creator with paltry pièces of a métal,
which, under the microscope, reveals less beauty than
the most insignifiant living créature. It is an aggra-
vated sacrilege to attempt to measure man by the same
standard. We well remember when four millions of
(black) human beings, measured by the gold standard,
were valued at two thousand millions standard gold
dollars; yet one short paper proclamation by one man
(Lincoln) wiped that value out of existence, and those
four millions human beings became as worthless, by the
gold standard, as their (white) brothers. Alas! theIIO
STANDARD OF VALUE.
standard which makes slavery valuable and liberty
worthless!”
Let us give an illustration showing how value is esti-
mated and how it varies in the works of man; and also
how inefficient a gold standard is to measure it:	A
traveler, moderately hungry, offers five grains of gold
for a meal. He is refused. The landlady asks ten.
He gets hungrier and offers- ten grains for the same
meal. He is again refused. This time he is asked
fifteen. His hunger has now become excessive and he
is informed that further on his chances of getting food
will be few and far between. He is now willing to give
fifty grains of gold for the same meal that he could
once hâve obtained for ten grains. What was the
standard of value in this case? Was it gold or food
or hunger? The gold dollar had not changed. The
meal had not changed. But the relation of hunger and
food, and of locality had changed. So it is visible that
hunger, the desire for things and the difficulties of ob-
taining them constitute the basis of value; and gold
being an article unnecessary to human existence, would
hâve no more to do with the value of commodities and
services, than diamond has,' was it not that a barbarous
law enforces its purchase to pay debts and taxes.
Again, we repeat that the relation of men to objects
constitutes their value, and no material object can be a
standard of relations. And here we quoted the
Suprême court of the colony on the subject:	“It is
hardly correct,” they said, “to speak of a standard of
value. The constitution does not speak of it. The
constitution contemplâtes standards for that which has
gravity or extension; but value is an idéal thing.”STANDARD OF VALUE.
III
(See this in a book called Wallace, which was their
political Bible.)
“In conclusion, ” we said, “your belief in gold being
a standard of value is on a par with ail the other delu-
sions you hold about it, and leads to many errors and
wrongs. It enables speculators to play ‘hide and seek’
with that métal; make it scarce or abundant, raise and
lower prices and rob you at will. Abandon such false
doctrine, ” we entreated them, “and return to the
rational standard of our forefathers viz: an average
day’s labor. In the natural course of industry and
commerce, you will ever find it logical and correct.
Ail else is fraudulent and irrational as a standard of
value.
THE BATTLE OF THE STANDARDS.
Another stupendous and gross absurdity agitated by
leamed men in the colony at the time, a question which
had drawn the attention and concern of the mightiest
nations in the world, was a contest for supremacy be-
tween two precious metals, gold and silver. Now do
not understand us, reader, to mean that these two metals
had really fallen out among themselves about the affairs
of men, and had corne to fighting like the lion and the
bear in the fable. In money matters, these metals prove
wiser than men. They are inanimate things and uncon-
scious of men’s folly concerning them. As such, they
keep the silence enjoined upon them by nature, while
men beat the tom-tom and shout these metals* glorious
birth, character and functions; sing their travels over
the earth; narrate their conquests ovèr empires, com-
pared to which the battles and victories of the gods and
Heroes sang by Homer and Milton sink into insignifi-
cancy.11 2
STANDARD OF VALUE.
Yes, reader, it was men, wise men, learned men and
religious men who hailed the advent of those two metals
and called them precious, as they did their own off-
springs; it was men who grieved over their departure;
built palaces for their abodes, scrambled for them;
robbed and ruined one another for their possession
Oh, no, the metals themselves were unconscious of ail
this.
The mighty contest, which had aroused ail the nations
of the earth, and before which the industries and com-
merce of the world stood in awe as if a sinister decision
of it might reverse the révolution of the globe on its
axis, or cause the stars to fall from the firmament of
heaven, or hasten the day of judgment, was not the
foretold battle between Gog and Magog. The latter
was to corne afterward. The contest was among men,
not among metals, and it was: whether gold or silver
OR BOTH, SHOULD BE CROWNED LEGAL TENDER. Both
metals had worn the royal diadem jointly and separately
over the nations of the earth for âges; but now at the
time when the contest was at its acme, silver was
emperor of Asia while gold was sovereign of Europe
and the colonies, including ours. Silver had driven gold
from the throne of the Mongolian races; and gold, in
retaliation, had, through battle after battle at monetary
conférences and through private intrigues, finally swept
silver from the throne of the Caucasian races. The whole
world was anxiously watching the gigantic conflîct of
these two gods, as Milton, in imagination, had watched
the conflict of good and evil in Heaven. The reports
from the battle-field flashed through the electric wires
and filled the pages of the press. It appeared from
these reports that, notwithstanding that the yellow sov-STANDARD OF VALUE.
H3
ereign was backed by the most crafty and most advanced
nations, yet, for a long time, the victory was held in
suspense. The white Chinaman of finances had invaded
Europe, the stronghold of gold from the remotest âges,
and it was feared by adventurers, even in our colony,
separated though it was from the seat of war by an in-
tervening océan, that, if our governor did not enact
stringent laws and quarantine against it, silver would be
“dumped by cart loads” on every man’s premises, and
that some dire pestilence would follow. So argued our
own adventurers. It was also feared by the colonists
in general, that an invasion of silver would frighten gold
out of his boots and breeches and cause its flight to
foreign lands, in which event our glory as a nation
would be tarnished, and our wealth and power pass
among the Ruins of Empires.
To avert such calamity kept our adventurers in con-
stant fear and trembling. Extraordinary conférences
were convened to settle permanently this mighty contest
and thus bring peace and quiet to the nations of the
earth. Finally our governor called an extraordinary
session of the wisdom of the colony and ordered them
to repeal any and every act which enjoined or permitted
the colony to contaminate its crédit in the purchase of
the vile métal, which he said, had ruined the people, and
that “nothing could be done” until such acts were re-
pealed.
The arguments adduced at international conférences
in favor of gold supremacy were indeed astounding.
They reminded us of similar arguments brought forth
by eminent lawyers in a similar contest for social prece-
dence among the titled nobility of the Old World. In
one such contest between the noble House of BridgesSTANDARD OF VALUE.
114
and the equally noble House of Canals, the attorneys
on the side of the former house argued learnedly that
‘ ‘Bridges stood* above and rode over Canals, ” and that
this fact should be evidence sufficient of* the supremacy
of their client. The attorneys on the other side, as
learnedly based their claim upon the fact that Canals
were more ancient, prior in time, they called it, than
Bridges, and that on Canals the very existence of the
Bridges House depended; and, still further, that the
House of Bridges was trampled upon by the common
herd of men and Cattle, while, out of respect, ail trav-
elers on Canals were stowed in boats and barges; and,
finally, that any attempt to trample on the noble House
of Canals was immediately punished by submersion.
In the great. metallic contest, on the side of the House
of Gold, it was argued that its ad vent among the chiL
dren of men, dated back to the remotest periods of
human history and may be, before the “Descent of
man” himself. That its native place was in the sacred
land of Ophir, in proximity to God’s people; that it had
descended in direct lineage from the god Vesuvius; that
in childhood it gamboled in the mountain streams and
under the mountains among the Cyclops; that its chil-
dren were first captured by the children of men while
frolicking down streams, little thinking of ever ruling
over men; that, no sooner was its royal character dis-
covered, than mountains were upturned to lead his
majesty forth and “crown him Lord of ail;” and that it
has worn the royal diadem, and received the unbounded
homage and undispüted tribute of men for âges. Final-
ly, that its glorious history has no parallel in the whole
world. It followed the children of Jacob into Egypt
and returned with them, by stealth, in sacks of corn.STANDARD OF VALUE.
JIS
(How romantic!) Returned to Egypt accompanied by
silver, a little balm, honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and
almonds, (Noble race!) and at the Exodus it left Egypt
again in the form of non-interest-bearing loans by the
Egyptian ladies to the Daughters of Israël, whom it
followed to the promised land; that it has ever been
considered by God’s people as but one degree below or
above Jéhovah himself, as prôven by the golden calf at
the foot of Mount Sinai; that it has ever bedecked
female beauty and men’s dignity, by dangling on their
bodies; has ever occupied the most sacred places in
the temples of pagan gods, as well as of Jéhovah; has
there held the most sacred things;^ has borne the effigy
of potentates and given lustre to their thrones and trap-
pings in ail âges and countries; has been the evidence
of individual and public opulence; has been the rock on
which empires hâve rested, as again proven by their
downfall at its withdrawal, and that ail nations hâve
ever hailed its advent as the harbinger of prosperity
and happiness and dreaded its departure as the préludé
to woe and misery. Finally, that it held now undis-
puted sway over the powers of the Earth, civil, relig-
ious and financial— material and spiritual.
Passing hence to a eulogy of gold’s physical attri-
butes, its advocates found no language rich enough in
terms for the occasion. Its color, its brightness, its
weight, its maleability, its ductility, its diffusiveness,
its incorruptibility (holiness), and above ail, its scarcity
and conséquent high value—ail of these fit it as a
ruler over men.
Such was gold, the central luminary of the finan-
cial world.116	STANDARD OF VALUE.
Dazzled by such flow of éloquence, what had the
advocates of silver to say in its behalf? Virtually noth-
ing, except that it was as old as gold; lived in about
the same régions of the earth; had been in Egypt
and out of it; and in a gross way had been legal tender
in many countries. They pleaded solely that it be al-
lowed to accompany gold in its glorious mission; they
prated about “giving the people more money to pay
debts,” as if it was désirable to hâve debts paid. They
talked about ‘ ‘money enough to develop industry and
promote the general welfare. ” They talked about silver
being now largely employed as money, and that gen-
eral distress would follow its demonetization. “Yes,”
replied the goldites, “silver has been allowed to per-
forai the functions of money among the multitude of
pariahs and slaves of antiquity and the hirelings of
our day. But when a noble, honest dollar, a correct
standard of value, is desired, a dollar to wear the
crown of legal tender, gold alone is entitled to the posi-
tion. The world has advanced beyond the silver âge,”
continued the goldites, “and will no longer recognize a
bastard money, which cannot give lustre and stability
to governments. We need a money which is beyond
the reach of the rabble. The world will no longer
permit the crédit of nations to be tarnished by a stuff
which is ail the time sinking in value, and that already
takes twenty its weight to equal the value of gold,” etc.
Underlying ail the above arguments and eulogies in
favor of gold, kept hid from public gaze, the true basis
of supremacy between gold and silver was the compara-
tive scarcity of either métal. This was the pillar
which upheld gold, and silver was finally cast over-
board.STANDARD OF VALUE.
117
SINGLE AND DOUBLE STANDARD.
Interwoven with the above contest for supremacy
was also debated the question of using only one or
both metals as a legal tender, called the “Single or
Double Standard, ” and the debates on this question
revolved about, what was called, th'e ratio, or relative
value of the two metals. The opponents to a Double
Standard argued that, when gold and silver were har-
nessed together to the legal tender coach, they would
not pull evenly; sometimes one, somefimes the other
would spring ahead or balk, then it was impossible to
tell the exact location of the financial team. Àccord-
ing to the forward steed the coach would be so far; ac-
cording to the hind nag so far only. In such cases,
debtors would catch hold of the hind, least valuable,
métal, which was to them most reachable, and pay their
debts with a sluggard; thus wronging poor creditors.
Meantime, other nations, who are ever on the alert for
profitable investments, would pounce upon the sprightly
steed and ride him abroad, leaving the foolish people
who should use the Double Standard, nothing but slug-
gard animais to do business with. An eminent writer,
Mr. Gresham, had long before màde the celebrated dis-
covery that “poor money would drive away good
money,,, and he was considered the highest authority
on that subject.
The only remedy for such calamity would be, of
course, the abolition of the Double Standard, and thus
hâve but one horse to the monetary coach. We could
then always tell “where we were at” in congressional
parlance. Be our horse fast or slow, no one could per-
ceive it. He would always be there! a perfect stand-
ard by which wç could measure “eggzactly” the speedn8
STANDARD OF VALUE.
of any other horse. Assuming, for instance, that our
standard horse traveled at the rate of, say, one mile
an hour, and another horse, not a standard, should
travel at the rate of four miles per hour, we would
mark the speed of the other horse as four. Now, if
our steed, either through scenting food ahead, or goad-
ed by a persuader from behind, should raise his trot to
four miles an hour, and keep up with the other horse,
it would, we would be told, indicate that the other
horse had slackened his speed from four to one. Our
Standard horse, having his size, not speed, (as the dol-
lar has its weight, not value, fixed by law), could surely
not hâve changed in his speed; oh, no! No more than
the gold dollar changes value!
Such were the sophisms advanced by adventurers in
order to reduce the means of payment. They aimed to
confuse and confound the mind with the false doctrine
that, if we endowed one single métal with the right of
legal tender, this métal would no longer change value;
but, if two metals were so qualified, the variations in
their relative value would destroy them both as stand-
ards to measure the value of other articles. The mone-
tization or demonetization of silver, or a thousand
other articles, can affect the value of gold only in so
far as they may, or not, take its place in paying debts,
like the value of wheat would be affected by the pro-
duction of any article which would take its place
as food.
As for Gresham’s discovery, common sense would
see that, if correct, there would not to-day be in cir-
culation one single particle of gold in the world, for ail
countries hâve had in circulation silver, copper, nickel,
and paper money, if these are poor money.STANDARD OF VALUE.	IIÇ
We learned that the contest for social supremacy
between the noble Houses of Bridges and Canals,
which has been before the courts for centuries, is no
nearer solution to-day than it was at the beginning.
Probably it will never be settled until a Spanish barber,
Don Quixote, mounted on a bony charger, spear in
hand, makes a furious attack upon both Houses and
shatters tlieir foolish daims, as he did the valiant chiv-
alry of the Middle Ages.
We are inclined to believe that the contest for suprem-
acy between gold and silver and that of the Standards
will never be permanently settled until the same fate
overtakes them. Could we divest such contests of the
tyranny and greed contained in them; separate them
from the barbarism still lingering in the colonial civili-
zation; could we cure the infernal disposition of man
to prey upon his fellow men and victimize them to
gratify his own bestial appetites, we would consider the
above contests and arguments, in view of the magni-
tude they hâve assumed, as the grandest Pantomime
ever enacted among men. But such pantomime covers
a grim and grander tragedy.
Oh, for a novel Don Quixote, spear in hand, charg-
ing against these Knights of the Yellow and -White
Metals, and Champions of the Single and Double Stand-
ard, to obliterate them and their idols from the face of
the earth! When we contemplate this financial world,
we see more wind-mills to demolish, more wine sacks
to sabre; more queens to liberate from toil and dégra-
dation; more victims to rescue from ignoble bondage to
minerai dross—a grander field for the exploits of a Don
Quixote, than ever existed in the times of Cervantes.INTEREST ON MONEY.
We return to the subject of interest because we con-
sider it the foundation of ail the financial and social
ills in the colony.
We must premise that no one, of course, believed
that gold had any power of reproduction in its raw
State, being a minerai. Some believed that it acquired
that property as soon as coined by the governor, for
which fact, however, no evidence existed; but ail had
corne to believe that it began to propagate instantly
“after date” when transferred to a borrower. The
imposition of the Adventurer, in demanding more gold
than he had loaned, which was so palpably an impos-
sibility at the time, had now, by persistent drilling,
ripened into an article of monetary faith. Upon the
rate of increase, or fertility of gold were now based ail
calculations for the success of industrial enterprises.
If the revenues of any business, in actual money, were
not above the rate of interest, no matter how useful or
necessary its productions may hâve been to man,it could
not continue. If its revenues were less than said rate,
it would fail; if equal, it would drag a precarious exist-
ence; and only if higher, could it thrive. On the
other hand, the adventurers regulated their exactions
so as to absorb ail that the industries could bear. If
gardening, farming and stock raising brought twentyINTEREST ON MONEY.
121
per cent profit, interest on said industries would be
raised to eighteen per cent. If manufacturing, mining
and transportation realized ten per cent, money ad-
vanced on them would be eight per cent. If mining
gold brought fifty per cent, interest on the money
loaned on the same would be no less than forty per
cent, as miners can testify. But, to return to our sub-
ject, the belief that gold really possessed the power of
increasing when loaned out, had, as we said, become
a positive article of faith, and many writers of emi-
nence among them confirmed this faith with their liter-
ary productions.
One of these writers named Kellogg, who claimed to
be a friend of the colonists and opposed to the exac-
tions of adventurers, in his “New Monetary System”
said that “accumulative power” was essential to the very
existence of money, and that “when the governor de-
creed gold to be legal tender,he imparted to those grains
of the Adventurer, as it were, life and energy.” *	*
Is not such language an awful blasphemy? Mr. Kel-
logg continued: “That one piece of gold had received,
through the legal tender decree,' the capability to earn
for its master, in a given time, another piece of gold as
large as itself !” Would an unbiased man believe, write
and inculcate such absurd doctrines? And does it not
prove that Mr. Kellogg’s mind was impaired and un-
balanced in money matters? But so general and so
firm was this creed, that money grew through inter-
est, that the colonists continued to make contracts,
based upon this assumed growth, and exert themselves
to desperation to execute such absolute impossibilités.
We often endeavored to undeceive them by reasoning
that, if the governor had the power of God and could,122
INTEREST ON MONEY.
by a simple decree, breathe life into dead pièces of
metals and infuse into them the power of reproduction,
there would no longer be any use for mines. Indeed,
paradoxical as it may appear, one block of gold, which
the governor should endow with such energy, would in
time outgrow the world. “But, with such créative
powers, why does not the governor raise his own gold
and cease selling the colonists into bondage to borrow
it,” we asked. Again, “If the governor can set a piece
of gold to work and make it earn another piece as
large as itself, why does he not set ail the gold on hand
and raise the taxes he needs, especially in war times,
instead of torturing his people and subjecting them to
distress and destitution by forcing them to buy or bor-
row said taxes from adventurers? If the governor can
perform such miracles, what use had he for ail that
paraphernalia of custom houses, custom officers, rev-
enue cutters and revenue collectors whose spécial func-
tions are to catch gold?” Finally, “If the governor is
able to impart to a piece of métal more power than
nature gave to it, why not extend that supernatural
power to portions of the vegetable and animal kingdoms
and thus give rest to the toiling colonists?”
We then tried to reach their understanding by illus-
trating the pernicious effects of lending at interest, and
demonstrate how it was separating the people, as of
old, into a few millionaires and millions of paupers
and slaves.
A PARABLE.
Eleven immigrants located in proximity. They were
equal in worldly goods and believers in the doctrine,
“IN THE SWEAT OF THY BROW THOU SHALT EAT THY
bread. ” Among the articles necessary to sustain lifeINTEREST ON MONEY.
I23
was the need of ten bushels of grain, each, annually.
Hence, the very first year each put in a piece of ground
in grain, so as not to be a burden to the others.
Providence favored one and not the others. The
one reaped a crop of one hundred and ten bushels.
The others had their crops destroyed by chinch bugs.
The ten unfortunate ones repaired to their neighbor to
borrow ten bushels of grain each, promising to return
as much the following season. The neighbor happened
to be a “business man.” He understood loaning, and
thus addressed his unsuspecting neighbors: “Next year
you may be as unfortunate as you hâve been this, and
consequently may not be àble to return to me my grain.
I know by expérience that lending is a risky business,
therefore a man should be well secured and ‘paid* for
the accommodation. A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush. A bushel of grain now should be worth
more than one bushel next year. We cannot sustain
life with next year's grain. Therefore, friends, I will
lend each of you the ten bushels of grain on condition
that you make me safe by a mortgage on your homes,
and each pay me an extra bushel of grain annually as
interest. Upon these conditions I shall be indiffèrent
whether you return the loan or not. Fil rathernot.”
The ten neighbors had been under the impression that
the accommodation would be from their side; that their
fortunate neighbor was overstocked with grain; that
he would be compelled to build bins to store it away,
and that, after ail care, the grain would be subject to
loss by weavel, rats, rot and fire. They thought that
by borrowing his surplus grain they would be assuming
the care of the grain and relieving him of ail trouble,
expense and loss. Thus they pleaded, but he was in-124
INTEREST ON MONEY.
exorable. He knew their destitute condition, and was
ready to take advantage of it.
Pressed by necessity, the neighbors had to accept his
terms, and down they fell, to that extent, into perpétuai
serfdom. Henceforth and forever,the fortunate lender,
in so far as grain was concerned (ten bushels annually
being ail he needed) was relieved from ail manuâl labor,
and his neighbors burdened with one-tenth more toil in
perpetuity. The one and his descendant, would form
the plethoric nobility of the land, living on revenues,
while the othérs and their children would be classed as
pariahs or serfs.
Assuming the length of active life to be thirty years,
and ten bushels of grain per year the requirement for
consumption, and taking the Bible’s injunction above
quoted, “in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat
thy bread,” at the end of life each should hâve pro-
duced three hundred bushel of grain. But, by means of
usury, the lender is enabled to évadé such injunction
and make one hundred and ten bushels suffice him and
his progeny to the end of time, while the other ten
will hâve produced each three hundred and nineteen
bushels the first génération and three hundred and
thirty bushels each succeeding one.
What a productive grain field this lending at interest
proves to be to the lender. But what a bottomless pit
to engulf the borrower!
But our parable did not yet illustrate the full force of
lending money at interest, because the payment of such
interest in grain is possible, from the fact that grain
grows. Money, on the contrary, does not grow. Con-
sequently we see the havoc such interest is creating in
the property of borrowers.*
INTEREST ON MONEY.	125
Again our parable seemed to hâve fallen on barren
ground. We could in no wise force a ray of light
through the universal darkness reigning in the mind of
the colonists in regard to the effect of interest. Ail
alike seemed to live in the hope that, by some fortui-
tous, unforeseen event, they would reach the side of the
lenders and live on revenues. It was pitiful, and at the
same time ludicrous, to see and hear misérable wretches,
who had lost ail they had by paying interest, strutting
grandly in their dangling rags while narrating with pride
the history of “So and So” who had corne to the place
poor, had by hook and crook gotten hold of a little
money, had turned to lending, and now was rich. Or,
contemptuously, that of another who had corne to the
same locality with considérable means, had invested
these in a farm, had toiled many years to improve it,
had ruined his health at it, had gone in debt and finally
ended in poverty. Public opinion was altogether on
the side of the lenders and against the oppressed. Then
such stories as were told about the wonderful increase
of money through interest! If money had been a sort
of prolific fish or fowl, and banks incubators, no more
astonishing feats of increase could hâve been performed.
Here are a few such stories going the round at the
time:
“Alexander Smith, ringleader of the mutiny on the
ship Bounty, sav.ed the life of a midshipman from drown-
ing. This midshipman put one hundred pièces of gold*
in an incubator (bank) for Smith. The latter, not
knowing anything about the fact, left the deposit undis-
turbed, and it laid there one hundred years. The gold
continued to bring forth two broods of interest annu-
ally, which were to once set to laying and hatching also,126	INTEREST ON MONEY.
and when Smith’s heirs found it out, their portion of
the progeny amounted to ninety-six thousand! Each
original piece of gold had multiplied nine thousand six
hundred times, “at a very low rate of increase, ” said the
historian.
Now this story was told and believed at a time when
probably not a dust remained of the original gold, but
some of the colonists were continuing to pay interest on
it to SmitlTs heirs as if said gold was yet blessing them
from the tomb.
Here is another story in the moming’s paper of that
time:
Ten men formed an association and agreed to pool
ten dollars a week each, and loan it out. It is now a reg-
ular chartered “incubator with #36,000 in the boxes. ”
This wonderful increase the papers reported as “an
instance of what could be done with energy and
perseverance in the way of accumulating wealth!”
Meantime, while such stories weregoing the round, a
great man was around also, making speeches and telling
mortgaged f arm ers that they were like the frog in the
well, climbing up two feet in the day and falling back
(in debt) three feet at night.
Behold the différence between those who received
and those who paid interest on gold!
The most effective, however, of ail the interest stories,
and the one which was made the foundation to convince
4he colonists of the benefits to be derived from invest-
ing in incubators (banks) was the following:
“During a protracted war in Germany, a nobleman
intrusted a large amount of gold to the care of a Jew
(Rothschild.) The Jew forthwith placed it in incuba-
tors. It increased to such an extent that at the end ofINTEREST ON MONEY.
I27
the war, the Jew was able to give back to the nobleman
his gold with an increase, and yet retain of the brood
enough to make himself immensely rich.”
These stories were told soberly, deliberately, and
with an air of innocence as if the outcome of lending
at interest were blessings from Heaven instead of extôr-
tions from misérable borrowers, and no one, not even
the expounders of Christianity, seemed conscious of
the wrong involved in the falsehood.
And now the position of ease, affluence and power
acquired by adventurers through loans, the above won-
derful stories which passed current about the increase
of interest, and the fact that no other enterprise guar-
anteed as large profits, made the whole colony teem
with incubators. Every town, however small, had at
least one, and large cities had hundreds. “Money to
loa.n” was placarded at every corner, anfl advertised in
ail the newspapers; and innumerable schemes had been
set in motion in that line. We will adduce two such
schemes, which, after the banks, bore heavier upon the
people than others.
INSURANCE COMPANIES.
The precariousness of employment, the reverses in
business, the failures of crops, accidents to life or limb,
and frequent damages by fire, lightning and storms,
coupled with the difficultés of accumulating money by
mere industry to mcet such contingencies, had made
the colonists, who still held up financially, tremble at
the prospect of destitution for themselves and their de-
pendents, and rendered them pliable to ail sorts of art-
ful schemes set in motion by designing men. Adven-
turers, ever on the alert for an opportunity to draw ad-
ditional revenues, had taken advantage of the mental128
INTEREST ON MONEY.
disposition of the colonists and made it an object for
spéculation. Among the schemes so contrived was Life
and Fire Insurance. We do not class these institutions
as productive of evil only, for they contained a large
per centage of good, and, in many instances, proved
blessings. We must class them as “necessary evils”
forced upon the people as a refuge against greater evils.
These companies, established ostensibly for the pur-
pose of assisting the unfortunate, were, however, really
intended for private gain (excepting the later ones on
the Mutual plan.) They collected from the insured
periodical contributions of money, a portion of which
only they devoted to cover misfortunes. The net profits
realized tout of their operations could be seen in the
large commissions paid to agents, the large salaries to
officers, the dividends distributed to stockholders, the
palaces they oJcupied and the immense sums they had
out at interest. On the other side, the benefits realized
by the insured, if divided proportionately among them,
would hâve constituted but a small compensation for
the sacrifices undergone. Most of those insured, after
paying dues for a period, would drop by the wayside,
owing mainly to inability to carry the burden further,
and thus lose ail former contributions.
Now, let us look at causes and effects in reference to
these Insurance institutions and we will see that the
gold delusion was at the bottom of them. The flood
of interest and rent, draining money from the channels
of trade, had rendered ail enterprises insecure. This
insecurity, coupled with parental affection and fear of
poverty, had made the colonists pliable to make sacri-
fices in order to provide against such misfortunes. Spec-
ulators, assuming the garb of philanthropists, had takenINTEREST ON MONEY.
I29
advantage of these conditions to abstract part of the
available means in the hands of the people, and thus
accelerated the very evil which the colonists aimed to
avert. Every dollar abstracted in profits, interest and
rents by Insurance Companies was bringing the insured
and others nearer destitution. The same dollars invest-
ed in productive industry, in the employment of labor,
would hâve been a step in the right direction .to prevent
it. Men should learn that poverty can only be averted
by the production of wealth and not by any jugglery
which a schemer may invent. If the immense sums
paid for insurance had been devoted to the employment
of labor, no contributor would hâve needed to fear pov-
erty for himself or his dependents.
The other scheme for multiplying loans and extract-
ing interest and profits was one which deserves more
than a passing notice as being a late invention, and
bearing the ^spécial protection of the governor for its
(supposed) benevolent object.
BUILDING AND I.OAN ASSOCIATION.
One day, as we were pondering over the wonderful
changes financial, social and mental which took place
in our days in the colony, a stranger accosted us, and
“Do you wish to get rich?,, he asked. “Of course, ”
we replied, “everybody desires to get rich.” “Wehave
just started a new money incubator,” he said. “It beats
ail others for rapidity of reproduction. It has caused
perfect révolution. Every person, who can spare a lit-
tle money, puts it right into it. It is called the Build-
ing and Loan Incubator. It has gained the favor
of ail the authorities in the colony on account of
its immense benefits, and already it is superseding
ail others,” he went on. “How does it work?” we130	INTEREST ON MONEY.
inquired. “You put a piece of gold, or paper rep-
résentative, in the boxes every month, and, without any
further trouble on yaur part, it will double itself in one
hundred months. The like of it never was heard of
before. We are ail going to get rich, from adventurers
to poor mechanics who hâve but ten dollars a week
wages,” he replied.
We became anxious to learn more about this new
scheme, especially as the man who was soliciting us did
not look like an adventurer. He explained to us the
workings of this new machine. “Say, one thousand of
you form an association and deposit with me (the man)
each one dollar every month. I take the thousand dol-
lars and lend them to one of you, who is fortunate
enough to own a lot worth one thousand dollars to
secure the loan, and is anxious to build a house on it.
The next thousand I loan to another, and so on, to the
end of the hundredth month. We will now be divided
into two classes, viz: investors, who continue to pay
one dollar monthly on each share but do not borrow,
and borrowers. Those who borrow will hâve to keep
up their shares of one dollar per month on each $200
borrowed, and at the same time return one per cent of
the borrowed principal also monthly. Thus, if a part-
ner borrows $1,000, he will hâve to carry five shares
and. pay five dollars on the same, and also ten dollars on
the loan,making fifteen dollars per month. At the end of
one hundred months, on five shares, they will hâve paid
Investor on shares	$ 500.00
Borrower on shares $ 500.00
Borrower on loan	1,000.00—1,500.00
Total received by me -	-	$2,000.00INTEREST ON MONEY.	131
I then divide this sum into two equal parts,givingeach
partner $1,000. But the borrower, as you know, re-
ceived his thousand at the beginning of the period; so
his debt is now cancelled. The investor gets his thou-
sand now.” Right here we asked the man how he was
paid for his time and trouble. He said the fines and
penalties were sufficient to compensate him and cover
ail expenses of management. “What fines and penal-
ties?” we asked. He replied that it was one of his
rules, if a partner did not corne up punctually with his
dues at the appointed time, that he would fine him ten
cents on every dollar, and he added, that his expéri-
ence in the business had proven that such fines amount-
ed to a considérable sum. “Résides,” he continued,
“salary is but a secondary object to me. I got up this
scheme purely fôr the benefit of workingmen and per-
sons of small means, to induce them to save their earn-
ings. I desire to see such persons installed in a home
of their own and cease paying rent to unfeeling adven-
turers. Our scheme is a mutual affair altogether. It
lifts workingmen into the position of money lenders,
and enables them to borrow from themselves at a very
low rate of interest. In it the borrower pays but six
per cent interest per annum, while the lender gets twen-
ty-four, or four times as much as the borrower pays!”
Here the man warmed up, almost excited. He pulled
a pamphlet out of his pocket and, opening it, showed
us by actual figures that a member of his association
could be both lender and borrower at the same time;
pay only six per cent as borrower, receive twenty-four
as lender, on his own money, and at the end of one
hundred months corne out, not only clear of debt, but
with a large sum of money and a home of his own132
ÎNTEREST ON MONEY.
besides. “How can this be possible?” we exclaîmed.
“It ali cornes from the wonderful mechanism of our
new incubator,” he ânswered. “Count for yourself,”
he continued, “and y ou will be satisfied that this
machine does actuaÜy perform such feats.” Here he
drew out pencil and paper and proceeded to figuring,
while we looked on. “The borrower gets $1,000 for
one hundred months, which is eight years and four
months. He pays us $15 per month, or 100 times 15,
equal to $1,500 during the whole period; that is, he re-
turns the principal, the $1,000 borrowed, and $500 more
as interest. Now calculate,” said the man, “$500 for the
use of $1,000 during one hundred months, or eight
and one-third years, is exactly six per cent per annum,
and not a penny more. Any tyro in Arithmetic can
calculate that,”he added, with a triumphant air.
uNow corne to the investor side and calculate,” he
went on. “He paid us five dollars per month during
one hundred months, making a total of $500, and no
more. He paid us the first $5.00 at the beginning, and
the last $5.00 at the end of the one hundred months,
so that he was out of his $500 an average of fifty months
only, or four and one-sixth years. Now we pay him
$1,000, five hundred of which is interest on his $500
for the four and one-sixth years, equal to twenty-four
per cent annually. Is not this correct?” he asked us.
We had to admit that it was as per figures. “Then is
not this new incubator the most perfect machine that
ever was invented for the hatching of interest?” he
asked again, and concluded by asserting that “every-
body who would invest in it was bound to get rich,
whether he was a borrower, a lender, or both, because
ail participated in the wonderful increase.99INTEREST ON MONEY.
*33
We were perfectly astounded, and told the man that
if he would leave us a copy of his * ^prospectus” we
would examine the mechanism of his incubator and
may be take an interest in it.
This he did, and we examined it carefully and soon
discovered the trick. The associâtes were, as the man
had said, divided into two classes, lenders and bor-
rowers, and it was true that, if ail thmgs went right,
the lender would get twenty-four per cent per annum
on his investment. But, leaving aside the absurdity
that his incubator could, by any possible adjustment of
parts, hâve any power of bringing forth broods of
money, it was not true that the borrower paid only six
per cent interest per annum. Aside from fines, penal-
ties, and other expenses of abstract on his lot, and law-
yer’s fees, he paid really eighteen per cent interest per
annum on his loan. The man calculated that the bor-
rower held the §1,000 one hundred months, but it was
not true. He held it only one-third that time; §15.00 cf
it he returned the very next month, and §15.00 every
succeeding month. At the end of sixty six and two-
thirds months he had paid it ail back. Now, averaging
the time he held the loan, as the man did that of the in-
vestor, viz: from the time he paid the first §15.00 and
the last §15.00, sixty-six and two-thirds months, it
results that he held the loan only thirty-three and one-
third months, not one hundred months; only one-third
the time! So he virtually paid six per cent for one-third
the time, equal to eighteen per cent annually. “A tyro
in Arithmetic can count that,” as the man had said
of his calculations.
Now, as to the charitable philanthropist who “got up
the scheme for the benefit of workingmen,” he really134
INTEREST ON MONEY.
realized eighteen per cent on $ 1,000, but, in settling
with the investor, he paid him only twenty-four per
cent on his investment of $500. Now had he received
eighteen per cent interest on only $500 and paid twen-
ty-four per cent on the same sum, he would hâve been
losing six per cent on the transaction. But, getting
eighteen per cent on $1,000 (which is equal to thirty-
six per cent on $500), and paying twenty-four per cent
on the $500, he realized twelve per cent profit. Be-
sides this profit, fines and penalties, he reaped an im-
mense harvest of interest by re-loaning thé installments,
as they came in monthly, at compound eighteen per
cent interest, by which process, the original $1,000,
which ail came back in sixty-six and two-thirds months
and was re-loaned, amounted, at the end of that period,
to $1,710, and at the end of the hundred months to
$3>432- H the borrower of the original $1,000 had
re-borrowed each $15 that he paid in monthly, at the
same rate of interest, at the expiration of the hundred
months he would hâve paid $3,432, or $2,432 for the use
of $1,000 eight years and four months, and received no
interest whatever on his lot. Besides, the income of
$3,432 that the man received on $1,000, or $15 per
month, he also realized the third of it on the five dol-
lars paid monthly by the investor, making his receipts
in ail as follows:
On borrower -	-	-	$3,432.00
On investor one-third -	-	1,144.00
Total .	-	-	-	$4,576.00
Out of which he loaned $1,000 at the beginning and
paid $1,000 at the end, leaving him $2,576 for his
philanthropy.INTEREST ON MONEY.
135
No wonder adventurers were eagerly adopting the
new incubator, both as the best means of collecting
what dribs of gold had strayed from the bank in wages,
and at the same time realizing the highest possible rate
of interest on their funds.
Upon further investigation of the Building and
Loan Incubator, we found that only ten in one hun-
dred, who took stock in the association ever continued
to the ënd of the hundredth month. Most of them
withdrew from it the first and second year. The bor-
rowers were the only ones who could not withdraw, and
most of them finally lost the house they had built and
the lot on which it was erected. These losses occurred
mainly after they had refunded ail the borrowed money.
And we found also that the very few investors, who
continued payments to the end, were adventurers and
other money lenders. So we deplored the poor,
benighted colonists who could be so easily duped by
any trick, and fall victims to any trap set for them, but
were powerless to help them. The intense desire of
fathers, and still more intense in mothers, to reach a
home they could call their own, undisturbed by land-
lords, coupled with the prospect of getting rich with-
out labor which had now become the passion of ail,
and the dense cloud which obscured the truth in ref-
erence to money matters, were far more powerful than
ail the logic that one could bring against the Building
and Loan Incubator or any other such scheme.
THE FLOOD OF INTEREST.
From ail these pestilential schemes and incubators in
the colony issued now a miasmatic flight of birds of ill
omen, interest-drawing notes, bonds, securities, annui-
ties, perpetuities and mortgages, until the social atmos-136
INTEREST ON MONEY.
pherp was dense and dark with them. They preyed
upon the industries like an enormous flock of vam-
pires, absorbing the life-blood of ail. Farms which
could hâve been made “Gardens of Eden” if their
products could hâve been invested in improvements on
the same, were forced to retrogress towards the original
wilderness. Manufactories which could hâve flooded
the colony with comforts, conveniencies and luxuries,
were languishing and perishing. Commerce which
could hâve floated the products of farm and factory to
every hamlet in the land, was stagnant, paralyzed by
the drainage of discount. The merchant marine of
the colony was driven entirely out from the océan, and
many of our industries had already passed, with the
marine, into the hands of foreign nations, of cheaper
money and lower interest. Everywhere and every
move was feeling the pressure of interest. What little
money entered the channels of trade could no longer
circulate, but was instantly drawn back by the cen-
tripetal force of interest. From* such centers it could
be dislodged only by the execution of new interest-
drawing notes and mortgages. It was officially com-
puted that every dollar of money extant had in exist-
ence a progeny of twenty interest-drawing notes and
other obligations, the annual tribute on which was five
times as large as the whole amount of money in the
colony. Yet ail the iaxes, now enormous, had to be
paid in legal tender money. Thus the colony was in-
volved in a terrible monetary mælstrom or Whirlpool,
the currents of which acted and re-acted upon each
other. The increase of notes raised the stream of inter-
est, and the swelling of thiâ stream was raising higher
the stream of notes. Each of these destructive streamsINTEREST ON MONEY.
137
was both cause and efifect upon the other, and their
ever increasing volume and force was scattering dismay
among the industries, threatening to engulf them ail.
Yet, alas! so misunderstood was the situation, that
the cry of the sufferers was for more money, which, if
granted, as the machinery was working, would hâve
raised still higher the destructive streams of interest,
loans, notes, mortgages, bonds, foreclosures, distress,
greater pressure and quicker ruin.
Wolves from the Legal Tender den were ravaging the
colony, and the colonists were clamoring for more
wolves. The governor’s decreehad beneficnet converted
instruments of exchange into predatory beasts, and the
people clamored for an increase of those beasts.
What was needed was to transform the monetary Sys-
tem into the beneficent institutions of olden times or
destroy money altogether. But, alas! We say, the people
clamored for more of the same pernicious money. ‘ ‘Give
us enough money, ”they exclaimed, “and we will atonce
liberat-e the working classes from their wretched condi-
tion. Give us more money and we will wipe out every
mortgage from our homes, cancel every public bond,
revive every industry, set every man, woman and child
to work at remunerative wages. Give us more money
and we will make “the wilderness blossom like the rose’’
and fill the world with abundanceand joy. The colony
is great, grand, and rich enough in ail material things
to make us contented, prosperous and happy. We hâve
the talent, the ability and the will to develop our re-
sources, and extract therefrom wealth enough to flood
the world. Money is ail we lack. Give us money and
poverty will be heard of no more,” etc.INTEREST ÇN MONEY.
138
Thus they argued and cried, and it was folly to at-
tempt to persuade thern otherwise They could not see
that LABOR was the foundation of ail the blessings
which their deluded imaginations expected to corne
from money, and labor they had in abundance- and
wasting.
Verily man is a mysterious being. His persistency
in wronging himself and his fellow beings, is indeed
astonishing.
On the other side, ail reasoning with adventurers and
incubator men in reference to lending at interest,
demonstrating how such doctrines and practices were
contrary to reason, iniquitous, immoral, tyrannical and
destructive of the common welfare; how they were de-
stroying the energy and liberty of the producing classes,
entailing upon them untold mental and physical sulfer-
ings, and at the same time demoralizing the récipients
of said interest, was unavailing. The kindliest expres-
sions on our part were instantly met by the brusque
questions:	“Shall not a man hâve the right to do what
he pleases with his property? Shall he not hâve the
privilège of investing his means to the best advantage?
Shall he not hâve the right to bequeath such rights to
whom he chooses?” Then add “The people are not
obliged to borrow.” To ail such questions we did not
hesitate to answer, “Yes; but provided, by so doing a
man does not encroach upon the rights and happiness
of his fellow men.” We did not believe that a man had
any more right to rob, oppress and enslave another by
déception than by physical force. Governments pro-
fess to be established for the protection of the weak
against the strong. Such protection should apply
more especially to mental strength, because suchINTEREST ON MONEY.
Ï39
strength is far more potent for evil, as well as good,
than physical. Those who bear the burden of interest
are more numerous than those who receive it. They
form the true people, and should be objects of more
solicitude, and entitled to a greater degree of élévation
and enjoyment than money lenders. “Besides, there is
danger ahead,” we said, “if we continue this oppres-
sion. Observe that the oppressed multitude hâve within
their own ranks the physical and mental power to turn
oppression against the oppressors. They are becoming
conscious of this fact and restless. They did so once in
France against social and political oppression. They
may be slower in the case of financial oppression under
the belief that, to go in debt, and lose property is a
voluntary act; but, when they corne to comprehend that
it is not so, that the conditions which induce borrowing
are made compulsory by a barbarous law, they may
change opinion. In that case, if they do not uprise
and overthrow such law, they may at least cease lend-
ing their physical assistance in enforcing it. But,
waiving such dangers, which we desire to avert, we do
not concern ourselves,” we added, “about the right of
individuals to loan money at interest. We claim such
rights ourselves. But our concern is for those poor
beings who are pressed to borrow and pay interest.
They are the ones we wish to liberate from thraldom,
and wish to do it, if possible, without detracting one
single comfort from the recipieïits of interest. ”
It should be the object of legislators, of religion,
of the schools, the ultimate aim of scientific invest-
igations and mechanical inventions, thfe aspirations
of every intelligent being, the acme of civilization to
establish on earth perfect liberty, political, religious140
INTEREST ON MONEY.
and financial. Earthly happiness can never be com-
plété without such liberty, and it will never reign as
long as there remains a vestige of such social relations
as king and subjects, patricians and plebians, lords and
serfs, masters and slaves, landlords and tenants, em-
ployers and employés, creditors and debtors. These
relations are synonymous and differ in degrees only.
BY THE FRUIT YE SHALL KNOW THEM.„
Human institutions can only be judged of by the
fruit they bear. Ail other things being equal, that peo-
ple among whom prosperity and happiness are the great-
est and most generally diffused, has the best laws and
the best religion. The mere form of such institutions
does not alter their character. Republics are no better
than monarchies, if they do not provide better for the
general welfare. Nay, if the subjects of monarchs,
less favorably surrounded by material éléments for the
accumulation of wealth, are enabled to absorb the
wealth produced by the citizens of a Republic, better
surrounded by natural resources, and to bring such citi-
zens under financial bondage and tribute, as was the
case with our colony at that time, then it is pitiful
cynicism for said citizens to boast of superior political
institutions. “By the fruit ye shall know them.”
We do not purpose, however, to enter into a com-
parison of institutions between the colony and our
financial masters in Europe. We aim simply to show
some of the fruits borne by the monetary System in the
colony .itself. And, first, let us give a brief descrip-
tion of the aspect which it presented to an observer.
We copy:
“The aspect of the colony is déplorable indeed.
Everywhere are seen évidences of poverty and de-INTEREST ON MONEY.	I41
cadence. Most of the public roads hâve fallen sadly
out of repairs, eut up by deep ruts, and mud-holes.
At intervals on these roads a farmer, poorly clad and
poorly equipped, is seen making his way to town with a
light load of produce to raise money toward paying
interest on his mortgage and taxes to the governor. It
appears that these two, the adventurer and the gov-
ernor, are the ever-present ghosts who render the life
of the colonist hard and misérable. Farms after farms,
once the homes of happy families, hâve been sold for
debts and are now occupied by sorry renters, who care
nothing for improvements, or are added to the already
large estate of adventurers. Other farms présent a
dilapidated condition, either because the owners hâve
lost ail hope of redeeming them from the mortgagee, or
because farming has ceased to be remunerative, owing
to scarcity of a medium wherewith to carry on the
exchange of produce. True, here and there, in the
richest parts of the country, can be seen large tracts of
land well improved, well stocked and well kept; but
such tracts belong to amateur adventurers who carry on
farming by hired laborers, whose children grow up in
ignorance, servility and dégradation. Parents and chil-
dren seem here to hâve lost ail sense of indepen-
dence. We know that children are inclined to look
upon parents as great beings, and nothing will destroy
their respect so effectually as to see these parents crouch-
ing at the biddings of a master. Such effect is appa-
rent on these large farms. The fact is that the vaunted
noble yeomanry of former times is no longer visible
here. In its stead we see a nation of masters, serfs
and hirelings. One woman,‘by the name of Souther-
land, has lately turned adrift three thousand colonists,142
INTEREST MONEY.
men, women and children, from their homes, and filled
their place with sheep, as per the advice of her agent
that ‘SHEEP WOULD PAY BETTER THAN MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN\9
“It would hâve been better for this people if that
Duchess of Southerland had owned the whole colony
and turned ail the colonists adrift. Better raise sheep
than human chattel.
“Villages and towns présent the same decaying ap-
pearance. Improvements hâve ceased, and what houses
had been built when gold and bank notes were flowing
more plentifully, are sadly in need of paint and re-
pairs. The streets, and especially the sidewalks, are
broken and dangerous. Many towns, notwithstanding
the prédictions of their newspapers for several years,
are yet without water supply, sewers and light. Yet,
with the almost necessity of work visible ail around,
the colonists stand idle in groups at corners of the
streets and in front of stores, deploring the lack of
something to do. Merchants stand at the door or
behind the counters loQking and longing for custom-
ers; customers peering through the Windows and show
cases, looking and longing for the goods within. Yet
the same merchants déclaré that there is no demand for
goods! It is astonishing to see the mental condition of
these people. Here is a psychological problem for
philosophers:	He who can awaken these colonists
from their monetary torpor, will be extolled to heaven
by générations to corne. They are afflicted by the
gold-bug.
“The cities consist of a few élégant streets and sump-
tuous mansions, the abode of adventurers, disgracing, by
contrast, the balance of neglected, narrow, dirty streetsINTEREST ON MONEY.
143
and endless rows of tenant houses, also the property of
the same adventurers. The business part of these cities,
like the résidence portion, consists of the same dis-
parity of fortunes. Massive palaces, many stories high,
with splendid stores of rich merchandise below, and
the upper stories occupied by attorneys, agents of the
numerous schemes to catch pennies without labor, pub-
lic officiais and a host of other unproductive classes,
interspersed and surrounded by neglected streets, lower
and poorer business houses, mainly occupied by ‘ten
cents a meaP restaurants and pawn-brokers.
“It is said that nothing marks the civilization of a
country and the condition of its people more vividly and
accurately than the buildings. From the huts of the
Hottentots to the dwéllings of our times, ail through
the âges of transformation, the habitations of men are
the indicators of their civilization. Equality and dis-
parity, liberty and slavery, wealth and poverty are
marked on this indicator.
“The cities in the colony contained wealth enough,
attractive mansions enough, imposing palaces enough,
luxuries enough to tantalize the multitude of destitutes
and render their life most galling.
“Such is in brief the condition of this colony from
outward appea^n^.”
Let us now corne to the administration of what is
called justice.
Two brothers were left orphans at the âges respect-
ively of eighteen and fourteen years with a mother and
two younger sisters to provide for. They were intelli-
gent, industrious and honest. They prospered. At the
âges of thirty and twenty-six, by holding together, they
had accumulated a goodly amount of property. Both144
INTEREST ON MONEY.
had married in respectable families and had now a
small family of their own. The home farm, proving
too small for their enterprise, they sold it and part of
the stock, from which they realized $9,000. They
searched the country over for a larger farm, and found
a suitable tract of land partly improved, the balance
rich prairies. The agreed price was $12,000. They
paid $9,000 and borrowed $3,000, mortgaging the farm.
They set earnestly to improving the new plantation and
stocking it with blooded cattle, thus investing ail their
labor and what money they could spare from the inter-
est on the mortgage. Ail went right for three years
when farm and stock was valued at $18,000 cash. Then
the money market began to tighten and prices fall
The brothers fell behind with their interest. Still they
were in the midst of broad acres, in comfortable homes
and plenty of everything except money. The future
would hâve been bright but for that mortgage. This
dragged two more years when suddenly the wires flashed
failures East and a panic at hand. Land and stock,
especially blooded, became a drag and what to do the
brothers were at a loss. Thousands in the same condi-
tion. The creditor saw his chance and made use of it.
Seeing the fatal day coming and unable to meet it, ail
efforts to save their homes having failed, they gathered
their stock and what little furniture they could take
with them and by forced marches reached just in time a
territory out of the jurisdiction of the creditor, who had
captured the farm for about half the debt and put the
sheriff with a posse on the trail of the brothers to cap-
ture the stock also. He failed and blamed the- “rascals
who refused to pay their ‘honest’ debts.”INTEREST ON MONEY.
X4S
The toil of a lifetime swept away in a twinkle, not by
fire, nor by a cyclone, but by justice, and handed to
an adventurer who never spent a useful day in his life.
The friends of the brothers pitied them, and attrib-
uted the calamity to supernatural causes over which
men hâve no control!
Another case of justice:
One evening, after sundown, a poorly clad, dejected
teamster entered a small feed store, and begged the
loan of two rations of corn for his horses, saying that
he had a load of wood on his wagon which next morning
he would sell and pay for the corn.
The store-keeper was not financially in a condition to
crédit strangers or give away corn; but “the teamster
looked so woe-begone” (this we had from the store-
keeper himself) that he was moved to compassion and
let him hâve the corn. “Next morning what did I see,”
continued the store-keeper, “but the sherifï* leading the
teamster’s horses and wagon to be sold for debt. An
old gray-haired man, the creditor, was gleefully walk-
ingalong on the side of the wagon, and the ‘woe-begone’
teamster was following behind. It was early in the day.
No farmers in yet. Times were very hard. No one to
bid and the old, religious creditor scooped the whole in
at twenty-five dollars—ten dollars over the debt to
cover expenses.
“Onemonth before, the teamster had borrowed fifteen
dollars and mortgaged horses, wagon and harness. Had
not been able to get the money, and found himself in
the claws of justice, which deprived him of the only
means he had for supporting his family. The creditor
sold one of the horses in the aftemoon of the same day
for fifty-two dollars and was filled with holy joy. The146
INTEREST ON MONEY.
heart-broken teamster had not the courage to meet his
wife with the sad news and strolled out of town till late
in the night. The wife kept a wistful look for his ap-
pearance until night closed, then clasped her little one
in her arms and listened. He finally entered the door
and pressed her to his bosom. Oh, God of the poor!
“Next day the landlord came to notify them in per-
son that they could not remain in his house after that
month as he had otherwise disposed of his property!”
The neighbors felt sorry. Some even came to tell
them so.
A public case of justice in the daily papers:
“R. F. Conhaver and Thomas Nevit, who are under
confinement in the county jail for, what is called con-
tempt of court, for refusing to levy a tax to pay fraud-
ulent bonds, returned to jail last night. They had been
home by permission of the judge. It was a sad mission
that took Judge Conhaver home. His daughter Caro-
line, twenty-two years old, had become a raving maniac
owing to her father’s imprisonment, and .it was to send
her to the asylum that took him home. The judge has
now ordered the marshal to allow the imprisoned judges
only two hours exercise a week, instead of the four they
had been getting, and they were not allowed to corne to
see him (the big judge).”
Here we hâve judges imprisoning judges for refusing
to levy a tax to pay bonds issued on a railroad that was
never built; and this to gratify adventurers. “They
will hâve the governor himself imprisoned some day,”
we exclaimed.
OBEDIENCE.
The foregoing and similar events bring to our mind
the change that we hâve undergone in reference toINTEREST ON MONEY.
147
obedience. We had long participated with the people
in general in the idea that obedience was one of the
cardinal virtues, and disobedience a cardinal vice or
defect of human character. But, after witnessing the
enforcement of contracts for the payment of debts, for
the benefit of adventurers, regardless of moral equity
and justice, and regardless of the grief and suffering it
eatailed on the debtors, our mind has undergone a com-
plété révolution in regard to the merits and demerits of
obedience.
Obedience, fïrst of ail, is not a natural attribute of
man, savage or civilized. It is implan’ted in him by
persistent inculcation and training, or forced upon him
by physical punishment. The force of habit, viewed
from a moral point, is a pemicious characteristic of our
nature. The first impressions made on the brain, good
or bad, rational or absurd, especially if those impres-
sions are believed to be sanctioned by the gods, or ven-
erated heroes, pass down the stream of life from génér-
ation to génération undisturbed, undisputed, and finally
become undisputable. The common habits, customs,
.manners, creeds and opinions of a people are often
surrounded by such a dense cloud of préjudices, that
not one person in one hundred, of those who try, ever
can see beyond or above, and ninety-nine persons out
of a hundred never try at ail.
Among the public opinions which hâve corne down
to us from primitive âges, almost undisputed by reason,
or even common sense, is the one that obedience is a
virtue and disobedience a crime, and this in the face of
the fact that ail political révolutions and religious
reformations are based on disobedience. But let us
examine this idea a little deeper than has heretofore148	INTEREST ON MONEY.
been done. The colonists in their happy days, before
the fatal decree, had no judiciary to prevent justice,
no courts nor military to enforce injustice; nor did
they need ^uch crucial means. Ail contentions were
adjusted by arbitration, and crimes against the person
or property of citizens were arrested instantly by a
posse raised for the occasion. But, unfortunately they
had imbibed from their ancestors, in the Old Country
this idea that obedience to the powers that be, civil and
religious, was a virtue. Now, we instinctively know
that obedience to parents and to ail those who are actu-
ated solely or primarily by our own individual welfare,
or to superiors in intellect and expertness, is both
wise and proper; but if we read history aright, we find
that the most atrocious and gigantic crimes perpetrated
on earth by man upon man can and should be charged
to blind or enforced obedience. No tyrant, no baron,
no conqueror, no Pharaoh in Egypt, no Nero in Rome,
no Hastings in India and no Napoléon in Europe ever
perpetrated the atrocious deeds which are imputed to
them. No! Those deeds, those unparalleled robberies,
those slaughters of millions were committed by soldiers,
by serfs, by menials, by slaves who blindly and igno-
miniously obeyed their commands. In ail cases of crime
and injustice, obedience serves only as a cloak of inno-
cence, shielding the actual criminals and placing the
crime upon those who merely commanded its perpétra-
tion. If man was at ail times made personally respon-
sible for his own acts, independent of any outside ad-
vice or command, instead of a multitude of servile,
crouching slaves, we would hâve nations of noblemen,
and ëvil deeds would be very rare.
Obedience is never inculcated upon the great, theINTEREST ON MONEY.
I49
rich, the powerful. It is not considered an attribute
worthy the character of a nobleman. But it is con-
sidered an essential quality of inferiors, of soldiers, of
serfs and of slaves. It is among the lowlÿ of earth,
the servile classes, that we expect to find obedience.
If the command of that inhuman wretch in Africa who
latelyhad ten of his wives and their children murdered,
had been given to noblemen, to raen of character and
independence, they would hâve murdered the brute
instead of those poor, innocent women and children.
It is dangerous to surround man with hordes of obedi-
ent slaves.
The idea we desire to impress upon the reader, by
these observations, is that the adventurers, being orig-
inally but onë man, of ordinary size and strength, after-
wards but few, could not hâve inflicted the wrongs that
they had inflicted upon the colonists if these colonists
had not held obedience to be a virtue. Again, the gov-
ernor being but one man also, the two combined, or
the few, formed but a very small power, utterly incapa-
ble of impoverishing and desolating a whole country.
So we feel bound to confess that those two or few men,
aided by the act of Legal Tender, (if laws could help
men) hâve not done the harm that we hâve been charg-
ing them with in this book. No. The harm was done,
and continued to be done, by servile officiais in blind
obedience to the governor, who ordered it done to
gratify the greed of adventurers.
In the last case of tyranny adduced, when three
judges were incarcerated, and thus a portion of the
colony deprived of its public managers, not for any
crime of their own, but for the sins of a people refusing
to pay an iniquitous debt, no Judge Phillips, nor aINTEREST ON MONEY.
150
Phillip of Macedonia, would hâve been able to perpe-
trate such outrageous acts, without the obedience of
menials.
Thus obedience is oftener the virtue of the Devil,
never needed when good is to be done; always neces-
sary when injustice, iniquity, robbery or murder is to
be perpetrated.
If the human race can ever reach a plane of true
freedom, freedom of thought and freedom of action,
the cruelties, the injustices, the legal robberies and judi-
cious murders which hâve oppressed in âges past and
continue to oppress the human race, would instantly
cease. No king nor governor would divest a poor
teamster of the only means he had to support a wife
and children to the benefit of a wicked old man who
had already a superfluity.
This ancient préjudice about obedience should be
weighed in the scales of reason and morality. The
Creator has implanted in each human being a lamp,
called conscience, to take cognizance of and décidé be-
tween good and evil. Obedience extinguishes this
divine lamp. It is a sin against God and man to allow
it done. Conscience should never be even dimmed.
Every man and woman should be held personally respon-
sible for his or her deeds. Then the lamp of conscience
would burn brightly and become our guiding star.
Man’s conscience feels instinctively what is right and
what is wrong; and a majority of consciences, un-
dimmed by vicious human laws or habits, would consti-
tute the voice of God, always right, and consequently
should always prevail over ail human laws, which are
nothing but the émanation of small minorities, and
enacted mostly for selfish ends. In the colony, forINTEREST ON MONEY.
I51
instance, seven men, highly prejudiced by the worship
of human laws, were appointed by the governor to be
suprême judges of right and wrong over ail the con-
sciences of the colonists. Was not this a sacrilege
against the will of God? Was it a wonder that the ruin
of millions was the resuit?
We are aware that a discussion of this subject would
hâve been branded by the governor as anarchical. But,
bear in mind, reader, that, as we said, ail révolutions,
as well as ail reformations and improvements, political,
moral and industrial, hâve been the resuit of disobedi-
ence, and that such disobedience has been extolled as
a blessing in after âges, then you may allow us this lati-
tude. How long blind obedience will continue to dis-
tress, imprison and impoverish millions for the benefit
of the few, we do not prétend to prophesy. But this
we know, that the people are beginning to murmur and
become restless. There is but a short period between
murmur and mutiny; between restlessness and revoit.
Many are already clamoring for the initiative and
referendum which, interpreted, means that the gov-
ernor shall issue no more decrees without the approval
of the colonists. Nay, we overheard some colonists
say openly that the governor shall cease disgracing
himself and the high position he occupies, in distress-
ing the people to collect adventurers* crédits free of
charge. This much we heard, but we do not concern
ourselves about political agitation. We are seeking to
reform industrial conditions by peaceable and quicker
methods than through politics and révolution.
With this déviation we return to the fruits of the col-
onial monetary System and will now give the condition
of the people in one of the best, the largest and richest152
INTEREST ON MONEY.
cities in the colony, as reported by an Association whose
object was “the promotion of morality” and not to cast
odium upon the financial System:
THE LABORERS* HOUSES.
“Some startling and painful facts were brought to
light at a conférence of the societies for the promotion
of morality, held in the city. In a paper read on the
‘Housing of the Poor? in the city, it was stated that
the half of the dwellings consist of one room to which,
in some instances, is attached a cup-board. » In one of
these rooms are often found sleeping from ten to fifteen
persons old and young. One hundred thousand per-
sons and more sleep in cellars and attics. The prices
for rooms are high, and one conséquence of this is that
very many thousands of abandoned women are received
into families as lodgers to lessen the rent. They are
the ladies of the house, and both parents and children,
at first, shun them. But the children, seeing the idle
life those lodgers live and the beautiful clothes they
wear, soon learn to enter into the same awful course.”
Behold the work of this monetary abomination. A
thousand years under it, with thousands of mechanics
seeking employment; with rocks, clay, sand, lumber
and iron in abundance ail around, would not allow the
building of comfortable dwellings for the inhabitants.
A few years under a rational System will place every
family in a palace.
Alas, we cannot forbear crying, that an element which
is in no way necessary to, and does not enter as a com-
ponent part of men’s dwellings, should hâve been
considered the only essential thing to permit the
construction of the same, and that its absence
should hâve forced thousands of men, women andINTEREST ON MONEY.
153
children to huddle up in tenement houses as brutes!
The city described in the above report was but a
type of ail the cities in the colony, and the same con-
dition existed ail over the world, wherever the same
monetary System reigned. The poor were everywhere
and in the same déplorable condition.
While we were reading the above report to a circle
of friends, and making comments, one of the bystanders,
a Frenchman, remarked that millions of workingmen
in his country had been, génération after génération,
living in narrow, damp, uncomfortable, and windowless
adobe shanties, and not a step was ever taken by any of
the successive governors of the country to improve such
dwellings. “Instead,” he added, “said governors hâve
wasted time and means in military flummery, destructive
wars, vain displays, parades, balls and dissipation. At
the same time our adventurers (and France, it appeared,
had not been spared by that class) hâve ail the time
been busy devising schemes by which they could cast
the gold hook and draw in the products of labor; while
our benighted people stood ever ready, mouth ajar,
looking for the gold hook to catch the enticing bait.
And now that France is basking in an atmosphère of
political liberty,” he continued, “our leaders, elected
by the people themselves for the express object of bet-
tering their condition, care nothing whatever about
housing the poor, but calculate with the adventurers
what amount of gold, or notes, or bonds is necessary to
bridge the S trait between England and France and
what revenue the bridge would bring them.”
The crowd disbanded, muttering: “Always scheming
to draw revenues; never to advance the welfare of the
peopel”iS4
INTEREST ON MONEY.
The general condition of the working classes was
best depicted by Father Mahoney, pastor of a church
in Brooklyn. We quote:
“Never before in my long experiénce as parish priest
has the city been in such woeful condition as it is now.
Hundreds of families are starving. It is like an awful
famine in a land of plenty. Unless relief cornes soon,
the resuit will be appalling to contemplate. I hâve
seen strong men begging for bread to feed their starv-
ing families. For months they hâve been out of em-
ployment and no prospect in sight for any. I hâve
heretofore held that actual want and poverty are caused
by the people themselves. This time is different. Good,
honest, industrious families are feeling it. The little
they had been able to save has disappeared. In many
houses in this district this morning, there is not as much
as a loaf of bread.” Rising here in the majesty of his
official position, Father Mahoney exclaimed:
“Woe to the men who hâve brought this about! A
blight seems to hâve fallen upon the country and for no
apparent reason. There is no panic, no disease. Crops
were never fairer. Everything points to better times
than we hâve had in twenty years. Yet we are facing
actual starvation. Money has ceased to circulate. The
building trades are at a stand-still. Men who hâve the
money bag tied up will not loosen the string.
“What has caused this condition?” he asks. “The
tricks of bloodhounds who call themselves men. In
order to crush the unfortunate toilers, they hâve closed
up the factories and mills. Industries hâve been
crippled, production curtailed, that prices may be
forced up. The workman is made to feel the pangs
of poverty so that next year he will be willing to takeFUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.	155
whatever wages the bloodhounds are willing to ofïer.”
Brooklyn was far from being the worst city in the
colony. The miseries of Chicago and other cities were
heart-rending to contemplate. Relief committees and
ail the charitable institutions of the land were working
in full force, day and night, to save human beings, as
if the colony was wrapped in a conflagration (1893-4).
FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
BY AN ADVENTURER.
We had a conversation with a personal friend who
belonged to the capitalistic side (at this time the colon-
ists were divided into two classes, capital and labor, and
the chasm between the two was widening every day).
We had a conversation, we said, about the condition of
the working classés, asking whether he did not believe
that something should be done to better that condition,
and thus avert possible future trouble. “It would be a
grand and benevolent act, but it is an impossibility,”
he answered. “You see,” he continued, “machinery
is the speediest and cheapest worker we hâve; it needs
no res.t, feeds on coal and wood, drinks only water, and
requires but a few hands to tend it, and these mostly
women and children who work for the lowest wages.
The balance of the laboring classes we hâve no longer
use for. We do not want to fîll our houses to overflow-
ing with furniture, clothes, food or any commodlty of
which we cannot make use; consequently when the de-
mand for goods ceases, we are compelled to stop pro-
duction, and, of course, turn the workers out of em-156	FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
ployment. This is the situation which makes so many
tramps in the colony. We regret it but cannot prevent
it; it cornes in the nature of things as society progresses
in scientific discoveries and mechanical inventions.”
“Of course,” he went on, “these tramps get hungry,
and hungry men become unruly and even dangerous to
the better class of society. Some of these tramps hâve
already become so bold as to parade the streets of our
large cities, where they congregate, bearing flags with
ominous and threatening inscriptions, and clamoring
for ‘work or bread/ and calling our good governor,
himself, hard names, as if he was the cause of poverty.
What has our governor to do with inventions, overpro-
duction, work and wages? He cannot compel people
to buy beyond their wants, nor can he compel adven-
turers to employ labor at a loss. This is a land of lib-
erty, where everybody does as he or she chooses. We
pity these tramps, but their case is beyond rédemption.
We wish them no harm, y et we must caution them that
it will be better for them not to interfère with the laws
of the colony, else they will be made food for powder
and lead. I tell you, friend,” he concluded, “the only
remedy we can see is a war to kill out the surplus popu-
lation. In a war these tramps would be dispatched
quicker and therefore more mercifully than by starva-
tion. ”
We could but be deeply afïected by such views.
“Oh horror of horrors!” we ejaculated within ourselves.
“Was this to be the final ending of inventions? It can-
not be” we reasoned. “A merciful Creator would not
hâve endowed man with genius to invent his own de-
struction. Nay, on the contrary, he has endowed every
animal with more or less, but man above them ail, withFUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.	157
means of defense and protection. Invention cannot be
but one of these means to increase production and meet
the increase of population.” This within ourselves.
Then, regaining our composure, “But, sir,” we said to
our friend, “it appears to us that you hâve not the right
conception of social affairs. We remember reading a
book, written by Malthus, in which the author predicts
that a time would corne on earth, when ‘population
would tramp on the heels of food.' Malthus meant, of
course, a time when the earth would fail to produce suf-
ficiently to maintain its dense population, and advises
that, either prudence should restrict the increase, or,
when that fatal day should hâve corne, a part of the
population would hâve to starve. It seems to us, sir,
that you hâve the doctrine of Malthus end foremost—
the cause for the effect. You argue that men should be
killed, not because of a scarcity of food, but, on the
contrary, because we hâve too much of everything they
need; too much food, too many clothes and comforts.
To illustrate: Would it not be horrible to hear of a fath-
er, who cherished his children as long as he had to
struggle hard to support them, but who, the moment
he should invent a machine or discover some way with
which or by which he could produce more food than
needed, should turn to killing these children, lest he,
himself, should be overstocked with goods? And would
it not be as horrible for the whole colony to do the same
thing? A bountiful Providence has certainly loaded
the table abundantly for ail her children; a stupid gov-
ernor decrees that none shall partake of God’s bounties
except those who happen to be provided with legal ten-
der gold spoons, and forces the famished multitude not
so provided to starve in sight of plenty; and now you158	FUTURE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
say that it would be more merciful to shoot the starving
ones at once! Allow us to suggest that it would be far
more merciful, more moral and more rational, to repeal
a barbarous legal tender gold spoon law, and let ail to the
table and partake to the extent of their contributions.”
Thus we reasoned the matter with our friend.
With what resuit he did not express, but he left in a
very thoughtful mood. So we had now corne to a pass,
when, to talk with the sufferers, we were grieved by their
chronic gold craze; to talk to the governor, we could
not make ourselves understood; and to talk to advent-
urers we were struck with horror by their views and
principles. Meantime ail around us was poverty and
despair.PART SECOND.
THE LABO R MOVEMENT.
The downfall of the working classes in the colony,
coupled with the despair of ever seeing their reason, in
regard to gold, restored, had so fatigued and depressed
our mental faculties that we decided to repair for rest
to the wilderness, where we remained several years.
Do what we may, however, it was beyond our power to
separate our thoughts altogether from the condition of
aiïairs in the colony.
One night as we lay in our hammock in a hunter’s
cabin, we fell to dreaming, and in our gloomy imagin-
ation we saw the river, which meanders through the
country, unusually full. Continued rains, it appeared,
had raised its waters over the banks. It was turbid, yet
level and calm. A white man stood on a high point on
the bank watching drifts and logs floating down the
stream. At a short distance below him, a group of
negroes were apparently intent on the same sight. Of
a sudden, the white man moved to the negroes, and,
“boys,” we seemed to hear him distinctly say, “if y ou
catch those logs Fil give y ou the half of them.” In-
stantly, with one accord, the negroes appeared to strip
ofï their clothes and swim for the logs. This was a
traditional story that we had heard often in our youngi6o
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
days, and which came uppermost in our incohérent
dream. After this followed a new panorama on the
river. The negroes had, seemingly, been supplement-
ed by a multitude of white men in the chase after logs.
The boss, who formerly had given the negroes em-
ployment, had been made rich by his portion of the
logs. He now possessed pleasure boats, swift yachts,
and magnificent steamers on which he and his were
floating leisurely up and down the stream, enjoying the
balmy breeze, and the sight of his thousands of em-
ployés. These employés, head above water, were
struggling to catch logs. Here and there one of them
would give way, under exhaustion, and sink, but it
created no disturbance. Such incidents had become a
common occurrance.
Again we dreamed that the scene had changed
once more. The waters on the river appeared clearer
and smoother than we had ever seen them before, and
boats, yachts and steamers beautified the landscape.
On a sudden, a strange phenomenon occurred among
the floating heads and waving arms of employés. It
seemed as if a Whirlpool had engulfed a group of these
men. We saddened, yet could not prevent the thought
that, perhaps, their condition in a future life would be
better than in this, considering how hard their lot had
been. Shortly, at no long distance from the spot where
the first group went under, we caught sight of a similar
accident, and soon Whirlpool followed Whirlpool and
group followed group, when we feared that the whole
host of floating misery was about being swallowed up
by the waters, thus ending forever the monetary System
and ail its victims in the colony.
We awoke heavy-headed and sad-hearted, but feltTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
161
releaved to find that it was only a dream. We narrated
our dream at the breakfast board and the hunter's wife*
who claimed to be a fortune-teller, interpreted it as por-
tending trouble between employers and employés in
the colony. In a few days we proceeded hither and
found the colony upheaved with labor organizations.
Almost every trade and profession, in town and coun-
try, had formed a “Union” or Association, and many
of these unions had already entered into a fédération.
“What does ail this mean?” we cried. We were
informed that the labor forces had organized to pro-
tect their interests against the impositions of capi-
talists, as they now called the adventurers. “What,”
we exclaimed in fear, “are we already involved in a
révolution? Are the colonists going to drown their
troubles in blood?” we asked. “God forbid,” we
said. “There is no need of violence. Besides, killing
the adventurers would not remove the gold infatuation,
and cousequently would not better the condition of the
working classes. On the contrary, if we could cure
such lunacy, prosperity would at once be restored, and
with it harmony and peace among ail classes. The
people would see that mere gold dust, or gold coins,
hâve no power to help or harm hum an beings, and the
whole trouble would be over. Oh, let us set our elîorts
in the right direction and avert an unnecessary and de-
structive révolution.” Thus we spoke.
Naturally we became very anxious to learn more
about this “Labor Movement.” Accordingly we de-
voted our time, in town and country, among the various
organizations for this purpose. We read carefully their
“Déclarations of Principles” and kept up with the criti-
cisms of the press for and against. To our surprise, weIÔ2
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
found that, not only was there no understanding, but a
positive conflict in the views and objects of the varions
industries. Nay, that some of these views were antag-
onisric to the interests of those who entertained them;
and finaily that instead of contending with adventurers
for the fruit of their toil, they were fomenting a con-
flict among themselves. Wê grieved at such facts and
determined to direct our efforts to harmonizing the élé-
ments and assisting them into the right road to success,
With this object in mind, one day we repaired to an
intelligent and influential friend of ours, who belonged
both to the Union of his own trade (shoemaker) and to
the Fédération of Trades, to drawhim out. “Can you
tell us the real object of this great uprising of the work-
ing classes?” we asked of him. “Will this end finaily
in a conflict between the toilers and the adventurers, as
some predict?” “No,” he replied, “we hâve not the
remotest idea of fighting. We hâve organized to protect
our interests,” he added. “Against the governor’s legal
tender decree?” we asked him again. “What about the
legal tender decree,” he questioned, and continued:
“We hâve nothing against legal tender money, if that
is what you mean, only that we do not get enough of it
•for our work. But the true cause of the evil is compé-
tition among ourselves.” He said, “We hâve been
bidding against one another, each offering to work
cheaper, until we hâve pushed wages down to starvation
point. W~e hâve no home of our own and can scarcely
afïord a sufficiency of the commonest food and clothes.
While we know that our combined labor produces ail
the comforts and luxuries in the world, we cannot enjoy
scarcely any of them.” Thus spake our friend. We
resumed:	“But we find that adventurers hâve alsoTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
163
organized for the same purpose that you workers hâve;
viz: to drive compétition from among themselves. Poor
compétition, it appears, will soon hâve no resting place
on earth. If ail classes get to chasing it, as you and
the adventurers seem to do, it is doomed to perish. But,
friend,we found that the farmers think'Otherwise. They
hâve organized to prevent adventurers destroying com-
pétition. In fact in some parts of the colony they hâve
already fo.rced the governor to pass laws against the
combination of railroads. So there is certainly some mis-
understanding between mechanics and farmers in this
labor movement, and unless these two great factors in
production harmonize, success is impossible,” we
argued. “That is true,” conceded our friend, “but we
do agréé with the farmers that adventurers hâve no right
to combine for the purpose of destroying compétition
and forming monopolies and trusts. It is against the
interest of the people,” he cried. “Is not every union
aiming to do the same thing?” we queried. “Accord-
ing to your opinion, compétition should be driven from
the ranks of labor, and maintained among adventurers.
It seems to us inconsistent and unjust. A principle
that is not good for one should not be good for another
neighbor. But, alas! we arewell aware that every man
wishes monopoly for himself, and compétition for his
neighbor. Still, let us hear how you are going to drive
compétition from shoemakers,” we asked. He ex-
plained, “We hâve entered into a mutual agreement in
the ‘Union’ that none of us shall work for less than a
certain amount of money per day.” “Suppose the
adventurers refuse to pay your rates, what will you do
about it?” we asked. “Stop working, strike!” he
promptly replied. “We must confess,” we said, “that164
THE LABOR NOVEMENT.
we cannot see how you will be able to obtain more
money either by merely demanding it, or by refusing
to work. Consider that adventurers are but few and
need but little of your labor for themselves. They are
well provided for time to corne and own most of the
money in the colony. Consider also that many colo-
nists now go almost barefooted because unable to buy
shoes at présent prices, and you know that higher wages
will force higher prices. So, assuming that.the adven-
turers grant your demand, they alone would be able to
pay the advanced price of shoes, and, as we said, they
need but very few. On the other side, many poor
people who are scarcely able to buy now, will not be
able to go any higher. Hence, the shoe business would
suffer, and you would corne ont the losers in the end.
Friend,” we added, “these are self-evident truths, irre-
vocable, eternal. They will not down at the bidding
of man nor a host of men. Under a fixed amount of
money, the higher you put wages, the higher will prices
go; and the higher prices are, the less will be the con-
sumption of anything; and, finally, the less the con-
sumption is, the less labor will be needed. Besides,
suppose ail other trades organize also to hâve their
wages raised (and you know that they hâve already done
or are doing so), would it not raise the price of the
articles that you buy? Consequently, would you not
hâve to pay more money for what you consume, except
shoes? And what would you then hâve gained by a
raise of wages?. You see, friend, this higher wages
contest is not against compétition nor against adven-
turers, but a conflict among the laboring classes, for
they are not only producers but also the largest con-
sumers. If one trade gets higher wages, the other tradesTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.	l65
must suffer, and if ail the trades hâve their wages raised,
none will benefit by the rise. So, if such is the object
of ail this mighty labor agitation, we can assure you
that, instead of bettering the condition of the wage-
workers, it will prove detrimental. In so far as the
adventurers are concerned, it is really immaterial what
wages they pay, provided the market will allow them to
sellthe goods higherthan the wages. Nor is itmaterial
to labor what wages are paid, provided that those wages
would enable them to purchase an équivalent of pro-
ducts. What différence could it make to an employer
whether he pays one dollar or ten dollars per day, if by
the operation he profits accordingly? And what différ-
ence could it make to an employé whether he gets one
dollar or ten, if he can purchase as much with the one
dollar as he could with the ten? The trouble on both
sides, is to attempt to force seven billions of annual
productions through the needle’s eye of money. Men
cannot perform in industry and commerce the Bible
miracle of the loaves and fishes—feed thousands and
hâve basketfuls lett. Nor will ‘striking* help the
miracle. It will make matters worse. The first effect
of a ‘strike* is to alienate the good feeling of employ-
er (who are not always adventurers) and ail those who
suffer from the stoppage of business. Next, the strike
can only end in one of two alternatives. Either the
employer has the money to pay higher wages or not.
If not, then the contest is at an end. The business is
bound to close. You may continue your strike forever,
higher wages will never corne. If, on the contrary, ^he
employer has the money, and the market justifies it,
will he not hâve to raise pricés also, and thus press your
comrades in other industrial departments to pay thosei66
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
prices, and force them to demand higher wages, and
‘strike’ to obtain them? And here we would go round
and round this interminable labyrinth forever. The
solution of the labor problem is not to be found here.
“Another point in this higher wages contest deserves
attention also. It is that the higher the wages (money
being fixed) the less men can be employed and there-
fore the less wealth can be produced. To illustrate:
Suppose the colony was but one large family, and ail
the - money in it one thousand dollars. Now, if the
‘boys’ would work at one dollar per day, we could em-
ploy one thousand of them one day, and in the evening
of that day we would hâve the product of one thou-
sand men to enjoy. Again, if the ‘boys’ would work
for ten cents per day, we could employ ten thousand
of them (if we had the men) one day, and in the even-
ing we would hâve ten times the product of the day
before to enjoy. But, if the ‘boys* strike and demand
two dollars per day, we could only employ five hundred
one day and the resuit would be only half the product
of the first day. A second strike- for five dollars per
day would starve the colony. Workingmen do not
comprehend the folly of striking for more money. ”
In conclusion we pointed to our friend that the only
sure remedy for labor’s condition was a change of com-
mercial System from compétition to co-operation.
“Labor and its products, ” we said, “should remain in
the possession and control of producers and never pass
into the control of money manipulators. The so-called
market, be it a place or method for interchanging these
products, should never be in the hands of parties whose
interest is antagonistic to said producers. But, above
ail, we should never allow money, much or little, to in-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
167
terfere with production and exchange. Labor is the
only factor, and should not subject itself to money.
The wages of labor are not money but the product of
its mind and hands. Instead of being wages, money is
an evidence that the true wages hâve been parted with,
and an evidence which can only recover a portion of
said products.
Our arguments with the shoemaker were not alto-
gether wasted, as he was the means through whom we
had several invitations to lecture before Trades Unions,
Farmers’ Alliances and other organizations, and it ap-
peared that interest in our views was gaining ground
rapidly.
CELEBRATED MEN.
Social movements will always bring to the surface
men of talent who otherwise would hâve gone to their
graves in obscurity. As soon as the Labor Movement
assumed importance, éloquent speakers and writers of
eminence took up the cause. We listened attentively
to their speeches and read eagerly their publications,
expecting that some one would discover' the hidden
rock against which the industries were wrecked, viz: the
Legal Tcnder decree. But inveterate préjudices, it
seemed, had beclouded the mind of ail.
Among these eminent writers towered Henry George
and Edward Bellamy. But Henry George stranded upon
the hobby that “private ownership of land” was the
cause of ail the ills under which the colony was sufïer-
ing, not considering that landlordism was itself but one
of the effects of the immense power conferred on gold
by the Legal Tender privilège. Land being classed
among the outlawed commodities, unable to satisfy a
debt, or pay a tax, had fallen into the hands of adven-[68
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
turérs by purchases and forced sales, sometimes at
enormous sacrifices to former owners. Mr. George
must hâve heard, as we did, colonists complaining that
they were “land-poor” meaning that the compulsion
to obtain money for debts and taxes was dragging them
down into poverty. But he surely never heard of a
person being “money-poor. ” Our forefathers in the
colony had been owners of the soil they cultivated and
no conqueror had divested them of it. But Legal Ten-
der money, in control of the markets, had rendered
agriculture unprofitable; then, by a System of loans,
mortgages and foreclosures, had robbed the farmers of
the land also. No other agency, except conquest and
money, could enable one man to possess himself of the
land of his neighbors, and in this field, conquest is not
as powerful as money. If the landlords by conquest
had not been entrenched behind the law of entail, but
open to the batteries of the money power, not one
could hâve maintained possession of his estâtes. Even
a superficial observer would not be long in discovering
which of the two powers, landlordism or lendlordism is
tbe superior. He would readilyfind whetherland holds
mortgages on money or money on land; whether money
was ever sacrificed under the sheriiFs hammer to obtain
land, or land to obtain money. Here in the colony,
previous to the Legal Tender decree, over half the pop-
ulation were owners of land Now, a small number of
money manipulators own the most of it. Can it be
that men are fond of losing their homes? One single
fact should hâve convinced Henry t reorge of his fallacy
that the owners of land are the lords over the human
race. What was it that gave England, a comparatively
small Island, financial supremacy over vast continents,THE LABOR MOVEMENT.	169
composed of land owners, or landlords? Was it her
land, or her expertness in managing money? By what
means was she yet absorbing the industries and the
land of these continents, placing the people thereof
under bondage and tribute? Had Henry George made
such comparisons, he would never hâve set us against
farmers, for, previous to the organization of the
money power, farmers in the colony were our main stay.
(No one cared to absorb the vast tracts of land which
could not be used or rented.) He would, on the con-
trary, hâve taught us to become expert financiers, or
show us how to defend our lands, our property and our
Personal and public independence from the inroads of
lendlords. Instead of doing either of these, Henry
George undertook to shield these Legal Tender adven-
turers, and made a direct attack upon the owners of
real estate, most of whom were mortgaged and bled by
said ‘ ‘lendlords. ”
Again, Henry George advocated a remedy for finan-
cial ills which, if adopted and applied, would hâve ex-
tinguished the last spark of hope in the industrial
classes. He advocated the taxing of land according to
its value in order to compel its surrender to the gov-
ernor who would then rent it to those who had most
money. Seethe vicious circle! In so far as adventur-
ers were concerned, Henry George’s reformation would
hâve consisted simply in changing the word sale into
rent or lease. The tenure of land would hâve been
in him who had most money, not in him who was best
able to cultivate it. ‘ If we had been a “lendlord” we
would hâve accepted Henry George’s System at once;
and, actually, many expressed themselves favorable to
his doctrines. Workingmen, and men of small means,170
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
would not hâve had the ghost of a chance for a home.
Ail their savings put in a lot and a modest house built
on it, would hâve been swept away, without compensa-
tion, by the rise of value, and conséquent high taxes,
caused by the palaces built on adjoining lots. Ail men
of small means would hâve become “dogs in the
manger” and driven to the outskirts of cities, thence
to be driven again further out, by fortunate adventurers.
Mr. George, we believe, never stopped to ponder
over the true meaning of those two words he harped so
much about and made the basis of his reforms, viz:
value and tax. The one is but an abstract idea, indi-
cating the intensity of want or desire, and the amount
of sacrifices which a person is willing to undergo to
supply that want or gratify that desire. This condition
will be greatly modified, if not obliterated altogether,
as soon as the compétitive System gives way to co-ope-
ration. A “tax” is but a necessary evil. It is a sacri-
fice of property which society is willing to bear as long
as evil-doers, within and without its borders, threaten
life and property. This sacrifice should increase and
diminish as such danger increases or diminishes, and,
in a high state of morality and civilization, should dis-
appear altogether. Henry George aims to make of that
tax a means of punishment and an equalizer of for-
tunes. It would serve instead to corrupt the govern-
ment. Neither of these négative instrumentalities, value
nor tax, can raise the moral, mental or material condi-
tion of the human race. Away with them!
Mr. George, in his “Social Problems,” says that “the
idéal social state is that in which each gets in propor-
tion to his contributions to the general stock.” Had
Mr. George made this truth the foundation of his polit-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
171
ical economy, he would hâve done infinitely more good.
Edward Bellamy had woven an attractive story in
pleasing langaage, pointing to a socialistic paradise to
which the working classes would repair after a few gén-
érations of increased oppression should hâve passed
away. He described the transition period as doomed
to pass through a dreary social wilderness of midnight
gloom. During this period ail the small industries
would be captured by monopolies and destroyed; the
workers would be reduced to the humiliating condition
of wage-workers and renters; and that finally monopoly
would absorb monopoly until the whole industrial world
would centralize into an all-powerful monster monopoly
upon which the very existence of the human race would
dépend.
Mr. Bellamy was positive in impressing the living
génération with the hopelessness of attempting to resist
the onward march of this car of juggernaut, which he
presented as an irrépressible cataclysm “in the very
nature of industrial progress.” Yet in the face of this
prospective, most despondent, of social periods in hu-
man history, he endeavored to cheer us under the
crushing wheels by pointing to that dim and distant ray
of hope for our great, great grand’-children!
If Bellamy had built his social “Eden” in the moon,
and enjoined on the living génération never to attempt
the construction of ladder or balloon wherewith to
ascend to it, but on the contrary to suffer with résigna-
tion to the end of their days, and teach their children to
imitate their example to the end of their days, without
hope, until, “in the course of human events” said
“Eden” should fall ôf its own gravity, he would hâve
done the struggling masses about as much good. Nay,172
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
if Bellamy’s station in life was, as he presented it in his
book, on top of the social “coach” among the oppress-
ors of labor, and his intention had been to put a quietus
to the already threatening agitation of a people who
were getting tired of “pulling at the rope,” he could
not hâve selected a better method.
It may be “in the nature of progress” that the pro-
ducers of ail wealth shall never enjoy any, and that an
idle class may subjugate them through superstition,
despotism or money, but it is not “in the nature
of man,” especially civilized man to whom liberty has
been preached from infancy, to suffer long without re-
sentment. Bellamy found out in his lifetime that it
was also in the nature of things that, as monopolies
formed and oppression increased, resentment intensi-
fied and résistance organized. Fortunately the doc-
trines of Bellamy were having the opposite efïect on
the people. His followers began at once to organize
for action in the hope of realizing his paradise in their
génération.
But the policy of passiveness advocated by Bellamy
in reference to présent conditions was not, in our opin-
ion, the most important fault in his System. His future
“Eden” would not hâve been congenial to the nature
of man, hence not conducive to his happiness. Bellamy
seemed to assume that social disorders and the disparity
of material conditions were due to the unwillingness
of the several trades to perform their functions; and
that consequently they must be forced to perform their
duty to society by outside pressure. In his opinion
(and that of socialists in general) the workingman and
woman must always hâve a boss, a master, a monopoly
or a government behind. According to him, farmersTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
173
wère falling short of producing food sufficient to feed
the colonists. Manufacturers fell short of clothing
them; and so of ail the industries. Hence, “in the
nature of progress” ail workers must be reduced, first,
to the condition of renters and tenants under adven-
turers, and wage-workers under a boss or floor-walker,
preparatory to submission under a government. We
had passed the time when men could be subjugated by
the sword and compelled to work by the whip. Starva-
tion alone could compel a free man (?) to toil. Con-
sequently the necessity of monopolies to control the
sources of production.
“But monopolies, ” argued Bellamy, “are actuated
by selfish motives and not for the general welfare of
the colonists, ” hence he fell upon the idea of substi-
tuting the government for the monopolies.
Bellamy must hâve believéd that the governor need-
ed at least one century of training to enable him to
“promote the general welfare” by managing ail the in-
dustries. During the transition period, adventurer
would absorb adventurer, as in the Middle Ages Baron
absorbed Baron, until the whole would centralize in
Delano, a chief financier. During ail this time, we
must suppose, the governor would keep upon the heels
of his boss, the adventurer, collecting his crédits and
shooting down strikers free of charge and learn to man-
age affairs, until the day of industrial independence
should arrive, when the governor would strike down
Delano and sit himself on the industrial throne, and the
millenium would be established!
Such is, in brief, a fair présentation, at least as we
understood it, of the views that Mr. Bellamy held of
the industrial problem and its final solution.174
THE LABOR NOVEMENT.
Assuming Bellamy’s views to be correct, and that
after an additional century of suffering and dégrada-
tion, our great, great grand-children should enter his
“Eden,” may we not be allowed to ask a few ques-
tions as to the State of alfairs in that Eden? What
would be the character of that future governor; what
his cabinet; what his judiciary and other officiais?
“Water cannot rise above its source. ” It appears to us
that we should start housekeeping in that Eden with
very undesirable materials. Look at these materials.
A financial autocrat surrounded by an army of Pinker-
tons, ever ready, for pay, to carry his orders into exe-
cution and compel obedience through starvation or rifle
diet; a governor who had so far been the submissive
tool of that autocrat, collecting his revenues gratuitous-
ly, and passing any laws he desired, and a mass of ab-
ject wage-workers and renters who hâve lost ail courage
and self-esteem. Behold the social éléments out of
which Bellamy would hâve to construct his paradise!
Now, assuming that God, in his infinité wisdom, had
prepared a Moses for governor, out of which of the
above éléments would that Moses choose his angelic
officiais to “promote the general welfare?” If he is to
carry on ail the industries, he would be compelled to
select farmers from farmers, manufacturers from manu-
facturers, merchants from merchants, legislators from
lawyers, and financiers from Delanos, and thus using
the same bosses to make the people work. We could
not see any alternative. We judge the structure of that
social Eden by the materials composing it.
In Bellamy’s time, the institution called the govern-
ment was a business concern, and a money-making
•business—the most profitable and certain of ail busi-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
x75
nesses. It dealt in an article of its own making called
protection. It fixed the quantity and quality of that
article, and “fixed the value thereof” then forced the
people to purchase it, willing or unwilling, and pay that
“value thereof” at the point of the bayonet. Thus it
realized immense profits and lived sumptuously in pal-
aces within parks. Though it was beset by patriots
willing to sacrifice themselves upon the country’s altar,
and employed hosts of these patriots, yet it suffered no
dépréssion in wages. Compétition in these official
wages had never entered its portais, for here the order
of things was reversed, the employés fixed their own
wages, and the employers were forced to pay them.
But, according to Bellamy, and other socialists, this
magnificent “Do Nothing” (as one of the colonists had
named it) lacked yet in power. It was only making
the colonists do the fighting, carry the mail, build sump-
tuous palaces for its abode and provide bountifully for
its wants and pageantry. Mr. Bellamy and the social-
ists desired to enlarge the government’s field of “mak-
ing the people do, regardless of taste and talent. Such
as making us dig and delve, sow and reap, spin and
weave, quarry and build, not only for its own wants and
gratifications, but to supply our own wants also, because
we lacked the will to do it of our own accord. No
other reason could be adduced. Gracious and precious
governor! Most Glorious liberty! Beautiful haven of
rest!
Bellamy, socialists and communists in the colony
seemed to ignore the nature and character of man and
such environments as are best promotive of his develop-
ment and happiness. They failed to consider that
man’s spring of action is located within him and not176	THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
outside of him. Nature does not hold her grip on
man to push him here and there, nor use sword or
whip to force him to work. Nature fixed his machinery,
or internai economy, so as to awaken hunger, thirst,
physical and mental wants, desires and ambition to set
him in motion. To move at the call of these is a
pleasure to him, while orders, commands, or pressure
of any kind from outside, corne whence it may, from
conqueror, master, boss or government, are grating to
his feelings, humiliating, depressing, destructive of his
self-esteem, his dignity, his liberty, his character, his
reason. They arouse resentment and lay the founda-
tion for revoit, riots and révolution. Nature has set
before man a table loaded with bounties, somewhat at
a distance and unprepared, so as to cause wholesome
exertion of mind and body. She endowed him with
power of motion, mental and physical, then left him
free. Free, man will do wonders; forced, he will sink
and shrink towards the brute création.
Individual liberty of thought and action is absolutely
necessary to the highest development of man’s charac-
ter and to his happiness. Ail attempts to abridge his
liberty will finally prove futile. If socialism, or the
commonwealth, be ever established, it will not be long
lived.
Mr. Bellamy, however, had awakened a deep senti-
ment in the p*ossibilities of the human race, in the
power of association, and thus far had done much good
for which we should feel grateful.
LABOR MEETINGS.
At a meeting of workingmen to which we had a spé-
cial invitation, we spoke as’follows on the question of
WAGES:THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
177
“Workingmen and Women:—Let us reason the con-
dition of labor in a calm, dispassionate manner. And,
first, let us ask y ou:	Is it not true that you can do as
much work, in a given time, and produce as much of
anything, whether you are paid ten dollars, one dollar,
or no money at ail? Is it not true that your ability,
your skill and your mental and physical power is within
yourselves, and not outside of you in pièces of gold or
slips of paper with which men claim to pay you?
Friends, ail the wealth we see to-day in the world has
been produced by workingmen and women devoting their
time and energy to it, and not a particle of it cornes
from money. Who knows, or cares to know, now, how
much money, or what pay, those men and women ob-
tajned for bringing forth the world’s wealth? When we
find that those who created the wealth are poor; that
those who built the houses are paying rent in tenements
or live in dilapidated huts in the country; while those
who merely ordered that wealth produced and claim
to hâve paid for it, are living in palaces and enjoying
the comforts and luxuries of civilization; nay, are in
possession of both the wealth and the money they paid
for it, we can but infer that the workers must hâve re-
ceived very little pay, and a very treacherous sort of
pay, for.it. Can ycu not see that labor has lost ail the
fruits of its toil through that pay?
“From these grave facts, we should infer that the first
reform necessary to liberate labor, should be to look
into this wages System, and see how it cornes to be that
those who prétend to pay labor end by owning both
the products and the pay. You will find that your sal-
vation does not consist in having that pay or wages
raised, for raising a bad thing will never make it good.178
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
You will find that you had better abolish the wage-sys-
tem altogether. If this wages pay was abolished, the
speculator would be eut off from profiting by your labor.
Now, can this be done? We answer, of course it can.
If, as we said, labor can do as much work in a stated
time, whether paid money or not, it proves that money
h as nothing to do with the resuit of the work. It proves
that if money interfères it is not to help, but to rob;
and any element which cornes to rob, should not be in-
creased, but driven away. The question of Capital
and Labor is ail wrapt up in this wage-system. Abol-
ish it, and the question will be settled. Had this been
done, say, ten years ago, labor would now be in posses-
sion of ail that remains of its productions for the last
ten years. Now, cast a glance over the colony and see
the amount of wealth which you hâve produced during
the last ten years; look at the food and clothing; look
at the numerous improvements; the towns, the cities
and the palaces in these cities; see the railroads, the
factories built; see the mines opened; behold what
mighty work you hâve done in the last ten years, then
tell us whether you would be paying rent in uncomfort-
able huts, if you had been wise enough to hold that
wealth in your possession! The wage-system has car-
ried it ail away. Some of you may think that labor
had to live and was so poor that it had to accept
wages, and by accepting wages it lost ail the products
which remained over and above a scant living. Well,
let us consider this point. Did not labor raise and pré-
paré ail the food, make ail the clothes and everything
else which was consumed during the last ten years? If
so, then did not labor support itself (and the adven-
turers too) while making permanent improvements?THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
179
When we say labor, we mean the workers in ail the de-
partments of industry. Of course we well know that#
each trade, separated from ail others, cannot déclaré
its industrial independence, especially as long as money
is the center where ail trades meet and interchange
their products; but half a dozen trades, forming a féd-
ération, and a center for interchanging labor and pro-
ducts can bid adieu forever to adventurérs and their
pay. Now these adventurers, owing to money worship,
stand between the various industries and absorb ail the
surplus wealth created. They well know that the day
that labor will co-operate and interchange commodities
and labor, their occupation will be gone.
“This is the object for which labor should organize.
It should remove the money power from the indus-
tries and enable these industries to corne to a harmoni-
ous co-operation and équitable interchange. Thus labor
would flank this baneful power of money, drive it from its
first entrenchment, the wage-system, and force it to move
its artillery and munitions to their second stronghold,
the markets. On these markets the adventurers cap-
ture the products of that class of workers, who sell
these products after they are finished and ready for use,
such as farmers and boss manufacturers. When these
products are brought to market for sale, they are entire-
ly under control of the money power. It fixes what is
called the price, and producers are compelled to take it
or lose the whole.
“Again, like the wages-pay, this market pay, or price,
has really nothing to do with the goods. It is there to
plunder and for no other purpose Wliile people be-
lieve that money measures, such is not true, for it has
nothing to do with the relative value of goods. Let usl8o	THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
illustrate:	Suppose a miller brings to market a sack of
v flour, and the money-power fixes the price of it at
$2.50. A hatter brings to the same market a hat which
the same power fixes at $2.00. Now, does that fixing
of price show the true value of the flour or the hat?
Not a bit of it. It shows only what the money power
is willing to give for those articles. True value and
human wants are not considered at ail. The flour may
hâve cost twice as mûch labor to produce as the hat.
The farmer and miller may be losing by selling at
that price, while the hatter may be making a fortune
at his. Both, however, are helpless. They are at the
mercy of that fifth wheel, the money power.
“The value of merchandise should be made up of the
labor bestowed upon it, and not of the whims, caprices
or even the wants of a man or a few men who happen
to hâve money. Yet, alas! this is universally the case.
Miller and hatter bring their products to market. A
thousand men on that market may be hungry and hatless.
They and their wants hâve no bearing upon the price of
flour and hats. A man of money has ail the flour he
needs, but wants a hat. So, upon the bidding of this
one man, flour will be reported a drug, and hats in de-
mand. Some tell us yet that supply and demand regu-
late prices. It is a delusion. The quantity of money
régulâtes prices. Supply and demand died when the
adventurer got control of the money.
“The co-operation of producers, and the adoption of
some équitable plan for exchanging products without
passing them through the toll-gate of money, would
drive adventurers from this second entrenchment, and
confine his piracy to interest, rents and discounts.
Again, as we will endeavor to demonstrate, it is in theTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
181
power of workers to eut off these three exhausters also
by ceasing to borrow money, building their own houses,
and doing their own discounting. Thus they would
put an end to the worst industrial robber that the
human race ever suff ered under. ”
When we thought that we had done, a gentleman in
the audience arose and, “I tell you, sir, what ruins the
working classes,” he said. “And what is it,” we asked.
“It is extravagance!” he promptly replied. “They
are trying to ape the rich, when they cannot afford it.
I know mechanics whose wages do not exceed ten dol-
lars per week, having lace curtains to their parlor Win-
dows and Brussells carpets on their floor. Th en, their
wives and daughters corne out on Sunday in silk dresses,
and, if you visit them, you will find cakes, pies and
lots of delicacies on their tables. Some of them hâve
organs, and some even pianos on which the girls bang
ail evening long, and talk college talk to young men.
How can mechanics pay rent for the use of a respect-
able house and keep up such extravagant families out
of ten dollars a week wages? They cannot do it,” he
closed. We replied to the gentleman by asking him
the question: “What is your occupation, sir, if it is not
an improper question?” “I am working in a furniture
factory,” he answered. “And you blâme workingmen
for buying furniture, do you?” we asked. “If they stop
buying, friend, you will not be employed long. What
little furniture the rich consume could soon be supplied,
then the market for furniture would end and the factory
close. Do you not know that it is the efforts of the
working classes to live, dress and fumish their houses
like civilized persons should do, that keép three-fourths
of the workers employed, and that still more would be182
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
employed if ail of them spent more? Do you not know
that if, of a sudden, working men and women were to
lose ail self-respect and affection for their families, stop
dressing them decently, furnishing their homes attract-
ively, cheering them with music, and sending their chil-
dren to school; or, in a word, stop what you call ‘ex-
travagance/ the whole fabric of our boasted civili-
zation would crumble into ruin? True, if only a
very few of them were to turn misers, such would
benefit by it, but at the expense of their fellow-workers.
If a furniture maker like you, for instance, shbuld stop
buying fine clothes, lace curtains, Brussells carpets and
pianos, he would save ail these expenses, but would he
not stop the making of ail these articles to that extent?
And how, then, would the workmen in those industries
be able to purchase furniture from him? Let us assure
you, friend, that if you try to better the condition of
the working classes by way of econômy, that is by
stopping the use and consumption of what is produced,
you will speedily close the market and drive the
producers into tramps.” In this connection we then
narrated an incident which had occurred to us:	“One
day while sitting in a buggy in the town of Concordia,
our companion, pointing to a line of wagons up the
main thoroughfare, “You see those wagons?” he asked,
and remarked that “every one of them brought in some-
thing to sell, and they buy but little to take home,” he
added. The “Germans are an economical, saving peo-
ple, and this is the reason why they are buying up the
farms around here.” We replied: “So you attribute
the prosperity of these Germans to economy. Allow
us to draw your attention to the fact that neither econ-
omy, nor saving, nor parsimony, nor stintiness, nor ab-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.	183
stinence are productive agencies; that these supposed
virtues hâve never made, nor do they help to make, a
thing in the world, hence they hâve never added one
tittle to the world’s wealth. In so far as these Germàns
are industrious, they are a benefit. But their economy
is actually injurious. Saving men, especially under the
présent System, when they hoard money, are a détri-
ment to society. The prodigal, if he avoids wanton
waste, if he refrains from the use and abuse of articles
injurious to his body and mind, is far moré bénéficiai
to society than the miser. The miser builds his castle
by tearing down the dwellings of his neighbors, while
the prodigal tears down his dwelling to build up his
neighbors. Moreover, what is it that the miser deserves
crédit for saving? Part of the products of labor can-
not be saved but must be consumed or they perish.
This class of wealth amounts to nine-tenths of the
year’s productions, and those which these Germans
bring to town are of this class. The other part cannot
be consumed, such as buildings, etc., and no man de-
serves crédit for not consuming what cannot be con-
sumed. Money is of this class, and to withdraw money
from the channels of trade by saving, is as injurious as
to withdraw plows from farms, or tools from the me-
chanic. Ail the miser can do in the line of saving is
to forego the consumption of perishable articles and
by so doing, he is to that extent stopping the production
of the same. ,
“No, those Germans do not owe their prosperity to
economy, but to their industry on the one side, and to
the prodigality of those who buy and consume their pro-
ducts. If ail of us were to imitate their example and
stop buying their productions, their economy would not184
THE LABOR NOVEMENT.
be of any benefit to them. It would be boyçotting the
boycotters.
“In the face of these self-evident truths we regard
economy as a beneficent practice. Verily, ignorance
and the force of habit cover many wrongs.
“The false doctrines that men hâve been teaching
for many years,” we concluded, “hâve borne sour fruit,
and ail of us suffer the conséquences. We must learn
the truth and put it into practice. ”
The furniture maker confessed that he had not looked
at the question in that light and was convinced that we
were right.
No sooner, however, had we stopped talking than a
second man stood up and said that “the immigration of
pauper labor was what had brought down wages and
ruined our country.”
To him we had to reply:
“In our address, friend, we hâve been trying to ex-
plain that wages in money, whether high or low, are
the cause of ruin to the working classes—that the true
reward of labor is not money, but the products of that
labor. We repeat here that mountains of money could
not make those products any larger nor better; and that
they could be made just as large if there was not one
cent of money; and, finally, we tried to convince you
that money enters into the field of production, not to
help, but to plunder. Now, according to these facts,
it results that the work of one man cannot make the
work of another greater or smaller. If I cultivate a
patch of ground and by my labor I rai$e one thousand
bushels of corn, no matter what my neighbors do, they
cannot increase nor diminish the product of my labor,
or my true wages. Or, if I was making a pair of boots,THE LABOR MOVEMENT.	185
a suit of clothes, or building me a house, no paupers
from other countries could make my work less or more,
nor hurt me, unless they were robbers or incendiaries.
Ndw, y ou do not charge foreign workmen with such
crimes.
“My fellow-workers, let me tell you that there is not
and never was on earth such a thing as pauper labor.
The expression is an anomaly. It is a reflection on oui
own class. There is skilled and unskilled labor and
many degrees of ability and talent among workmen in
ail countries, but no pauper labor. The same quality
of labor applied to the same materials and with the
same tools, will produce the same resuit (which is the
same reward or wages) the world over. So that, in
nature, wages are equal in ail countries on the globe.
Take, for instance, five artisans of equal skill; one in
the colony, one in England, one in France, one in Ger-
many and one in Russia. Give. each the same materi-
als, the same tools and the same design, and put them
to making, say, a writing desk. Ail things being equal,
these five artisans will complété the job in about the
same time; and when completed, each will hâve raised
the wealth of the world, or his own country, alike; each
will hâve benefited humanity equally by the addition ol
a piece of furniture equally handsome, equally conven-
ient, equally durable and equally useful. There will be
no perceptible différence in the resuit of their work;
no rich nor pauper labor among them. What, then,
constitutes the distinction of pauper labor? Such dis-
tinction will only appear upon the scene, when pirates
enter and hire these artisans and apportio'n to them,
not the desks the work of their hands, but money,
the work of the devil, and appropriate unto themselvesi86
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
the desks for the purpose of extracting profits out of
the labor of others. When these pirates give the Rus-
sian artist enough money to buy a sack of flour, to the
German enough to purchase one and a half sack; to the
Frenchman enough to buy two sacks; to the English-
man enough to purchase two and a half sacks and to the
colonial artisan enough to purchase three sacks, then it
is that the colonial artisan shakes his fists at the Russian
comrade and stigmatizes him pauper labor. Is the
Russian artisan to blâme for being robbed more than
the others? Is it right that his fellow workers should
turn against him? Would it not be more generous,
more manly, more noble to corne, if possible, to his
assistance and protect him against those pirates who
enjoy the benefit of his workmanship at less expense
than the colonial pirates? Instead of this protection,
we attempt to starve them altogether because their ad-
venturers hâve already half starved them.
“Merciful God, can we find no better way of ele-
vating our condition than, cattle like, hooking the weak
among us?
“Workingmen of ail countries are alike the dupes of
the same superstition, worshippers at the same shrine
of money, and victims of the same beasts of prey. Why
fight one another? Let us, on the contrary, form one
grand, harmonious, international Union of ail useful
trades, professions and occupations; let us eliminate
only the wolves in men’s attire; then will the workers
hâve the whole benefit of their labor; then it will be
that the five artisans of our illustration will each sit
leisurely at as convenient a desk and none will be stig-
matized pauper labor,” we said.
It appeared that the meeting would not adjourn forTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.	187
the night for, no sooner had we done with the pauper
labor than a rather poorly clad workman exclaimed,
“What can we do, when we hâve nothing but our labor
to sell, and no one to buy it but adventurers, who de-
spise labor?” he asked.
We replied by enumerating the resources in the hands
of labor:
“ist. You wield the grandest power on earth, com-
pared to which mountains of gold avail nothing. You
wield the power to produce wealth. Without it the
human race would perish.
“2d. You hâve it in your power, jointly, to make or
unmake the prosperity of a city, town, mine, factory,
railroad or commercial house. None of these could
thrive or live without your aid.
“$d. You possess yet vast material resources and
means upon which you can bestow your labor and be-
come independent of adventurers.
“4th. You hold a complété ascendency over money,
gold or paper. The power of money will last only as
long as you choose to surrender labor and services in
exchange for it. Capitalists would never buy a piece
of land or lot, build a house or factory, nor attempt to
hâve a mine opened, etc., if assured beforehand that
you would not cultivate the land, rent the house, run
the factory nor work the mine. It is upon you that
the adventurers speculate aiid not upon material objects.
“5th. In addition to the above powers, you hâve also
the one of making your own money. Let us illustrate:
Imagine a small town, of three or four thousand in-
habitants, favorably located as to fuel, water, soil and
facilities of transportation, of a sudden receiving a
loan of one hundred million dollars for the term of teni88
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
years on condition that the whole of it should be ex-
pended in improving the town and its surroundings,
each citizen receiving a proportionate share of the
loan. What would be the resuit? The value of real
estate therein would, at once, rise; labor would be set
to work at remunerative wages (of course we speak
from the standpoint of the wage-system), improvements
would spring up in ail directions; fine résidences, mag-
nificent buildings, vast factories, broad streets lined
with shade trees, parks, fountains, etc., would riseup as if
by enchantment. The boom would fill the pages of the
press. Railroads would direct their lines to the live
city. Farmers, far and near, would send their pro-
ducts thereto. The original small town would, in a
short period, assume the proportion of a metropolis
with theaters, opéra houses, cable lines, electric motors,
water-works, electric lights, schools, colleges, cathe-
drals, merchants’ exchange, clearing houses, etc.
“Now let us consider the financial aspect of that
boom under various conditions:
“ist. If said money had been loaned at ten per
cent interest per annum, at the expiration of the ten
years, the whole sum would hâve been returned in in-
terest, after which the city would be in a terrifie panic,
business at a stand-still, labor unemployed, merchants
failing, and when doom’s day arrived, when the debt
was due, the city would hâve to be surrendered to the
adventurers at whatever price they choose to place
upon it.
“Thus, at the end of the ten years, the city which at
the beginning was full of life, activity, hope and hap-
piness, would be a désolation, and its people charged
with the blunder of over production and the crime ofTHE LABO R MOVEMENT.	189
extravagance, the remedy for which, of course, is idle-
ness and starvation!
“2d. If said money had been loaned free of inter-
est, at thè expiration of the ten years the builders of
the city would remain in possession of it, but the with-
drawal of the money would paralyze ail industries,
cause a panic, sink ail values, and, to a great extent,
depopulate the city.
“3d. If said money had been loaned free of inter-
est, but at the expiration of the ten years it were dis-
covered to be spurious or counterfeit and consequently
(believed to be) worthless, this fact would not in the
least change the past progress and prosperity of the
city, but its dis.appearance from circulation would hâve
the same baneful efïect as if it had been genuine gold
money.
“4th. If said money were found at any time dur-
ing the ten years to be counterfeit, yet no attention
were paid to this fact but continued in circulation as
genuine, without interest, it would prove a most benefi-
çent instrument and a boon to Workingmen, because
the profits of adventurers being eliminated, ail the bene-
fits of their labor would remain in the possession of the
workers, which is the highest rate of wages attainable.
“By our illustration, we do not, however, aim to be
understood as advocating counterfeit money. We aim
to prove that whatever thing, métal or paper, Genu-
ine OR counterfeit, which labor will receive, is
GOOD MONEY, AND WHATEVER THING, GOLD OR DIAMOND,
WHICH LABOR REFUSES, IS WORTHLESS MONEY.”
AGITATION BECOMING GENERAL.
It would require a large volume to présent the vari-
ous phases of agitation in the colony and the numerous190
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
groups iorming at this time and clamoring for reform.
Yet the cause of trouble was not agreed upon. A few
attributed the social and financial trouble to religion
and to the vast sums of money paîd to support churches
and missions. These disseminated literature and made
speeches against the Bible teachings and advocated the
taxing of church property. Others believed that the
cause of commercial dépréssions was due to intempér-
ance; to the enormous sums expended in liquors. These
were headed by women and were warring against the
manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks. Others,
again, were absorbed in the idea that if women were
granted political franchise, ail wrongs would be wiped
out from our political institutions. But, by far, the
largest number had formed a political party aiming to
overthrow the party in power, whom they charged with
ail existing social and financial ills. The political
movement, however, was not a unit within itself in re-
gard to the reforms to be established. The majority
were satisfied with very slight modifications of the ex-
isting order. They had no objection to limiting the
means of paying debts to two or three articles, gold,
silver and notes, but wanted the governor to go into the
business of issuing the notes, and wanted these three
articles to be legal tender, and in quantity, fifty dollars
per capita, which, under the circumstances, would hâve
been but a drop in the bucket. Others, called social-
ists, advocated the management of ail the industries by
the governor.
Meantime, while the general agitation was arousing
the colonists, the Labor Movement proper had entered
into a process of consolidation, both on the side of the
working classes and of their opponents; and the twoTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.	IÇI
armies seemed to be forming for final battle. The
various Trades Unions, seeing how powerless they had
proven against the adventurers single-handed, had
tumed their attention to the formation of a Fédéra-
tion of ail the Trades, as the only hope for success.
They had not abandoned the policy of strikes and boy-
cotts as a means of bringing the enemy to terms; but
believed that in the Fédération such strikes and boy-
cotts would be irrésistible.
The adventurers, on their side, seeing the difficulty
of subjugating or dissolving the Trades Unions, single-
handed, had also organized for résistance. Hereto-
fore their policy had been the, so-called, Black list or
exclusion from employment; but the Black list would
gain force by extending its application. The damage
from boycott, they knew, could be averted by mutual in-
surance among the boycotted. For instance, if labor
boycotted a store or a plant, the boycotters would carry
. their patronage to other stores and plants. Hence, an
agreement among such stores and plants to refund the
losses to the boycotted one, would annihilate the efifect
of such weapon. The strike could only be met by the
Black list. Thus both parties were by circumstances
pressed into general organization.
The following report will show the movement on the
part of the adventurers. We copy:
“We are to-day but one year old. Within this brief
period of our existence the attitude of the community
toward the Trades Unions has been almost, if not en-
tirely, reversed. One year ago the boycott was more
dreaded than the most destructive compétition from
without, and nearly every industry was virtually doing
business by permission of the Council of the FederatedIÇ2
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
Trades. To-day it is perhaps not too much to say that
not a business man in the city has the least fear of the
boycott. Since the employers hâve learned to com-
bine, the Unions hâve lost the Planing Mill strike, the
great Iron strike, the Shoe strike, the Match boycott,
the .Brewers’ struggle, the Long-shoremen, the Abene
Post, the Peter Lynch, and the Curtain and Maze
boycott. *	*	*
“This unbroken record of disasters has tamed the
arrogance of the Federated Trades, and business has
a certain feeling of security and peace.
“The organization should be extended to every em-
ployer, every business man, every tax-payer, to ail
parts of the State. Nay, there is no reason why it
should not extend over the whole colony. What is to
be the outcome of the présent unrest among the indus-
tries I do not know; but this I do know, that our proper
course is to organize. When we become so strongly
organized as to be able to take care of ourselves, a
solution of the vexed question may be reaçhed.
Henry Davis, Près. Employers Association.
August 4th, 1892.”
While the centralization of forces was thus progress-
ing and the conflict intensifying among the urban classes,
the agricultural wing of the working classes, which was
most feared by the adventurers because of its partial in-
dependence, was endeavoring to check, by législation,
the march of monopolies and trusts
Finally, the strikes began to slacken, partly from ex-
il austion of funds, and partly because rendered ineffect-
ual by the organized résistance on the part of the enemy.
With the relaxation of such warfare was weakened the
courage of labor associations, and a period of sub-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
193
sidence followed, during which dépréssion of enter-
prises and distress kept increasing. The farmers, during
this period, had passed through three upheavals and two
subsidences, the Grange, the Wheel and the Alliance,
without making any perceptible progress in checking the
march of monopolies and trusts which, more than ever,
were dictating prices and absorbing their products.
Both wings of the Labor Movement finally became con-
scious of their respective inability to cope, separately,
with so powerful a foe. They united their forces and
moved at first in the direction of législation, clamoring
for the repeal of several acts, which they regarded as
the main cause of their condition. But their demands
were vague and uncertain. They lacked that single-
ness of purpose necessary to the cohesiveness of a peo-
ple when numbers are required, as at the poils. Accord -
ingly, nothing was effected on the political line.
Years passed in a sort of polemical contest and dur-
ing these years adventurers continued to rise in wealth
and power, and producers to sink in poverty and depen-
dence. At last the Consolidated forces of labor, in con-
vention assembled, appointed a Suprême Council of ex-
perts to make a broad and impartial investigation into
the problem, and accompany their report with sugges-
tions for action.
We give the Suprême Council’s Report and sugges-
tions in full:
“REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF ORGANIZED LABOR—
SURVEY OF THE FIELD.
“The XIX century will be characterized in history as
the period of Labor Organizations. We may find in
antiquity instances of workingmen participating in
social affairs as such, but no trace can be found of ai94
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
movement, on a notable scale, which had any resem-
blance to modem labor associations, or contained any
of the éléments and aspirations of the same.
“Social movements are the resuit of surrounding con-
ditions; and the conditions which, in our times, compel
labor to associate, did not exist in former âges. Here
are the conditions now surrounding us:
“ist. The minute division of employments, which
intensifies the necessity for rapid exchanges, and renders
each worker entirely dépendent on a large number of
other industries both for materials to work upon and
for personal support.
“2d. The wonderful advance in mechanical inven-
tions for rapid production and transportation, which
turns a multitude of workers out of employment, and
kindles a fierce compétition for place, causing dépréssion
in wages.
“3d. The accumulation of wealth in the hands of
a ‘few corporations, organized for the sole purpose of
realizing profits in money, an object which, to better
attain, demands the pressure of wages down to a mini-
mum, and the raising of prices of products and ser-
vices up to a maximum. Crushed between these
two mill-stones, labor is forced to take refuge in
association.
“4th. A limited and monopolized legal tender money,
which leaves a large volume of industries and exchange-
able commodities in a State of paralysis; leaves millions
of men and women out of employment in destitution
and want, and still further intensifies the compétition
for work and conséquent downfall of wages.
“In addition to the above enùmerated main causes
of labor associations, there is a circumstance whichTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
*95
makes them attractive. Great modem enterprises, con-
centrating under one management, large masses of work-
ers, whose interest and aspirations being identical, in-
clines them to meet and discuss their condition, fuse
their grievances, and thus open the way for association
and concerted action.
“When we take into considération the above condi-
tions, it becomes easy to comprehend not only the fact
but also the drift of these organizations, and we can
infer the object to which, of necessity, ail of them are
tending.
“Some writers on 4‘The Labor Movement” confound
modem labor organizations with communistic associa-
tions. These two social phenomena hâve nothing in
common. Communism is the outcome of religious,
especially Christian, sentimentalism, while modem labor
associations, as we hâve remarked before, are the out-
come of economical pressure, caused by lack of em-
ployment and low wages. Communism originated in
the sentiment of brotherhood; it draws its devotees
from rich and poor alike; while labor associations draw
from the poor only. Communism bears no trade-mark;
while labor associations, at first, formTJnions composed
of one single trade or occupation. Communism ex-
tends the hand of brotherhood to ail nationalities, being
essentially catholic in principle and scope, while labor
associations are exclusive and oppose foreign pauper
labor. The foundation of communism is laid in ethics
and its aspirations are the establishment of equality
and good will among men; while the basis of labor
associations is laid in economy, and their aspira-
tions are for permanent employment, higher wages and
less hours of toil. Communism never laid a complaint196	THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
or a claim on outside parties, and, during centuries of
existence, never had a strike; while labor associations
lay heavy complaints, daims and dejnands on outsiders,
and, during the short period of their existence, hâve
had thousands of strikes. The mere fact that some
members of labor associations are imbued with com-
munistic principles, and that communists side with the
labor movement, is no proof of identity between the
two social phenomena.
Again, as the four conditions which cause labor to
associate, exist and are alike in ail civilized countries
and under ail forms of civil and religious institutions,
it should be sufïicient evidence that neither politics noi*
religion hâve any direct bearing upon the phenomenon.
In searching for the causes of a disease which is uni-
versally spread, if the disease is not contagious, we
must look for a thing equally universal. Institutions
of men, which are limited by State or national lines, or
vary with the laws, creeds, habits, customs, éducation
and ignorance of the people; and change with soils and
seasons, climes and times, cannot be the cause of a dis-
ease which is to be found in ail States, among ail nation-
alities, ail races; under ail laws, ail creeds, ail customs;
in ail soils, ail climes, ail times; among the learned as
well as the ignorant; the good and the wicked; the in-
dustrious as well as the lazy. Poverty is this disease,
and the only human institution, the only creed, the
only System which is as universal as poverty, is the mon-
etary System. Laws, religions, governments, language,
climate and products change from country to country,
and from time to time, but the monetary System is the
same everywhere, and everywhere is poverty. Ail
nations and ail peoples believe alike in the supernaturalTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
I97
efficacy of legal tender precious' stones; that is, ail na-
tions alike worsjup stocks and stones, and ail nations
alike are steeped in the pangs of poverty.
“Regarding labor associations governments are gener-
ally passive, and either tolerate or forbid their existence
according as they manifest a tendency to interfère with
the powers that be. So we see in the colony politicians
favor or oppose organized labor, actuated solely by the
hope of gaining, or the fear of losing thereby. In the
Old Country some rulers are jtfst now turning a friendly
eye to these organizations, because they see ,the time
approaching when they will need the physical aid of
labor. Yet governments are generally charged as being
the immédiate cause of labor’s depressed condition,
and those who so believe, economists of the school of
Henry George, and socialists like Bellamy, advocate
political reform as the remedy for poverty.
“Your Coüncil will not go to poli tics or religion, will
not apply to communism, socialism or government for
light on the question at hand; nor will we go to any of
these for the remedy, though convinced that some
changes in our législation would modify the effects of
the evil of poverty. We shall confine our researches
within the battle field of industry, where alone the con-
test is raging. Religion and politics, the minister and
the legislator could assist the cause only by coming
down from their spiritual and civil pinnacles into the
fields of industry and commerce, and here help to
change the habits of thought and practice in the inter-
course of men, and thus change the method of indus-
trial development.
“Returning to our analysis, and assuming that we
hâve well injpressed upon the mind the main causesTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
198
which concur to depress labor, as before stated; and
from these causes we hâve inferred the objective point
to which labor associations are necessarily tending,
we are now in a position- to view the field carefully,
ponder upon the situation of the parties concerned, and
décidé how the problem, that is avowedly the sphynx
of this âge, may be solved with-the least possible harm.
“Let us not fly into a fit of passion, murder some
banker, bondholder or employer, blow up a city or
overturn the government. Such* violent proceedings
would only bring destruction upon the perpetrators,
draw the animadversion of the public, retard the pro-
gress and final solution of the labor problem. No, let
us maintain good will toward ail classes and apply rea-
son and common sense to the subject, First, let us
examine the social surroundings of labor, and see
whether any of the causes of dépréssion, as stated, can
be stopped, changed or modified.
The first of these causes is the minute division of
employments which is bringing each worker into de-
pendence on a large number of others for his very ex-
istence. Certainly we cannot, and should not if we
could, attempt to hinder or disturb said division of
employments. It is conformable to the development of
man, and necessary to the rapid pogress of industry.
It is in perfect analogy with the diversity of human
skill and talent, and the variety of earth’s productions.
It is of universal benefit. Eighteen persons employed
in making a pin, enables them to make more pins, in a
given time, than eighteen thousand persons could, each
making a whole pin. The same applies to ail other in-
dustries. It is when employments are so divided, when
a person is repeating one and the same stroke, thatTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
199
machinery can take his place. And in regard to the
earth’s varied products; it is only when man devotes
his time and energy to cultivate those crops for which
the soil is best adapted, or using machinery which gives
.him advantages, that the best results can be attained.
# The minute division of employments increases produc-
tions a thousandfold. By its wonderful mechanism, it
eiiables a person, who pays but one dollar a year sub-
scription for a newspaper, to set in motion, by con-
caténation, a million of his fellow beings by day and
by night, on land and océan, to search the globe for
news and bring them to him to read at his breakfast
board. Besides such wonderful achievements, the divis-
ion of employments tends to harmonize and unité the
whole human race into one universal brotherhood.
Hence we advise to not attempt interférence with this
order of nature in social and mechanical évolution. It
would prove a failure.
“The second cause is, mechanical inventions. Shall
we arrest progress in this direction? Couldwe do it, if
attempted? It is absurd, it is criminal to even think
of checking inventions or destroying machinery. We
might as well attempt to check the flow of rivers to the
océan, or stop the earth on its course! Besides, if the
working classes ever expect rest from their toil and at
the same time to enjoy the manifold comforts they are
entitled to; if they ever expect their hours of labor re-
duced to eight, or six, or less per day, it is to machinery
that they must look for the boon,and not to employers,
or the government.
“The third is, the concentration of wealth in the
hands OF A few. What shall we do about this? Shall
we gain possession of the government at the poils, then200
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
force a division of wealth among the people, that ail
may fare alike? Would stich division bring the desired
relief? Would it give working men and women con-
stant work, higher wages and less hours toil? No.
Under the présent mbnetary System, the very reverse
would follow. No man would be able to employ an-*
other. No one could run an enterprise of the least ex-
tent. Almost ail enterprises would corne to a stand-
still. As well may the stockholders of a railroad divide
the line, as to divide the fund which carries it on. As
well may the owners of the telegraph divide the wire.
Concentration of wealth is absolutely necessary to mod-
em industry. It is of immense benefit, therefore it
should be encouraged. Without it our magnificent en-
terprises, the pride of the colony and of the âge, could
not hâve been accomplished nor undertaken, and could
not now continue in operation. We must learn, will-
ingly or forcibly, that in industry single-handed man
has ceased to be of any importance; that it is in the
voluntary or forced co-operation of a number of indi-
viduals that the productive force of man is best mani-
fested. Modem industrial corporations hâve been
necessary to compel the workers to co-operate, and thus
hâve made possible the construction of trans-conti-
nental railroads, the laying of trans-Atlantic cables, the
tunneling of the Alps, and the many other stupendous
achievements of our time. As an instance: Time was
when plows were made by the village smith, and crude
and rude instruments they were. When invention had
so far advanced as to apply machinery to the manufac-
ture of plows, but requiring the concentration of men
and capital, if some one had endeavored* to induce
the village smi^s to combine, form a Union, put theirTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
201
meâns and labor together, erect a factory and make
better plows, faster, easier, and thus work only eight
hours a day and at bettèr wages, not one, probably,
could hâve been persuaded to favor the enterprise.
Thus invention would hâve perished unused, and pro-
gress in plow-making would hâve been prevented. Cap-
italists came to the rescue of both invention and pro-
gress. With the money, which blacksmiths worship,
they forced co-operation and made plows by ma^-
chinery. But, in so doing, they destroyed the business
of the smiths, compelled them to seek employment at
the factory and finally to form a Union— this time not
to build a factory of their own, but to demand of their
employers higher wages, less hours work per day, and
strike to obtaîn it! Again, time was, not far back,
when farmers had each a scalding-box and a smoke-
house; killed and cured pork at home and sold the sur-
plus to the town grocer; and every town had its own
butcher shop to kill and dress cattle and some hogs,
which were consumed as fresh méat in the town.
When invention had devised methods for butchering,
dressing and curing hogs, cattle and sheep on a large
scale, far more economically and profitably, if any one
had attempted to induce farmers to combine, erect
packing-houses and butcher their own stock co-opera-
tively, not one could hâve been persuaded to invest in
the enterprise. Capitalists took the matter in hand,
built packing-houses, destroyed the scalding-box and
smoke-house business, acquired the monopoly of both
cattle and méat, and absorbed the profits of cattle rais-
ing. Now cattlemen are aroused by poverty; hâve or-
ganized Granges and Alliances, not, however, to build
packing houses, nor to return to the scalding-box, but202
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
to urge the government to interfère in their behalf and
force capitalists to relinquish the cattle monopoly or
pay them remunerative prices. Packers reply to their
demands by câpturing local butchers also, and thus de-
priving farmers of local markets; that is, by drawing
the chains tightçr.
“What has happened to the village smiths and farmers,
has happened also to shoemakers, tailors, and manu-
facturers in general, and is now in process among mer-
fchants. While these still persist in destroying onë an-
other by compétition, calling it the “life of trade” cap-
italists are forming trusts, erecting imposing structures
in the midst of these merchants, underselling them in
every article of merchandise, driving them one by one
to ruin through that pet “life of trade” compétition,
and finally will force them to seek employment under
a floor-walker at the Department store. Shortly they
will form a Clerk’s Union and strike for higher wages
and night rest. Would these doomed merchants listèn
to the call of co-operation if sounded in their ears to-
day? We believe not and shall not make the attempt.
Their time has not yet corne. They, like village smiths
and farmers, will first wait until ruin cornes, then organ-
ize for protection.
“Such is the natural and universal course of the in-
dustrial stream. By the way of poverty and depend-
ence, will they ail learn wisdom. But what will be the
final outcome?
“Your Council will here endeavor to answer the
above all-important question, by an expression of their
unanimous opinion. This opinion is derived from facts
already visible upon the industrial horizon. It is that
ail these ruined multitude will, through similarity ofTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
203
conditions, converge into a general co-operative move-
ment, which, in turn, will overtforow these great monop -
olies and trusts, and establish industrial liberty and
equity. What they failed to do when the sun was
shining, they will feel compelled to do in the gloom of
night.' * But “better then than never.”
“Thus, according to our investigation into industrial
évolutions, we find the déplorable condition of labor to-
hâve been inévitable. Corporations were necessary
evils to forward progres.s in the period intervening be-
tween the compétitive System and voluntary co-opera-
tion. This period may very properly be named the “vol-
canic,, era of production and distribution. Monopo-
lies will be noted in history as the most powerful instru-
mentâmes in the hand of Providence for the destruc-
tion of compétition. Nothing in our day is warring
against compétition as they do.
“Human events and social institutions présent to
the observer a very different aspect according as he
plants his intellectual telescope in periods preceding or
following their advent. Deeds and institutions which
look horrible to us of this génération, such as despot-
ism, slavery, superstition, idolatry, conquest, spécula-
tion, monopolies and trusts, would appear otherwise if
we could behold them from âges preceding their ad-
vent; and will yet change aspect when viewed from âges
to corne. Despotism was an improvement over general
insecurity of life and property; slavery was a great
moral advance over the slaughter of prisoners; super-
stition and idolatry were the only means of controll-
ing the evil passions of savages; conquests were
often the means of extending civilizàtion and would be
a boon to the populations of Africa to-day; spéculation204
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
has saved many a people from starvation, has made the
populations of the earth better known to one another,
and has scattered the benefits of industry in times
when nothing else would hâve done it; and now monop-
olies and trusts are proving great bénéficiai instrumen-
talities of progress and civilization, and harbingers of
that co-operative State which is just dawning.
“The fourth and last cause is*THE insufficiency of
MONEY AND THE MONOPOLY OF THE EXISTING AMOUNT.
This demands a more careful considération than the
former points. Here, in the money, the Suprême Coun-
cil has discovered the “root of ail evils.” To money
are attributed ail the material distinction among civil-
ized men. This money is the robber of labor, but at
the same time the only power which by forcing men to
co-operate, has made possible the vast enterprises of
modem times. Take away money and notwithstanding
the bounties of the creator and the genius of man, we
would yet live in the crudest State. The part which
idolatry played in controlling the populations of antiq-
uity, money idolatry has played in controlling and man-
aging the toilers of modem times. Hence, your Coun-
cil would be at a loss to décidé whether money idolatry
has been more detrimental than bénéficiai to the human
race. Be that as it may in regard to the past, your
Council is fully convinced that this same instrument,
money, brought to a rational System, and applied to
the service of labor, will be as effectuai in establishing
voluntary co-operation as it has been, in the hands of
capitalists, to force such co-operation in their own be-
half; and voluntary co-operation will open the portais
of a new world to the human race.
“The incentive to association, owing to the aggrega^THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
205
tion of a large number of workers under one manage-
ment, will prove a mighty auxiliary to voluntary co-
opération, as it will furnish the éléments, moral, social,
intellectual and physical for its immédiate success.
“Leaving now the outward circumstances which hâve
brought about and continue the association of labor,
the Council will pass into the interior of the Unions to
investigate and find what could be done there in their
behalf. As repeatedly stated, these associations are
clamoring for three main objects—work, higher wages
and shorter day's toil. Their method for obtaining
these requests,has mainly been to fence each Union, or
trade, against additions from the outside world by ap-
prentice régulations, and by demands addressed indefi-
nitely to employers and the government, that ‘rats’ and
‘scabs* (by whom they mean non-Unionists), children,
criminals, foreign paupers and contract labor be ex-
cluded from competing with those of the Union. The
only weapons used in the contest hâve been the strike,
and lately the boycott.
“Shall the Council assist these Unions to build a
Chinese wall against rats, scabs, children, criminals and
foreign paupers, who, together, constitute the mass of
humanity? Alas! how can we?* Leaving out of the
question the duties of men to one another, charity,
morality, justice, the golden rule and the much vaunted
“inaliénable right of every man to the pursuit of hap-
piness,” we would find our puny forces in front of a
mighty host, led by a greater general than can be found
in the Union, viz: General Distress. This is the
dauntless leader, who, without the aid of drums, fifes,
patriotic harangues, or any of the flummeries used to
drown the humane sensibilities and intoxicate the brain206
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
in war, arouses men to fight like wild beasts, and in the
face of whora, life itself is not worth preserving. It is
hunger; it.is wife and children without bread, clothes or
shelter which drive men over the earth to seek employ-
ment, and compel them to accept any wages high or
low. Hence, we deem it, not only vain, but positively
dangerous for a Union, composed of but a few thou-
sands, to raise the war cry against a hungry host of
millions outside of it. Nor will it avail to hold meet-
ings, make speeches, and pass resolutions ordering that
hungry host to hait in their quest for food, and perish
in idleness, in order that we of the Union may hâve
more work and better wages. Besides, let us look a
little deeper into the character of the contest, the par-
ties involved, and the relative position of the outside
world. In so far as obtaining employment is concerned,
the contest is confined within the ranks of each trade;
between Unionists on one side and non-Unionists, of
the same trade, on the other side. Shoemakers, for
instance, are not afraid that brick-layers will compete
with them for employment. They fear and fight shoe-
makers only. Nor do brick-layers fear shoemakers,
but fear and fight brick-layers only. The same of every
trade. Now what hâve we, outsiders, to do with such
family quarrels among shoemakers, brick-layers and
others? We hâve ail we can do to keep down (or keep
up) similar contentions in our own trade. We, too,
hâve our Union, our ‘rats/ our, ‘scabs/ our children,
our criminals and our foreign paupers in battle array
competing with us. So much about employment. But
when it cornes to the other part of the contest, to the
higher wages part, the whole world, outside the Union,
becomes really interested on the side of ‘rats,* ‘scabs/THE LABOR MOVEMENT.	207
children, criminal and foreign pauper labor, who offer
them cheaper services and cheaper goods, and against
the Unionists, who are intent on making them pay
higher for both services and goods. Say what we
please, argue as we may, the world at large will ever be
in favor of the cheapest of everything. Cheap, means
easy to get, dear, means hard to reach; and we ail pre-
fer ease to hardship. This desire is ingrained in the
nature of man, and no Union can irradicate it. It is
the final object of invention to cheapen commodities
and services. Accordingly, in the matter of higher
wages, each Union has, not only the non-Unionists of its
own trade to contend against, but the whole world be-
sides. Who ever argues otherwise will belie his own
arguments the moment he goes to a store to purchase
goods or attempts to hire labor.
“There is still another aggravating circumstance
against Unionists. Itisthat, as a general thing, Union-
ists are men of small means, therefore least able to
stand a contest. They live by daily work and caniiot
afïord to déclaré war against the whole world. Con-
sider that the members of each Union do but one thing,
make but one article that the world needs; while the
world makes everything else that those Unionists need.
And even in that one article, that the Unionists make,
the world has non-Unionists of the same trade to re-
sort to, who in number exceed largely the Unionists.
Are not these grave facts? May it not be fatal to over-
look them? Is it not true that large establishments
and corporations are resorting to non-Unionists and
foreign cheap labor? And hâve Unionists ever made
any permanent advance in the contest? Are they in a
better position to-day than they were a few years ago?208	THE LABOR MOVEMENT. *
Has the public, whose interest, as we hâve demonstra-
ted, is virtually against Unionists or higher wages, ever
taken any active part in their favor? And now, some
advise organized labor to enter the political arena,
assuring them that a reform-government would fâvor
their requests. Alas, what a delusion! If Unionists
were a majority in the colony, this would be true; but
being a small minority and the interest of the majority
opposed to their demands, it leaves but a slim hope
from that quarter. . What an unequal and hopeless
struggle the Unions hâve on hand on the line they are
now battling. Imagine, for instance, a few Union hat-
ters threatening the world with a strike, when, if farm-
ers should form a Union and strike also, these hatters
would inevitably perish, while farmers could wear their
old hats, or feed scab-hatters to make them new ones,
and gain by the operation.
“Did we not know that a change of tactics will reveal
a brighter prospect, we would fall into utter despair of
ever seeing labor attain financial independence.
“A few words upon the réduction of the hours of la-
bor, which is now prominently agitated, may not be
amiss in this Report. This request of organized labor
will certainly be granted by both the government and
employers, for neither hâve any interest against it.
The government is composed of an army of employés,
salaried men, whose interest is in favor of high wages
and less hours’ work. Hence, the eight-hour move will
find a favorable response there. Employers can be
damaged only by the eight hour System on contracts at
hand. In regard to new contracts and new produc-
tions ail that is necessary to save themselves from losses
is that ail employers in the same line adopt the change,THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
209
and we think that ail will finally adopt it because it
would make life easier. But the most important ques-
tion to labor is ‘will such change be bénéficiai to
them?’ We think not. The change will make the cost
of production one-fourth higher, and, as the working-
classes are the greatest consumers, it will compel them
to pay one-fourth more for ail they use and consume,
without realizing any more for their work. If they
were working for themselves they would readily see this
truth. They would see that the more hours, the more
work, and that the more work, the more wealth. No
living man working for himself would limit his timç of
work. He would work when he felt able, and rest when
he needed it. But this wage-system covers many truths.
They cannot seé that less hours’ work, lessens the pro-
duct. Let us illustrate the effect of the eight-hour
rule:
“At ten hours work per day, twelve men could build
a house at a cost of, say, $1,200, which would rent for,
say, $10 per month. On the eight-hour plan, if we
pay the men the same wages, such house would cost
$1,500 and accordingly the owner must rent it at $12.50
per month to get the proportionate revenue on his cap-
ital. Now the twelve men hâve made no more money
than they did before, and they, or some of their com-
rades who rent the house hâve to pay $2.50 more rent
per month and this as long as the house lasts. True,
the workmen rest more; but rest is similar to idleness
and leads to poverty. Yet this is not ail the damage
which will resuit from the eight-hour change. Work in
the land will consequently move one fourth slower.
To build the above liouse in the same time would re-
quire the addition of three more men, making fifteen.210
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
Now fifteen men will do.no more work than the twelve
did before, but consume one-fourth more products than
the twelve. So we increase the demand foç products*
without increasing the supply and the conséquence will
be that products will go up in price. In regard to the
house there will be fifteen men now competing to rent
it, and every tyroin political economy knows that when
demand rises, prices rise too. So the twelve men will
not be able to rent said house, even at $12.50, but may
hâve to pay $15, owing to the compétition of the other
three men.
“Again, the resuit of the eight-hour change will not
affect rent alone, but every article of consumption and
use produced under it. If a farmer, who works now at
least twelve hoursperday, could enjoy thebenefit of the
reduced hours (which the nature of work does not per-
mit) their product would rise fifty per cent in price.
Exportable commodities, which corne in compétition
with foreign goods, could no longer be sold, and there-
fore the production of the same would stop, and the men
would be discharged. Look at the eight-hour change
as we may, we see but disaster to the laboring classes
as the resiilt. It would be as if, of a sudden, they had
been crippled and disabled to the extent of one-fourth
of their former ability; and a crippled nation cannot
stand the pressure of compétition in the world.
“In the above criticisms, the Council intends no re-
flection on organized labor, or its leaders. Our object
is to show the futility and hopelessness of the présent
method of warfare, and prove the necessity of a change
of base and tactics. We aim to the adoption of more
promising means that they may attain success.
“The Council cornes out of this survey convincedTHE LABOR MOVEMENT,
211
that the existing industrial disorder is not chargeable
pârticularly to individual men or classes. There has
been no intention on the part of any to harm others,
but ail are endeavoring to float along, as easy as possi-
ble, down the social stream in quest of wealth and hap-
piness. The inharmony of interests and the conflict
resulting from it are due to ignorance. We believe that
we are now passing through the Dark Age of this eco-
nomical ignorance and, therefore, the fiercest period of
the ‘struggle for exiSTENCE. * We are traversing
the social period, as was said, intervening between the
downfall of compétition and the advent of voluntary
co-operation. We see clearly how monopolies were
made necessary to put in operation the wonderful in-
ventions of this âge; we see what powerful agencies of
progress they hâve proven to be; and, further, we see
in them the harbingers of future harmony. True, these
monôpolies hâve been prompted by the narrow and
selfish object of mere lucre; true they hâve brought
destruction to thousands of industries of former times,
and hâve reduced millions to poverty and servitude;
but, with the narrow and false conception of the nature
and functions of money which both the monopolists and
the colonists held in common, we cannot imagine how
such calamities could hâve been averted and yet per-
mit civilization to advance. Inventions, as we said,
made the combination of large masses of workers nec-
essary, before they had been educated for concerted
action, hence no alternative remained except either to
discard inventions, and continue to plod along in the
old methods of production and distribution, which were
daily becoming inadéquate to increasing population and
wants, or to compel workmen to co-operate. Capital-212
THE LABO R MOVEMENT.
ists, taking advantage of the situation forced co-ope-
ration and absorbed ail the benefits of it. Now the
time has corne for reversing this order of things. Truth
must take the place of error and superstition in men’s
minds in regard to that instrument of trade, called
money. It should corne down to the service of labor.
Confidence among producers must take the place of
faith in an inert métal and bankers. A change of this
character in the mind will cause a change in practice
and will render spéculative co-operation and monopo-
lies superfluous, and they and the monetary System, upon
which they hâve based their operations, will pass away.
Monopolies are plants of rapid growth, and, as such,
will be short lived. Labor Associations, on the con-
trary, are the requisite of future development and will
corne out from the hands of monopolies ready to enter
the new industrial era, fully equipped and ready for ac-
tion. The Council regrets only that these associations
should hâve wasted so much valuable time and means
in the wrong direction; should hâve been the victims of
soulless masters, and should hâve entailed so much suf-
fering on innocent women and children. But, let the
dead past bury its dead, and let us onward to the mor-
row of a brighter era.
“THE REMEDY.
“In planning for industrial reformation, the Suprême
Council has not been satisfied to build on visionary
foundations. We first determined the object to be at-
tained, then passed to the ways and means necessary to
attain that object. The working classes were not de-
manding a different form of government or religion.
Hence, ail questions of a political or religious charac-
ter were discarded. The desideratum was the neces-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
213
saries and comforts of life; abondance of wholesome
food and comfortable clothes and sheltcr. Consequent-
y these were made the object. As to the means
for attaining said object, labor holds the foremost
place. In fact, they are not attainable without labor.
Grold and silver, precious stones, treasury notes and
money of any kind, used as économie means, play too
much the part of vampires; pétitions, demands, reso-
lutions, political platforms, votes and laws are but vain
cannonading; high wages, high values and high prices
are but empty delusions; while strikes, boycots, as well
as black-lists and shut downs are positive obstructions
to the production and distribution of wealth. Thus,
with wealth as our aim and labor the power, we next
turned our attention to the methods for the employ-
aient of labor.
“Here, our view of the field, instead of despondent,
as it had appeared to many, became indeed hopeful
and cheering. Ail around us were strewn vast stores of
natural resources, and millions of able men and women
stood ready and begging to be employed. The re-
sources lay dormant and the workers idle. What an
anomaly! It was readily seen thata way must be found
of applying this idle labor to the dormant resources,
and to the solution of this last problem we at once de-
voted ourselves in examining the varions methods by
which labor is employed. The past was no longer a
guide for the future. The human race had outgrown
the savage period when they lived on game; had passed
the pastoral period when they roamed in tribes with
herds of domestic cattle. It was about the end of the
period of small industries, and speeding into the one of
large enterprises, These enterprises required the co-214
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
operation of large numbers of men and women. Thus
we thought that it would be futile to seek for in-
dustrial reformation in any other System outside of
large enterprises and co-operation. Your Council had
here no alternative but to select from among the meth-
ods of co-operation the one which they thought best
conducive to rapid production and équitable exchange.
“The grandest and most efficient of these Systems of
co-operation, in so far as production is concerned, is
the monetary one. With money ail the nations of the
earth, and every citizen of these nations, can be made
to co-operate in any enterprise, in any part of the globe.
But, alas! this is also the most iniquitous System when
the distribution of the benefits is concerned. He who
Controls the money has it in his power, not only to com-
mand co-operation, but also to retain the products and
turn the co-operators out destitute. Your Council
would not hâve attempted to disturb the monetary Sys-
tem of co-operation, if it could hâve been coupled with
equity in the division of the proceeds, but it could not.
“Another System of co-operation, without a prece-
dent in antiquity but demanded now by many in the
colony and abroad, was what was understood under the
name of socialism or the co-operative commonwealth.
This is co-operation enforcedby the government. Your
Council does not approve of this System, believing
it antagonistic to the nature of man, destructive of in-
dividual liberty, and subject to corruption, mismanage-
ment and the tyranny of a majority.
“The third System is one selected by your Council
as the most productive of happy results. This is volun-
tary co-operation in production and equity in distribu-
tion, as will be verified, we think, by its application.THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
215
“After determining on voluntary co-operation as the
desired System, we analyzed the monetary System with
a view of selecting from it the good and discarding the
parts which appeared to us injurious. In this analysis
we found the common word dollar to contain four dis-
tinct ideas or éléments, each of which performs a dif-
ferent économie function. The fusion of these ideas
hras been, we believe, the stumbling block to political
economists in the solution of mouetary problems, and
the cause of much evil among the people. These func-
tions are the following:
“ist. Medium of exchange—A commodity interven-
ing between the exchange of other articles of merchan-
dise, when direct barter is impracticable. Many arti-
cles hâve been used for this purpose, some valuable and
some not. The valuable, such as gold, silver, etc.,
hâve been preferred. None hâve ever proved sufficient
to the volume of exchanges to be performed in any âge
or country. Hence, from the remotest periods men
hâve resorted to substitutes.
“2d. Medium of Payment—The article to be re-
turned in settlement of debts. Now it is plain that the
function of paying debts is very different from that of
a medium of exchange. A description of what would
be most équitable to pay debts, would not be identical
with a description of what would be the best medium
of exchange. The medium of exchange is only the
half-way house to final payment.
“3d. Unit of Value. This is simply an abstract de-
nominator on which to compute values. Any other ab-
stract name would hâve done as well as the word dol-
lar. In fact different nations hâve different names for
such unit.2l6
THE LABO R MOVEMENT.
“4th. Method of Account, or method of keeping
tally in exchanges. This fùnction can be performed by
notches on a stick, pegs in a board, grains of corn,
paste-board tickets, but, best of ail, by writing on dura-
ble paper.
“Of these four éléments, or functions your Council
has adopted the name of the unit of value, or ‘ ‘dol-
lar, ” because the colonists were habituated to that name,
as a basis for calculation, and the method of Account,
unincumbered by any material object whatever, dis-
carding the other two functions as relies of barbarism
and unnecessary. The Council feel confident that, upon
a thorough study of the System of co-operation here-
inafter described and recommended, the philosopher
will find in it the only feasible plan for the émancipation
of the working classes and the establishment of uni-
versal industrial independence.
“Before we proceed, however, to unfold this System,
we beg leave to illustrate, in advance, its operation by
narrating, with some amplifications, an event in the
history of money. We do so believing that an object
lesson conveys to the mind a clearer and more perma-
nent impression than any train of abstract reasoning:
“THE GUERNSEY MARKET HOUSE.
“In the parish of St Peter, Island of Guernsey, mar-
keting was carried on in ill-protected stalls around the
church square. The losses to venders by rains, and the
inconveniences to buyers, made the need of a covered
market-house keenly felt; and some public spirited citi-
zen took the matter in hand to hâve one built. An
estimate of the size house required brought its approx-
imate cost ;n money to $22,000, and to raise this
amount of money became the question with the pro-THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
217
moters of the scheme. It was a question, however, of
easy solution al they had thousands of precedents.
They drew up a pétition setting forth the need of a
market-house and desiring the governor to issue inter-
est-bearing bonds, to be negotiated in Paris or Lon-
don, for the money wherewith to erect the building.
To said pétition were appended the signatures of some
three-hundred householders in the parish, and a com-
mittee was appointed to présent the same to Governor
De LMsle Brock.
“It happened that while the people were money wor-
shippers, that is, belieVed in the omnipotence of money,
Governor Brock, on the contrary, was a money-infidel,
that is, did not believe that money was able to do the
least thing. Consequently, when the committee pre-
sented the pétition, superstition and science came in
conflict. The governor set to work, with arguments,
to prevent the citizens from going into debt and becom-
ing tributary to bankers in Paris or London. After ex-
plaining to the committee that ail the money in the
world could not make nor lay a brick, could not plane
nor nail a plank in the proposed market-house, with
little efïect, he finally struck the right way and reached
their understanding as follows:
“ ‘Will y ou permit me/ he asked the committee, ‘to
place before you some very simple questions?’ Then
continuing, ‘Hâve we the necessary number of mechan-
ics among us to build said house?’ he asked. The com-
mittee replied that they had, adding that, owing to dull
tirnes many workmen were out of employment and
would be glad of a job. This reply the governor put
down on paper sumçiarily thus: ‘We hâve the men.’
He then asked about the materials, rocks, bricks, lum-218
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
ber, lime, sand; about tools, teams, as well as ail the
requisites to maintain men and teams while the work
was being executed. To ail these questions the com-
mittee had to reply affirmatively, because the whole were
to be found in the parish. The governor set down on
his list each in the order given. Holding, then, the list
in his hands, he, with the full assurance of being in the
right, addressed the committee as follows:	‘Here you
tell me that we hâve among ourselves everything needed
to build the market-house, yet you desire me to bond
you to bankers for a material which is of no manner of
use in the construction of the house. Strange anomaly!’
Tt is true,* remarked one of the committee, ‘that we
hâve men and materials, but we lack the money to pay
the men and to buy the materials., ‘Friends/ replied
the governor, ‘when a man gets paid for work done or
materials furnished, it means that he has worked for
others and sold the materials. Is it your intention to
build a house for bankers? If so, then you are right
in demanding pay from those bankers. But, in such
case, you should not place yourselves under bondage
besides. If those bankers pay you for the house, and
hold you in bondage also, demanding annual tribute,
they will soon hâve both the house and the money they
paid you. It will be no relief to say that we make the
renters of the market-house pay* that tribute to the
bankers. The renters will be part of us, and they will
demand of their customers that tribute in higher prices
for goods. So we jointly will hâve to pay tribute in
perpetuity for an article which, as I said, is of no use to
us. Allow me, gentlemen, to propose a better plan for
building our market house. Having, as you avow, men
and materials, ail that is necessary in the case is toTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.	2 1Ç
keep Account of each man’s contributions of work or
materials, that, in the future, we may balance equitably
the expenses of the building. This can best be done
by means of a money which lays no daims to interest.
Instead of bonds, I will issue $22,000 market house
scripts, of different dénominations (as money) and
with these pay the men and purchase the materials, then
make these scripts receivable at par with legal tender
money for the rent of the stalls.’ The committee, after
some hésitation, assented to the governor’s plan. Most
of the citizens also agreed to it. The ‘scripts’ were
issued, the materials procured,the men put to work, the
building erected, and the stalls rented. The scripts cir-
culated in the Island at par. Every month’s rent re-
duced their quantity, and, in less than ten years ail were
back in the public treasury and stamped ‘canceled,’ and
thus ended the life of the Guernsey Market House
Scripts. The house had been built, the contributions of
materials and work were now ail paid with the goods
theyhad purchased at the market house, or indirectly
elsewhere, and not one cent lost to the people in dis-
counting bonds nor interest.
“Governor De L’ Isle Brock did not let this monetary
event pass into obscurity. On the contrary, he desired
to impress it vividly on the mind of his people, and
print it in the pages of history for the benefit of future
générations. Accordingly, he appointed a spécial day
to celebrate the anniversary of the building of the mar-
ket house, and give burial to the scripts, that had per-
formed the exchanges with equity, and now had ceasea
circulating. When the day arrived, the crowd began
early to gather on the public square in front of the
market house, which was festooned with garlands and220
THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
streamers, and on whose cupola waved a large flag bear-
ing, in broad gilt letters, the motto: ‘As good as if
BUILT WITH BORROWED G0LD.’
“At io a. m., the procession formed, and, preceded
by bands, began to file ofï through the streets of the
little Burg. Along the line were carried standards, on
which were inscribed mottoes like the following: ‘Hail
the New Financial System!’ ‘Down with Bonds and
Borrowing!’ ‘Adieu, Bankers!’ ‘Labor and Capital
United!’ ‘Interest Never More!’ ‘Money the Old Rob-
ber!’ etc. The procession made the round of the Burg,
returning at 2 p. m. Marshals on horseback arranged
the crowd in a grand circle on the square, in the center
of which was erected a speaker’s stand, and, by the
stand, a Vestal fire was kindled. When ail was ready,
the band struck a national song of Liberty, while the
governor, accompanied by two attendants, who carried
each a package of canceled scripts, advanced majes-
tically to the fire and halted. Suddenly the band
stopped; the governor took the bundles of scripts from
his attendants, and holding them up to the gaze of the
multitude, pronounced over them the following impres-
sive tribute: . ‘Well done, good and faithful servants.
When living, you performed your work with equity,
and, now, departing, you leave the world better for
having been in it, and no interest-extorting bonds nor
mortgaged homes will curse you in your grave. You
hâve done more than to perform the functions of money.
You hâve opened the portais to a brighter financial era.
May the toilers learn wisdom from this example. ’
“He then sprinkled the packages with perfume, and
while the band was playing a dirge, he laid them on
the fire where they were quickly consumed in theTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
221
presence of a silent, solemn, thinking mass of people.
*“After the crémation of the scripts, the governor,
though not a public speaker, ascended the stand and
delivered the most impressive financial speech ever
delivered on earth before or âfter. It was in the fol
lowing words:
“ ‘Fellow Citizens:— For the first time in the his-
tory of this Island, if not of the world, you hâve
learned to make your own money. You hâve built your
own market-house without borrowing, and hence with-
out paying tribute to Mammon; and now, when ail
who hâve contributed materials or work hâve been
paid, as attested by the return of the scripts through
the rent, the house is yet your own property. Hence-
forth the rent of the same will be appropriated to the
expenses of the government and tfius lessen your taxes.
Turning, then, to the market-house, and pointing to
the flag floating on its .cupola, he exclaimed in loud
tones:	‘Behold, a monument of your financial wisdom,
and as good as if built with borrowed gold! May
future générations profit by your example. *
“With this, he descended from the platform a^midst
the wildest acclamations of the multitude, and the deaf-
ening sounds of the bands.
“The Suprême Council proposes to extend the mone-
tary System of Governor De L’ Isle Brock to produc-
tion and distribution in general, with marked improve-
ments.
“Permanent wealth can be built on the following
economical principles and plans:
“ist. As-public enterprises, to which ail citizens are
forced to contribute according to their means, and ail
participate in the benefits thereof.222
THE LABOR NOVEMENT.
“2d. As capitaCistic undertakings, either directly
by the capitalist on the wage-system, or, indirectly, by
loans of money to the builders. Rents in the former
case, and interest in the latter, will finally carry back
both money and the pr'oduct to the capitalist, and re-
main during the existence of the construction a burden
to the people.
“3d. As co-operative Enterprises, when individ-
ual contributors use their own money, or, in lieu of
money, any stationary or portable method of accounts,
as was done in the building of the Guernsey Market
House, which will leave said contributors in perpétuai
possession of their joint product.
“Governor Brock built his house on the co-operative
plan, by voluntary contributions, then at the time when
capitalists, on their System of money, would hâve ab-
sorbed both house and money and turn the builders out
penniless, the governor declared the house public prop-
erty. What right had he to confiscate private property
to public use without compensation? Upon the same
princijple, when a man has used a building of his own
construction long enough to cover the expenses, calcu-
lating on the customary rent, the government would be
justified in declaring the building public, and no man
would hâve a right to his improvements longer than
they paid for themselves, as the saying is.
“The Council recommend a more équitable System,
as will readily be learned by examining the Constitution
and régulations of the plan. In it, those alone who
contribute work or materials and their auxiliaries who
furnish food, clothes, lodging, etc., shall be bénéficia-
is in perpetüity. In the case of the Guernsey Market
House the wealthiest men in the parish of St. PeterTHE LABOR MOVEMENT.
223
had not only refused to contribute toward the building
of the house, but had persisted in refusing to receive
the scripts because the System interfered with the profits
they realized by lending money. Now, when the house
had been declared public property and the revenues
thereôf were appropriated in lieu of taxes, the same
rich men became the largest beneficiaries. It was
not just.
“In reference to the proposed co-operative plan, we
will add, by way of advice, that, as no people can ad-
vance in wealth by devoting ail their energy in produc-
ing perishable or consûmable articles of wealth, nor by
a commerce in excess of production, we recommend
that this proposed Association apply ail the labor,which
can possibly be spared from the production of the nec-
essaries and comforts of life, to the érection of perma-
nent or fixed wealth. These improvements tend to
lessen toil and increase enjoyments.
THE SUPREME C0UNCIL.,,224
THE LABOR MO VE MENT.
REMARKS.
Upon a careful reading of the exhaustive Report of
the Council of Organized Labor, it will be observed
that the gentlemen composing it, left the beaten track
of pre-conceived opinions. They saw the human
family prostrate before the shrine of Mammon. They
saw the ports of every nation, the gates of every city,
the doors of every household and the hands of every
human-being wide open to welcome this dumb god.
They saw that no prayer was more earnest, no desire
more intense, no sacrifices (often involving personal
liberty, morality and honor) were considered too great
to obtain this, their heart’s Idol. And they failed
not to be convinced that the colonists had placed their
faith in a false god, and that rédemption through such
faith was utterly hopeless. On the other side, they saw
in their immédiate surroundings such volumes of dor-
mant resources, and physical forces, which needed the
touch of labor only to be awakened and fill the earth
with plenty. Why, then, they reasoned, look afar in
the clouds of superstition, and implore a dumb idol for
blessings which aré within our own reach and attainable
only by our own exertions? This immense array of
natural materials, is placed there by One who is greater
than money, and we are endowed by the same One
with ability and talent to convert these bounties into
life’s comforts and enjoÿments. Why, in the presence
of these, stand men idle and sufïer?
In view of such imposing facts, the Suprême Council
sounded the call to work, and pointed the workers to
the star of co-operation.PART THIRD.
THE LABO R EXCHANGE.
CHARTER.
Pétition.—To the Circuit Court of and for the County
of Pettia, and State of Missouri:
We, the undersigned citizens of the United States,
having associated ourselves by articles of agreement for
benevolent and educational purposes, do now on this
çth day of October, A. D. 1889, appear in open Court
by our officers:
G. B. De Bernardi, President.
J. H. Monsees, Vice President.
E. T. Beherens, Secretary.
U. F. Sargent, Accountant.
John L. Lomasney, Statistician.
W. T. Cahill, Près. Advisory Board.
and submit the attached Articles of Agreement, which
fully and clearly set forth the purposes and scope of
said Association, and pray that this Honorable Court
cause a decree to be entered of record declaring your
petitioners a body corporate and politic, in accordance
with Article X, of Chapter 21, of the Revised Statutes
of the State of Missouri.226
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
The corporate name of this Association shall be the
“LABOR EXCHANGE.”
The office shall be located at Sedalia, Pettis County,
Missouri.
OBJECT OF THE ASSOCIATION.
First. To provide employment for idle labor, by
facilitating the interchange of commodities and services
among the associâtes and the public.
Second. To alleviate the sufferings incident to, and
avert the social dangers which may arise from, a con-
stantly increasing class of unemployed, by furnishing
to this class useful occupation and saving the wealth
thus produced, for the use and benefit of the actual pro-
ducers and their dependents.
Third. To lighten the burden of charitable institu-
tions by establishing one self-sustaining.
By and through such employment of idle labor, as
aforesaid, this Association aims to furnish food, cloth-
ings, and the comforts of a home to those thus unem-
ployed; establish depots for mutual exchange; operate
boarding houses for the same purpose; and also provide
for éducation, the élévation of character, and the ameni-
ties of life, by maintaining schools and other places of
instruction.
MEANS—HOW PROVIDBD.
First. Fees and dues from members, as may be
fixed by the By-Laws of the Association.
Second. Soliciting for and receiving contributions
of any and ail kinds of means necessary to carry out
the objects of the Association.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
227
MEMBERSHIP.
Any person, male or female, of good character, not
addicted to intemperate or immoral habits, who is
willing to engage in a useful occupation or calling, or
to aid, by work or means, to advance the objects herein
stated, may become a member of this Association, and
be entitled to the benefit of it, under such Rules and
Régulations as may be established by the same.
The Association shall hâve full power to enact such
Rules as to expel a disorderly or injurious member; but
such expulsion shall not impair any daims which said
expelled member may, at the time, possess, or there-
after acquire, against the Association.
PROPERTY—HOW HELD.
The property of this Association, real and personal,
shall not, under any circumstances, be mortgaged or
pledged.
The Association shall not borrow any money, shall
not issue any interest-bearing note or obligation against
itself.
DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUES.
Ail monies received for the sale of goods, hire of
labor, rent of property, the execution of contracts,
board of hands, entry fees to places of amusement,
etc., shall be distributed as follows:
ist. To replenish the stock of goods sold.
2d. To keep the property in repair and to restore
any which may hâve been destroyed by accidents.
3d. To defray t* J crpenses of administration eco-
nomically conducted.228
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
4th. To support the sick, the disabled, and assist
the families of deceased members.
5th. To maint ain schools, especially evening schools,
libraries and places of instruction and amusement.
6th. To extend the field of its operations, by the
acquisition of additional means for the employment of
icHe labor.
OFFICERS.
The officers of this Association shall consist of a
President, Vice President, Secretary, Accountant, Sta-
tistician, and as many more officers as the business of
the Association may require.
The duties of said principal officers shall be those
as implied by their several names.
The distinction of sex shall not be a bar to eligibility
to any office; but no person under the âge of twenty-
one shall be eligible to the above principal offices, nor
to the Bpard of Trustées, as hereinafter provided.
Ail élections shall be by ballot, and at regular meet-
ings of the Association.
The time and place of meetings shall be determined
by the Association.
SALARIES, WAGES, VALUES, ETC.
The salaries of officers of this Association, the wages
of labor employed, the value of exchangeable commod-
ities and services among the associâtes; the distribution
of tools, implements, machinery and materials for the
employment of labor; and ail daims for preference to
such employment; and ail other- matters not herein
specified and determined, çhall be fixed and regulated
by the By-Laws of the Association.
We, whose names arehereunto attached, hereby agréé
to become members of the Labor Exchange, in ac-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
229
cordance with the t«i?ms and conditions herein set forth,
and for the objects herein stated:
G. B. De Bernardi, of Dresden, Mo., Président; J. H.
Monsees, of Beaman, Mo., Vice President; E. T. Behe-
ren, of Sedalia, Mo., Secretary; U. F. Sargent, of Se-
dalia, Mo., Accountant; J. L. Lomasney, of Sedalia,
Mo., Statistician.
EXECUTIVE BOARD.
John Goodfellow, J. G. Harris, J. B. Hedges, Seda-
lia, Mo.
ADVISORY BOARD.
W. T. Cahill, President, Sedalia, Mo.
The pétition was granted by Judge Richard Field, of
Lexington, Mo., January çth, 1890, and was filed in
the office of the Secretary of State at Jefferson City,
March ist, 1890.
%
SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS.
MOTTO:
In essentials, Unit y ; in non-essentials, Liberty ; in ail things
Chaktty. ARBITRATION the law.
ist. For ail contributions of money, goods, work or
services the Association shall issue to contributors Cer-
tifiâtes of deposit, or checks, of equal value, which
Certifieates shall not bear interest nor be redeemable in
legal tender, but shall be receivable by the Association,
at their face value, in payment for goods purchased
from work or services obtained through, and for ail
debts and dues to the same.230
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
2d. Applicants for membership shall enter into a
contract or agreement with the Association to receive
the above Certificates of deposit, or checks in full sat-
isfaction for contributions and work, and to relinquish
ail other daims and liens against the same.
3d. The Association will hoid the merchandise for
consumption and articles for use deposited with it, sub-
ject to the rédemption of said outstanding Certificates;
but reserves the right to sell it or exchange it for money
or équivalent commodities.
4th. Real estate, machinery, implements and tools
in operation or use, and ail materials set apart for the
employment of labor, sfcall be held inalienably for that
object.
5th. Should any real estate, machinery, implements,
tools, etc. or materials become superfluous for said ob-
ject, the same may be sold or exchanged. But, in^all
such cases, it will require a two-thirds vote of the mem-
bers interested therein.
6th. The Association may receive Spécial Deposits
of real estate, subject to withdrawal in kind by deposit-
ors or assignées. The value of such spécial deposits
shall be ascertained and determined by appraisers,
selected one-half by the Association, aud one- half by
the depositors thereof, to which number of appraisers
shall be added an odd number of experts selected by
said appraisers.
To such class of depositors the Association shall is-
sue spécial Certificates, which may, by the holdêrs, be
located and the identical property, or équivalent real
estate in spécial deposit, be withdrawn at any place it
may be found in the keeping of the Association.
The Association shall pay no rent on such spécial de-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.	231
posits, but pay the taxes and keep the same in the con-
dition it received it.
7th. The interest of members in the behefits of the
Association, over and above the rédemption of its Cer-
tificates, shall be in the proportion of actual deposits
(of which an account shall be kept on record) multi-
plied by the time said deposits hâve remained in the
Association. Thus, $1,000, ten years, shall equal
$10,000 one year.
ORGANIZATION:
8th. This Association shall consist of a Central or
General Office, and Local Branches, operating under a
Dispensation or Charter granted by the Central office;
and organized in such a manner and under such By-
Laws as may be determined by the membership thereof,
in accordance with the Constitution and objects of the
Association.
çth. It shall be the function of the Central office to
provide ïor the original issue of blank Certificates and
Checks, to fharmonize co-operation, adjust difficultés,
and manage ail business in which ail Branches are in-
terested.
ioth. Branch Associations may obtain supplies of
blank Certificates, or Checks, at cost, by depositing
équivalents or giving approved security for their return.
nth. Ail Certificates of deposit, or checks, received
by the Central office or Branches, in payment for goods
or dues, shall be cancelled and sent to the Central office.
i2th. The Central and Branch offices shall constitute
the Board of Managers.
ADVISORY BOARD.
i3th. There shall be elected, by a majority vote of
ail the members, a Central Advisory Board, composed232
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
of no less than five, whose term of office shall origi-
nally be one, two, three, four and five years, so that
the term of* one-fifth of said Board shall expire every
year, and the place or places be successively filled, at
the annual general élection, for the term of five years.
The fonctions of this board shall be the location
and extent of permanent improvements and product-
ive enterprises, such as buildings, factories, mines,
shops, etc., the intention being that such improvements
may not conflict and compete with one another on the
markets, or become useless by reason of excessive pro-
duction or improper location.
No permanent improvement or productive plant shall
be undertaken, in the name of the Association, without
permit from the Advisory Board.
LEGISLATION.
i4th. Ail projects for the advancement of the wel-
fare and prosperity of the Association may originate in
any member. thereof.
Said project shall be presented by the originator to
the Local Branch of which he or she is a member. If
approved by a majority of said Branch, the project be-
comes the property of ail the Branches interested therein
and shall be put to the vote of the same. If again ap-
proved by a majority vote, it shall form part of the
rules, régulations, or enterprises of ail Branches having
voted thereon.
DIVISION OF EMPLOYMENTS.
i5th. The industrial, commercial and economical
operations of the Association shall be divided into
three general and two auxiliary departments.
General Departments.—Production, Distribution,
Consumption.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
*33
Auxiliary Departments.—Statistics, Accounts.
Each of the above departments may be sub-divided
into as many groups as may be required.
Each spécial trade, profession and calling shall hâve
control of its own branch of industry, subject to the
general Board only in theîr relation to other depart-
ments and industries.
Each trade and profession shall elect their own spé-
cial officers.
i6th. The Department of Production shall hâve
charge of utensils, tools, implements, machinery, shops,
mills, factories, founderies, farms, mines, brick-yards,
quarries, etc., and ail materials necessary or useful to
the production of wealth.
This department shall hâve authority to contract for
private, corporate and public works, and, by these
means, and the enterprises of the Association, endeavor
to keep constantly employed a well equipped, industrial
force of men and women in the production of wealth,
and thus supply them with comforts.
Each Local Branch interested in any contract or en-
terprise of this department, shall be entitled to a quota
of volunteer workers, in proportion to the number of
members,and to participation in the benefits or losses of
the enterprise, in proportion to labor and materials
furnished therein.
Ail the benefits or losses accruing from the enter-
prises of the Central Association, shall be distributed
to ail the members.
i7th. The Department of Distribution, embracing
Commerce and Transportation, shall hâve charge of
stores, warehouses, elevators, and ail means for the
storage and préservation of merchandise; ail means for234
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
transporting, handling, weighing, measuring and dis-
tributing the same.
i8th. The Department of Consumption shall hâve
charge of co-operative boarding-houses, hôtels, schools,
libraries, hospitals, and places of éducation, sociability
and ^enjoy ment.
içth. The Department of Statistics shall hâve
charge of the collection and distribution of statisticat
reports, presenting as full exhibits as can be obtained,
of the condition and wants of the Association.
2oth. The Department of Accounts shall manage
the issue, the clearance and cancellation of commercial
documents.
These issues shall consist of
ist. A uniform Coupon Labor Check, in book form,
of convenient dénominations, from one to one hundred
dollars. Each of these books shall contain no less tlian
one hundred dollars in amount.
2d. A uniform Coupon Loan Check, in book form,
of convenient dénominations. Each book shall con-
tain no less than ten dollars value.
3d. A uniform Certificate of Deposit, of various
dénominations, for depositors of merchandise or ser-
vices.
Each of these three issues shall be dated and num-
bered co-ordinately, beginning and ending with each
year.
No issue shall bear interest or be redeemable in legal
tender money, but receivable as heretofore provided.
. • Ail details regarding the.issuing, clearing and cancel-
ling of said commercial documents, and ail matters ap-
pertaining to the management of the same shall be pro
vided as circumstances may require.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
235
THE EXCHANGE
IN 19OO.
The organization at Sedalia proved “the cloud no
bigger than a man’s hand” which brought about the
iNDUSTRiALREFORMATiONin the colony.
The Labor Exchange began operations without money
and without stock. It opened its hands to receive de-
posits of merchandise and labor at market price, and
issued certificates for the same. It also acted as inter-
mediate agent between employers and employés free of
charge. At first it made but slow progress; but soon it
drew the attention of those proscribed pilgrims from the
labor ranks, lately stigmatized as “tramps” and prosecut-
ed as “vagrants.” These found the Labor Exchange, not
only a refuge,but a help. They were followed by more for-
tunate mechanics and laborers, as fast as the scarcity of
money cast them out of employment. Farmers who
could not dispose of products, except at ruinons sacri-
fices, began to deposit the same in the care of the Ex-
change and accept its Certificates. As the stock of
goods increased, so did the “crédit” in its checks. The
greater the variety of goods, the more extended was the
use of the checks. Shoemakers, tailors, barbers, watch-
makers, and ail such trades as require.but little outlay
for tools and materials, soon accepted the Exchange
checks in payment for their work. When a little fund
of money was accumulated out of the sales of deposits
to. purchase materials, female members’ were set to work
at their homes, making overalls and underwear. These
put their goods in the stores of the Association for sale
or exchanged them for needed products. Small indus-236	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
tries, unable to compete with large plants under the
monetary System, fell into the Association. Small mer-
chants, no longer able to stand the heavy rents of busi-
ness centers, and seeing their former customers turning
to the great department stores just started by companies
of capitalists, consigned their goods to the Labor Ex-
change, thus averting rent, expenses and bankruptcyt
Brick-yàrds, quarries, tile factories and other product-
ive plants, about to discharge their employés for lack
of a market for their products, were kept in opération
by the workmen (who had become members of the La-
bor Exchange) accepting the product of their own work
in payment for wages. These products were then de-
posited in the keeping of the Exchange for its checks.
The same materials were used by the Association to em-
ploy idle mechanics to erect buildings, underdrain
fields, etc. Thus, by the ministration of the Labor Ex-
change, industry and commerce were kept in motion,
when deficiency of money would hâve paralyzed both.
It is thus that the Association has become an immense
repository of almost everything that the world produces
—an immense medium for the équitable interchange of
commodities and services, and an immense instru-
mentality for the employment of labor.
We could not convey to the reader a better knowl-
edge of the power and effect of this organization upon
the colonists than by giving the expérience of a few
members.
EXPERIENCE OF MEMBERS.
AMechanic said:	“I had belonged to almost eveTy
labor organization besides my own Union, and we had
discussed the problem, I thought, from every point of
view, and had ‘resolved’ everything imaginable. I hadTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
237
taken an active part in four strikes, one of which
proved successful, and the others disastrous. But,
successful or disastrous, I saw that we, workers, were
always losers, and in. every strike we were alienating
from us public opinion, especially of farmers and mer-
chants, in conséquence of the losses these classes were
subjected to by the stoppage of business.
“Hearing of the Labor Exchange* and feeling a spé-
cial interest in the feature that it professed to furnish
employment, our Union appropriated ten dollars to de-
fray the expenses of a lecturerand organizer. The lec-
turer came. He wasted no time in depicting the dé-
plorable condition of labor, nor the cruelty of employ-
ers, nor the wrongs perpetrated by the old political par-
ties; but straightway explained the objects of the La-
bor Exchange and the ways of attaining those objects.
We felt convinced that the Exchange was the thing that
we had been looking for, and by a large majority vote
we decided to organize a Branch in our city. At every
meeting we made a collection, and each voluntary con-
tributor received a Certificate of deposit. The money
was deposited in a savings bank and served as a basis
for the validity of the Certificates. These Certificates
circulated among us, and soon amounted to a consid-
érable sum. In less than eighteen months we had on
deposit ten thousand dollars, and, of course, the same
amount of Certificates in the hands of members, which
performed a much larger volume of business, not only
among ourselves, but with outsiders also.
“We now decided to withdraw ouf deposit from the
bank; purchase a lot in the central part of the city and
put up a building on it. We paid for the lot and a por-
tion of the materials in money, and paid our workmen238
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
in Labor Checks. This proved a triple benefit to us.
It employed our men, gave us a house to hold our meet-
ings in, and stores to rent. Besides this, it put over
twenty thousand dollars worth of Checks in our hands
to do business with. Our meetings wçre always open
and our number kept increasing.
“What came out of that small beginning, you ail see.
The Association o>vns, in the city alone, over half a
million dollars worth of property. It is running a
number of industries, and none of us members need
fear to incur the displeasure of any employer and lose
hisbread.”
A BRICKBURNER.
“Ten of us,” said he, “working at a brick-yard, ex-
pected soon to be discharged, and had no idea where
to find another job. Times were hard, and bricks not
in demand. One morning three farmers rode up to the
yard, and wished us to join the Labor Exchange* We
laughed at the idea. ‘What good would the Labor Ex-
change do us? We hâve nothing to exchange, and be-
sides, we do not expect to be here long/ we said.
‘Where are you going?’ asked one of the farmers. ‘To
tramp/ we replied. ‘Is there not plenty of work here?’
he asked. ‘No/ we answered, ‘not after this week/
‘What is the matter? Is the town finished?’ he quer-
ied. ‘Finished or not finished, no one wants bricks/
we retorted. ‘Look here, gentlemen/ said the farmër,
‘there is no necessity of stopping brick-burning here.
The town is hardly commenced, and there will be a
heavy demand for bricks shortly, if not now. Join the
Exchange, and we will see whether we cannot arrange
so that you may remain at work. If members of our
Association, you could take bricks in payment forTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
* 239
wages. The Exchange would take the bricks from you
and give you its Checks. ’ We had to laugh heartily,
thinking the granger somewhat cracked. ‘What good
could your Checks do us?’ we asked. ‘The Ghecks will
prove that you hold that much property in the Associa-
tion/ answered the farmer. ‘Is that not better than
going into idleness?, he added. It sounded reasonable.
He then explained the workings of the Labor Ex-
change. We became convinced, and went with the
farmers to see the proprietor of the yard, to whom they
also explained the method of business of the Associa-
tion. The proprietor agreed to continue us at work, if we
would accept bricks, at Wholesale price, in payment. At
the same time the farmers contracted to furnish wood
to burn the bricks and receive bricks in payment also.
“The same bricks are now doing duty in the finest
four-story business building in the center of the town,
and were put there by brick-layers, who, without the
Labor Exchange, would hâve wasted that time in tramp-
ing. We, and the brick-layers hâve been amply paid
for our work, and still hold in that building the interest
that capitalists would hold, if money had been used in-
stead of Checks. We are indeed grateful to the Labor
Exchange and wish it was known to every working man
and woman in the colony.”
A FARMER.
“One day,” he said, “I was flxing the fence around
my barn lot, when two gentlemen rode up, and after the
usual salutations about the weather, fine country, etc.,
one of them asked why I did not build a barn to shelter
my stock and forage. ‘Lack of means/ I replied.
‘You mean lack of money/ he retorted. ‘for I see that
you hâve plenty of means on your farai.’ ‘Yes, I mean240
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
lack of money/ I answered. ‘Would it not pay you
to borrow the money? Is not your loss in forage, the
condition of your stock, loss of time in feeding, etc.,
heavier than the interest on a loan?* he asked. ‘I do
not intend to place a mortgage on my farm, unless com-
pelled to by sickness/ I replied. ‘I hâve seen too
many farmers driven from their homes by mortgages/
‘What would you hâve to pay for money tare?’ con-
tinued the man. ‘Eight per cent/ I answered. ‘That
is very heavy/ he said. ‘The average increase of
wealth, according to decennial inventories, is only three
and one-third per cent, and who ever pays more than
that is doomed to ruin. Look here, friend/ he then
explained: ‘We are mechanics, and members of the
Labor Exchange. We heard that you needed work in
our line and came to see whether we could persuade
you to become a member of that Association also, and
hâve your barn built through the same. The Associa-
tion will lend. you its Checks at one per cent. It will
give you five or more years’ time to return the Checks,
and the choice to pay either in money or in products
at market value/ ‘How is that?’ I inquired. They
explained to me in full the workings of the Labor Ex-
change. I felt convinced that I could well afïord to
pay one per cent, rather than suffer the losses consé-
quent on keeping my forage and feeding my stock out
of doors. So I joined the Association, borrowed $ 1,500
in Checks, and had my barn built (and a good one it
was, for the Exchange guarantees its work.) Subse-
quently, whenever I had a load of produce to spare
from my ordinary expenses, I took it to the Exchange
store. In a few years my debt was paid.
“I feel convinced, friends, that, if such AssociationTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
24I
had corne into existence years ago, thousands of farms,
carried away by mortgages, would now be the homes of
happy families who improved them, and that thousands
of mechanics, who were forced to leave their families
in destitution and search the colony for work, would
hâve been building barns on these farms and support
their families in abundance out of the products which
were wasted in interest to money lenders. Thank
God, a way has been found out of that détestable
money-system. My prayer is that the Labor Exchange
may extend not only over our colony, but over the
whole world.”
A MERCHANT.
“It did not take me long,” he said, “to see the merits
of the Labor Exchange. Among my customers were
many wage-workers and poor farmers, who were far
from being good pay. Not that they were dishonest;
but work was uncertain and wages low, and when work
stopped, farmers could not sell and I suffered from ail
sides. Such were my constant troubles. To refuse
crédit, knowing that their families were actually suffer-
ing, was more than my feelings would permit; to crédit
them was dangerous; and to charge my good customers
higher prices in order to cover the losses, I felt it to be
unjust. Besides, extra prices drive customers away.
This predicament was general among ail business men,
and speculators, taking advantage of the situation, had
formed a sort of détective Agency, or what they called
a Guaranty Company, for the purpose of black-listing
the poor, and protecting the merchants against dead-
beats, on payment of a fee. But black-listing the poor
brought no relief to them nor to me, and, while it offered
some security, it did not increase my business nor theTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
242
profits. Nothing but constant employment and good
wages could solve the problem, and bring relief ail
round.
“One day a mechanic came to my store, presented a
ten dollar Labor Check, and desired to purchase goods
with it. He explained that he had been at work for
the Labor Exchange Association, and held that much
interest in the assets of the same. I investigated the
basis and methods of business of said Association and
became convinced that it had corne to fill a long-felt
want in the colony.
“Not only did I accept the ten dollar check from my
old customer and friend, but informed the secretary of
the Association in the town also, that I stood ready to
honor its checks, at par, to the full extent of my finan-
cial ability. Certainly I preferred a document found-
ed upon actual wealth in the keeping of responsible
parties, to insolvent names on my books.
“Since that day, owing to the employment of labor
by the Exchange, my business, and that of every mer-
chant in the town, has increased wonderfully, and our
losses by bad debts hâve been reduced to less than one-
tenth of what they used to be.
“God speed the Labor Exchange !”
A DOCTOR.
A doctor followed the merchant and said:	“My bad
debts hâve been reduced wonderfully since the estab-
lishment of a Labor Exchange in town. It relieved
the money stringency at once. My business has also
increased, as working people hâve now the wherewith
to pay the doctor’s bill. Many men, and consequently
women, will sufïer rather than take their children’s
bread to pay doctor's bill; but will not do so whènTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
243
means are at hand. Nor did I ever lose by accepting
the Labor Exchange Checks in payment.
“I can but say, from expérience, that the Exchange
is an excellent institution.”
«
A RAILROAD MAN.
“Twice I h ad taken shares in a Building and Loan
Association. The first time I held five shares. I had
borrowed $ 1,000, at a loss of ten per cent, and built a
house on a lot which cost me $300. I was now paying
$15 per month rent on property one fourth of which
was mine, and these payments were to continue one
hundred months. Counting the payments to average
fifty months, I was to pay $600 for the use of $900
fifty months, equal to sixteen per cent interest. Yet, if
ail had gone right with me, at the expiration of the
» hundred months, I would hâve corne out with a home
of my own. But it is said that ‘Man proposes and
God disposes/ Ail did not go right with my affairs.
My employment kept steady, or nearly so, for four
years, at which time I had paid $720 to the Associa-
tion, besides the $300 on the lot, making in ail $1,020,
or one hundred and twenty dollars more than the Asso-
ciation had invested in the premises. And now began
the disaster which swept away the whole. I was a mem-
ber of an Assembly of Knights of Labor. To it be-
longed also many officers of the road, and for a time ail
was going on harmoniously. Now an antagonism arose
between the upper and lower employés. A strike was
* brought about. I lost my employment and with it my
$ 1,020. Thus my life’s earnings were gone.
“I succeeded finally in obtaining a good and perma-
nent job, and began to save again, this time putting my
money in a savings bank at a iow rate of interest. It2 44
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
was my intention to let the fund accumulate until suffi-
rent to purchase a home and pay for it. But fate was
against me again. The bank failed and I lost another
four hundred dollars.
“Hèaring of the Labor Exchange, I examined into
its merits. I became satisfied that it was the safest and
best opportunity that workirgmen, and persons of small
means, ever had offered them to lay up something for a
rainy day. The Exchange received, not only money,
but goods and labor as weH. There were no fines, no
penalties, no forfeitures, no mortgages, no losses. There
was no comparison between Building and Loan Asso-
ciations and savings banks,and the Labor Exchange, in
my estimation. So I began to deposit my savings in
that institution.
“My deposits hâve secured me a good home for
which I hâve paid its cost only (including the lot) and
not one cent of fine, penalties nor intefrest to outside
parties.
< ‘I would advise ail my friends to become members
of the Exchange, and let ail the old financial institu-
tions alone.”
A SCHOOL TEACHER.
“Fellow Citizens,” he began, “I, too, hâve something
to report in behalf of the Labor Exchange. I live and
teach in the country. Before the advent of this God-
sent institution, it was by the lowest salaries and other
injurious économies that we were able to carry on the
school six months in each year; and it required one
month of the six to refresh my own and the children’s
mind and bring us to the point where we were when the
school closed. The cause of this drag in éducation was
LACK OF FUNDS.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
245
“We hâve now nine months school regularly every .
year, six in winter and three in summer. I am paid a
good salary, so that I can afford to make teaching my
only vocation, and we hear no more of difficultés
about the funds.
“The Labor Exchange Check has completely taken
away the baneful power of money to hamper our éduca-
tion. Strange that the people should hâve been so long
in finding out the^ old financial humbug. But, why
wonder, when we teachers hâve been inculcating in the
tender mind of children the money tenets with more
emphasis than we did the doctrines of Christianity?
We are wiser now.
“The mérita of the Labor Exchange hâve not ail
been enumeraHd / >**e y et. They never will, for it is
destined to affect ratoiably every industry, every class;
to modify public sentiment in everything, and to ex-
tend to every part of the habitable globe. The days of
money supremacy over the mental and physical power
of man are numbered and must pass away. Allow me,
gentlemen, to name but a few of the immédiate advan-
tages that the Exchange holds over other finançai in-
stitutions:
“ist. It is a superior System of insurance against ac-
cidents to life and property, for it makes provision for
the sufferers almost at cost.
“2d. It is the best Real Estate Agency, for, by its
spécial deposit System, it avoids the losses by forced
sales; and it is also the best advertising medium for
such property. Its quarterly lists of Real Estate for
Exchange, in ail parts of the colony, draw general at-
tention. No man would now venture to purchase any-
where, without first examining said lists, and ail who\
246	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
hâve property for sale will find it to their benefit to de-
posit it with the Exchange.
“3d. It is the best and safest Building and Loan
and savings bank institution, as our railroad friend bas
explained.
“Fellow workers,” he said in conclusion, “cease
sacrificing your labor and means upon the altar of false
gods. With the light, the opportunity and the means
offered us by the Labor Exchange, it becomes almost
criminal on our part to give encouragement to the old
compétitive industrial System founded on the money
fraud. Future générations will hold us accountable for
our deeds.,,
A MANUFACTURER.
“Owing to the scarcity of money, the market for our
goods became so reduced that we had to close the fac-
tory. Our employés, who depended on our running
for their daily bread, felt, of course, aggrieved. Our
manager told them that if they were willing to work
for such wages as their labor produced, we would start
up again. They refused. This stubbornness continued
for months, during which time a number of them were
actually lacking food and clothing for their families, and
were made the récipients of charity. Some of them
had not even potatoes to eat at times; and yet they re-
fused to work for anything but cash!
“At this time many farmers in the vicinity were in
urgent need of the commodities turned out by our
institution and would hâve been only too glad to ex-
change potatoes and other kinds of food for these com-
modities. Artisans and farmers needed the articles
each other produced, yet a dead-lock existed which
made both suffer! This dead-lock was a cruel absurdityTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
247
and a disgrâce to the intelligence or morality of those
responsible for it.
“Our manager continued negotiations with the em-
ployés;; finally mutual concessions weremade an agree-
ment to pay and receive a little cash and the rest in
trade were entered into, and the institution began ope-
rations. Immediately relief began to be felt and ex-
tended far beyond our employés and their families.
Theÿ made what the farmers wanted and took farm pay
in exchange. TJius toarmth and cheer were spread
where there had been stagnation, coldness and despair.
“The business of the institution grew; it increased
its force and to-day it is in a highly flourishing con-
dition.
“The Labor Exchange has extended the policy of our
manager toindustry in general and the effect is visible. ”
a carpenter’s story.
“Hard times, no work, and poverty forced me to
leave wife and three children almost destitute, and
tramp westward in quest of employment. Pen could
not describe the hardships and humiliations that I en-
dured. Finally, I reached a thriving city on the Mis-
souri river, where my hopes for employment were
brightened by the sight of a number of improvements in
process of execution. Yet, wherever I applied for
work, I found every place filled, and many, besides
myself, out in the cold.
“One day, when my cup of sorrow was overflowing
by the reading of a letter from home asking for money
to pay the rent and purchase provisions, (saying the
landlord had threatened to turn them out-doors, and
the groceryman would no longer crédit them), a com-
rade advised me to apply to the Labor Exchange.248	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
‘What is the Labor Exchange?’ I asked him. He re-
plied that it was an Association, whose object was the
employment of idle labor. By direction, I proceeded
to the office of the Labor Exchange (and a small con-
cern it appeared to. me.) ‘Is it true/ I inquired, ‘that
you help a fellow like me to find work?’ ‘That is our
main object/ replied the secretary. He then asked
what my trade was; ‘Carpenter/ I answered. The
secretary opened a book laying on a table before him,
and found that he had no application for carpenters at
the time. ‘But, if you fail to find a job, call again/ he
kindly added, ‘for we may hâve an application at any
time.’ ‘What is your charge?’ I asked. ‘We do not
charge applicants/ he answered. ‘Were we to charge
them,.many very poor men and women would not be able
to apply, and thus we would not be enabled to assist the
very ones who need assistance most. This Association
is intended to add, if possible to the means of working
people and not to take away any portion of what little
they may hâve.’ I thanked him for his kindness, and
left in search of work.
“Several times thereafter I went to the office of the
Labor Exchange to inquire what prospect. At last the
secretary informed me that he had found me a job. A
contractor had undertaken to put up a large business
building, and needing a number of carpenters, had ap-
plied to the office, he said, and they had given him my
name, but added that the contractor would not begin
work for a couple of weeks; hence they desired to know
whether I would accept the job or not.
“After a moment’s considération, I replied in the
affirmative. It had proven so hard to find work that I
could not afford to lose this job, even if I had to wait twoTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
249
weeks for it. The moment I accepted the job, the sec-
retary asked me what I intended to do in the interval.
‘I do not see what else I can do but to walk the streets
hunting work, as I hâve been doing for the last three
weeks/ I answered. ‘If so/ rejoined the secretary,
‘should y ou join our Association, we will furnish y ou work
during these two weeks.’ ‘What does it cost to join
your Association, and what wages does' it pay?’ I in-
quired. ‘The cost is but one dollar membership fee,
and no further dues; and, as for wages, we do not pay
workmen at ail. We are not a money institution and
cannot pay money/ answered the secretary. This re-
ply surprised me, and led me to fear that the kindness
of the secretary in finding me employment gratuitously,
was perhaps but a scheme to get double pay in gratuit-
ous work; hence I boldly expressed my opinion by the
pointed question: ‘You do not expect a poor fellowlike
me to work for you two weeks for nothing, do you?’
‘Far from it/ he replied. ‘We expect you to realize
higher wages than you ever did before.’ ‘How so?’ I
asked. ‘You first stated that you do not pay at ail, and
now assert that I will get higher wages than before.
Will you please explain the puzzle?’ ‘I will do so, will-
ingly/ replied the secretary. ‘As stated, we are a mon-
eyless Association. Our only capital is work, and the
products of work are our wages. This is the reason
why, knowing that men need money to pay board, rent,
etc., we first do ail in our power to find applicants
(whether members of the Association or not) employ-
ment where they might obtain money wages. But when
a member (and here, friend, we must observe that we
cannot employ a non member without endangering our
property, because the law gives workers a lien on the25°
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
property and would force us to pay in legal tender money,
at any sacrifice), when a member, I say, is out of em-
ployment and is willing to work in the Association,
we can only give him, and do give him, the whole of
his own work in pay ment. You know, fellow worker,
that no contractor or capitalist can afford to pay as
much, for they must realize profits out of their em-
ployés. In this Association we work as children of one
father, allowing no speculator to profit by our work,
but do not partake in the resuit according to family
communism, but according to the value of the work
performed. This we accomplish equitably by means of
Labor Checks instead of money. With this Check we
pay for materials and work at market price. This
Check is receivable by the Association in payment for
articles bought of the same,for rents and dues to the Asso-
ciation, and at the same time form the basis for calcu-
lating the interest of members in the fixed wealth of it.
Just now the Association has purchased a lot in the
city and paid for it in checks, indicating that the owner
of the lot holds a transferrable value in the use (rent)
of any structure erected on it, and a perpétuai propor-
tionate interest or benefit in the structure itself after
the Checks he received hâve been redeemed in rent or
merchandise. We hâve paid for excavating the base-
ment. also in Checks; we had the foundation laid by the
same means, and by men,who, like you,were out of em-
ployment. We succeeded in buying lumber and other
materials as deposits from parties who belong to the
Association, and now we are ready to employ idle car-
penters to put up the building, if they are willing to do
it and accept Checks in payment.9 ‘What use will
your Checks be to me? Could I pay my board billTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
251
with theni?* I asked. ‘May be not/ answered the
secretary, and, as before said, we tried to find work
for you, that you could obtain money. But, allow
me to State that, if you had no money to pay your
board bill, any landlord would be more likely to
accommodate you if you had an interest in a house
here than if you did not hâve it. The building you
help put up will surely be worth the materials and
labor bestowed on it; and, if those who furnished
said materials and labor own the building, they cer-
tainly hâve a basis to secure a landlord for board,
to the extent of said interest. But, regarding the asso-
ciâtes, it is évident that those who contributed materials
will be bettered.by the secure position of said materials
(lumber in a house is better than rotting in a yard) and
those who contributed labor, if they were idle, will be
the gainers of the whole interest they retain, as if it
had been a gift.*
“I decided to join the Association and go to work.
I would be idle anyhow, I reasoned within myself, and
at the end of the two weeks I received $30 in Labor
Checks. When the secretary paid me he held one dol-
lar as membership fee, repeating that the cost was in-
significant, and assured me that I would find my mem-
bership pleasant and profitable. I left at the end of
the two weeks to go to my job, and finally I left the
city also.
“Years passed, during which time the Labor Ex-
change had spread to many towns and cities of the
West, and, as I afterwards found, had become a wealthy
institution. Several times, in my travels, I came in
contact with Branches of the Association, obtained
their assistance to procure employment, and also worked252
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
for it on several occasions, and had accumulated $120
of its Checks, on which, however, I must confess, I did
not set very much value.
“Finally, I resolved to move West with my family.
On arrivai at the place of our destination, we searched
the city for a house to rent, and at last found one suit-
able in size and location. We inquired as to the owner,
and were told that it belonged to the Labor Exchange.
I told my wife that I knew that Association, in fact,
that I belonged to it, that I had worked for it on sev-
eral occasions and in various places when accidentally
out of emyloyment. We made our way to the office of
the Labor Exchange (which was now quite a different
thing from the office I had entered a few years before.)
We asked what the rent on the house was, and were told
ten dollars per month. We rented it and moved into it.
“At the expiration of the first month> I went to pay
the rent. Before doing so, I stated to the secretary
that I had the money to pay the rent, but that î was a
member of his Association; stated when and where I
had joined; that I had worked for it on several occa-
sions and held #120 of its Checks. Now I desired to
know whether said Checks would be received for rent.
‘Certainly, he promptly replied, then added that the
Checks of the Association were worth more to the de-
positors than ordinary money. This latter assertion I
could not comprehend, nor did I, at the time, believe.
I paid our rent and left the office.
“These payments in Checks I continued monthly,
until, at the end of one year, I had exhausted the
amount in hand. I felt that finally I had found use for
my Checks, and said I to the secretary,when I paid my
last month, ‘I am pleased with your System of doingTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
253
business, as your Checks came in good play. I made
those Checks when my time would hâve been lost in
idleness and now they hâve saved me their full value in
money. So/ I added, ‘when idle, I will ever be ready
to work for you again.’
‘ “ ‘We are grateful that you are pleased with the As-
sociation and its business methods, brother/ said the
secretary; ‘but you seem to believe that the Labor
Checks are worth only as much as ordinary money.
They are worth to you far more than money.’ ‘How
can that be?’ I asked. You took the Checks in pay-
ment for rent only dollar for dollar. I had $120 of
them and with them I paid #120 of rent. Where is the
better or the more value to corne from?’ ‘Here is
where the Cheéks exceed the value of money/ explained
the secretary. ‘If you had worked for a capitalist and
had received $120 in money, then rented a house from
the same capitalist and paid him #120 in rent, would
you hâve any further interest in the property of the cap-
italist?’ ‘Of course not/ I replied.’ ‘Now, see the dif-
férence/ he continued. ‘You worked for our Associa-
tion, we paid you the $120; we paid you the rate of
wages that the capitalist would hâve paid you; then we
rented you a house and charged you no more than the
capitalist would hâve done, and received the Checks at
par; now, what interest hâve you in the property of the
Association?’ he asked. ‘No more, I .suppose, than I
would hâve had in the case of the capitalist/ I answered.
‘Brother/ said the secretary, ‘you hâve the interest of
the $ 120 in the permanent wealth of the Association,
which the capitalist would hâve had if we had used his
money instead of our Checks. We capitalize the work
and products of our members, instead of capitalizing254
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
money or checks. The money System is a very vicious
one, brother. It robs the producers and they do not
know how it is doing it. The joint or combined work
of men produces two classes of wealth. One class is
consumable, such as food, clothing, tools, medicine,
etc., etc. If this sort of wealth is not consumed after
a certain time, it perishes. The other class, such as
buildings, factories, mines, etc., is not consumable. It
can be used but not consumed.. Now, then, it is évi-
dent that the workers produce both classes, but can
only consume one class. The other remains, sometimes,
for générations. Now, y ou, with others, built that
house you rented of us, but consumed onlÿ the use of
it in rent, but not the house, which stands as good as
ever. Now, see the delusion you live in. If we had
called upon you to take stock in that house and you
had invested $120 in the same, then rented it one year
and paid $120 in rent, would you not considerthat you
would be entitled to a portion of that rent equal to the
portion of capital you invested? Certainly you would.
Now, because instead of dead money you hâve invested
labor, you do not think yourself entitled to any part
nor parcel of such rent! I told you that the Labor
Exchange capitalizes labor and its products, and we
consider that you and the balance who helped to build
that house or furnished the materials are the true owners
of it as long as it lasts. Hence the portion of rent that
you would hâve been entitled to, if you had invested
money, we consider you entitled to for having invest-
ed labor, and we hold it for your benefit in the Asso-
ciation. The checks we paid you were intended to sup-
ply you and yours with consumables, with éducation
and enjoyment, but will ne ver carry away your portionTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.	255
of permanent wealth that you build or helped to build.
Compare, brother, the capitalistic and co-operative
Systems. Under the capitalistic or money System a
capitalist pays out money to build a house. In six or
eight yeârs he gets ail the money back in rent and owns
both house and money. The workers did ail, and he
gets ail. No wonder that the capitalists continue to add
house to house and labor falls back destitute. Had ail
the improvements in the world been done on the plan
of the Labor Exchange they would now belong to the
workers. Let them choose between the two Systems.
If they desire to rise and surround themselves witti
comforts, the new System is the proper one; if they
prefer poverty, the old one is the best.
“ ‘We hâve yet another feature in the Labor Exchange
System/ continued the secretary, ‘which should be
highly prized by the working classes. This is the pro-
tection thrown around them against prowling specu-
lators. Being organized as a Beneficent Association,
our charter does not allow us to speculate, to realize
profits and to déclaré dividends. Some may object to
this feature, but we regard it as the very foundation of
the institution and the best for the members. These
will rise ail the time in wealth and no speculator can
rob them of their permanent share of that wealth. Let
me explain this feature:	Suppose, in your case, that
you had sold your $ 120 Checks to a speculator for,say,
$60 in gold. Said speculator, or his assignées, could
hâve bought $120 of merchandise in the stores of the
Association, while you could on4y hâve bought #60
worth; or, he could hâve rented the house and lived in
it one year, while you could hâve occupied it only six
months. But, in either case, when his checks had256	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
been received and cancelled, we would not recognize
him as having any furthet interest in the Association.
You had been the original depositor or worker, and
hence you will ever be the one we recognize as the
owner of the remaining wealth. No trick of ‘specula-
tors, nor mistakes of yours will ever deprive you and
y our family of that portion.’
“Here I asked him whether I could not buy a house
and lot from the Association and pay with Checks. He
replied that I could, provided that I could prove that I
had deposited as much as the value of the house in the
Association; but not if my deposits fell short of said
value, no matter what amount of Checks I may hâve
possessed. Then/resuming: ‘Consider,brother,’ he said,
‘what an immense différence it would make in the con-
dition of the working classes to-day, if our towns and
cities, railroads and steamboats, and ail the permanent
improvements in the colony had been built and made
under the labor exchange System, instead of the money
System! Consider what the resuit would hâve been!
“ ‘ist. There never would hâve been a day lost in
idleness for lack of money.
“ ‘2d. We never would hâve parted with thousands
worth of products and comforts, needed by our own citi-
zens, to foreign nations for stuff to enable us to ex-
change the balance left at home. No stupid favora-
ble balance of trade doctrine would ever hâve been
encouraged to the détriment of the colonists.
“ ‘3d. The actual producers and their descendants
would now be the owners of ail existing improvements,
virtually of the national wealth. Consequently we
would never hâve passed through the panics, the dis-
tresses, the untold sufïering entailed by poverty.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
257
“ *From the foregoing, you can form an idea of what
immense reform is in store for the toilers in the Labor
Exchange. ’
“This was explanation enough tome,” concluded the
carpenter. “1 came away wiser, and determined to
devote every spare moment of my time, not only to
work for, but also to advocate the cause of, the Labor
Exchange. ”
SPREAD OF THE MOVEMENT.
At présent the Labor Exchange is too well known
to need commendation. It counts its members by the
millions, and its deposits reach hundreds of millions in'
value and embrace evèry conceivable variety of merchan-
dise, domestic and foreign. It owns and cultivâtes ex-
tensive farms and plantations with the latest improved
appliances and in accordance with the latest scientific
discoveries. It is gradually capturing the western stock
ranches from the hands of foreign capitalists; it runs
dairies, fruit canning establishments, etc. It owns and
opérâtes mines, smelting furnaces, rolling mills and
founderies, quarries, brick-yards, potteries and tile fac-
tories. It owns and opérâtes warehouses, elevators,
flouring mills, stock-yards and packing houses. It
owns and runs hôtels, boarding-houses, schools, col-
leges, libraries, reading rooms and pleasure gardens. It
owns thousands of dwelling houses and some of the
most superb business buildings in cities, erected mainly
by labor, which, under the old barbarous monetary Sys-
tem, would hâve been lost in enforced idleness. Finally
it opérâtes banks and clearing houses.
The members of the Association are no longer com-
pelled to tramp the colony in quest of work; nor are
they distressed as to what may become of their fami-258
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
lies in case of accident or death. The holders of its
Checks are no longer troubled about their. ability to
purchase with them ail they desire including money.
In fact, the Labor Exchange has practically wiped out
of the human intellect the pernicious superstition that
money is necessary to human activity, prosperity and
happiness, and that government alone can issue it.
One social improvement, original with the Labor
Exchange, and the good effects of which are just now
attracting public attention, is the foliowing:
Cities and towns in the colony, owing to the scram-
ble for money under the adventurist System, had cer-
tainly not been built for the comfôrt of farmers’ wives
and daughters, nor for the convenience of female vis-
itors in general. Women were welcome to the towns or
cities, for the money they brought, but, beyond this,
they had not been objects worthy the considération of
Boards of Trade nor Boards of health. Who has not
seen farmers’ wives trudging wearily along a side-walk
in a town, leading a child by the hand, and visibly
longing for home and rest? There was no place pro-
vided in town or city where that worn-out mother,
daughter and child could rest, take a cool or warm
bath, as the season may be, adjust their toilet, eat the
lunch they may hâve brought with them, and attend to
the wants of the child. Private stores were not such
desired place, nor was standing by the farm or spring
wagon, in which they came, in some back alley or
yard, a suitable place for such necessary comforts.
Hotels were either too expensive for farmers’ limited
means, or discreditable for ladies. So “it was pitiful,
in a whole city full, home they had none.” No one
but such women and their husbands and fathers couldTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
259
hâve a realistic idea of the discomforts, the sufferings,
and sometimes the permanent loss of health and pré-
maturé death, caused by such culpable neglect on the
part of city Councils and citizens, ail of whom seemed,
as we said, intent solely in money-making and money-
squandering on personal gratifications.
The Labor Exchange, composed largely of farmers
wlio felt mostly the above de^cribed inconveniences,
and having an immense number of workers at its dis-
posai, with a vast supply of building materials at hand,
took the above matter under considération, purchased
whole blocks, centrally located in several towns, and
erected thereon magnificent four-story, fire-proof build-
ings, eighty feet deep around the- block, inclosing a
glass-covered court which is used for large assemblies.
The ground floor of said buildings is a vast bazar, or
exhibition, of double-decked stores, separated by two
rows of pillars between which is the public promenade.
The basement, which is generally connected by under-
ground track to the railroad, is .used for unpacking
goods, and also for the heating apparatus and engines,
which run the machinery of the building. In the stores
is found merchandise of every description. The mer-
chants who rent the stores, by mutual agreement, hâve
assigned each compartment for a spécial class of goods,
similar to capitalistic department stores, but with the
différence that in the Labor Exchange bazaars, men of
small means hâve an opportunity of attending to their
0
own business independently of floor-walkers and the
good will of speculators. On the same floor are also res-
taurants, barber-shops, hôtels, and ail such conven-
iences as are generally found in leading streets of towns
and cities. Also, in addition to the city conven-2ÔO
THE LABO*. EXCHANGE.
iences, at the four entrance gates, either on the first
or second story, are free sitting, social and reading
rootas and free toilet and batn rooms for ladies and
gentlemen. The three stories above are occupied by
almost every conceivable trade and occupation, so that
the whole building may properly be named, as it is,
The Palace of Industry, containing business, éduca-
tion, comfort and pleasure combined.
Wherever such palaces hâve been built, they hâve be-
come the centers of towns, the stopping place of women
from the country, the rendezvous of friends of both
sexes, the attraction of youth, the home of members
of the Exchange from ail parts of the colony.
Behold the giant ^yhich has loomed up among the in-
dustrial and financial institutions of the colony! No
ether private or corporate enterprise can longer cope
with its power.
Another marked révolution peculiar to the Labor Ex-
change is the aim and conséquent form of its statistics.
Under the compétitive System, the object of économie
statistics is spéculation; Hence, prices figure high in
them. The prices of our times are cômpared to those
of last year, the year before and former years; prices
here and there, at home and abroad. From these prices
the speculator calculâtes probabilities. He peers into
corners of low prices to buy, and often perverts statis-
tical truths to sell. In reference to Labor such sta-
tistics bear the same imprint, spéculation. Hence it
is wages now, wages her© and wages elsewhere.
The Labor Exchange cares nothing about the condi-
tion of the larder and wardrobe or what the wages were
last year, the year before; nor what the price of food
and clothes were at any time. It seeks to find theTHE LABOR EXCHANGB.	2Ô1
amount of products ready for use, the available quan-
tity of raw materials to produce more, and the power
of production in the several localities. Like an ex-
pert commissary it is working to keep abundance in
store, and thus drive the wolf from the door.
MONETARY SYSTEM OF THE LABOR EXCHANGE
CONTRASTED.
For the benefit of those who are not familiar with
monetary and financial operations, and, therefore, may
not hâve fully comprehended the, necessarily, brief
présentation of the System of the Labor Exchange as
given by the Suprême Council of the Labor Organiza-
tions, we deem it proper to explain more fully its phi-
losophy, and contrast it with the public System, in ope-
ration among the civilized nations of the earth.
“I hâve made a discovery,” said a merchant to an-
other. “Last Saturday night, after closing my store,
I was sitting at my desk and musing over the columns
of my ledger when, of a sudden, I became anxious to
know at what period, during our business intercourse,
the balance of our accounts, for or against me, was the
greatest. So, beginning with my first ledger, page after
page, I followed up to the last, summing up, at con-
secutive dates, the débit and crédit side separately,
then subtracting the smaller from the larger sum to find
the balance at the time. I repeated this apparently
childish operation some hundred or more times, and
was astonished at the smallness of said balance. At
no period did it ever exceed five hundred dollars,
though the bulk of our transactions has reached up
into the millions of dollars’ worth. After this, my
thoughts became absorbed in the art of book-keeping.
‘What is the main object of book-keeping?’ I asked my-SK>2
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
self. The answer echoed back to my mind, ‘It is to
find the balance due between commercial parties in
order that settlement may be made if desired. Aceord-
ingly, I reasoned, if a met-hod could be discovered of
keeping track of this balancent would obviate the neces-
sity of keeping account of the bulk of trade and thus
a great deal of trouble and expençe could be saved. I
pursued this train of thought with the object of making
that discovery. At last it made itself manifest to me.
I felt it as a révélation, though, extremely simple, and
wondered that it had not been perceived before, espe-
cially as it had been in operation, in a restricted way,
for centuries. This discovery is nothing less, and noth-
ing more, than what goes by the name of the cash Sys-
tem of accounts.
To illustrate:	Assume that two persons about to
enter into commercial relation with each other, and,
for the better understanding, suppose them living in the
same town, that monèy itself may be used, insteàd of
drafts, letters of exchange, post-office orders or Ex-
press checks. Instead of these persons going to the
expense of a set of mercantile books and hiring expe-
rienced book-keepers; or, waiting until, by mining,they
had accumulated a stock of gold and silver coins; or
wasting goods in the purchase of these metals; or
borrowing the same; or petitioning the government to
issue treasury notes and delay operations until, by some
process of filtration through public officiais, contract-
ors, etc., said notes should reach the channels of trade,
,and, when in these channels, seek and, fortuitously, find
the two persons. Instead, we say, of delays and losses
in waiting for such antiquated System to square things,
let them issue, at once, any amount of due-bills orTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
263 _
checks of different dénominations to suit the nature of
their trade; large, if Wholesale; small, if retail. Let
both parties sign a sufficient number of these checks
and divide the sarae equally between themselves. * They
are now ready to begin operations “on the cash
basis,” paying one the other with these checks, and it
will be found that the same will keep an exact account
of the balances between them without complicating
this account with the gross amount of transactions.
These checks need no government endorsement nor
legal enactments to make them good, no more so than
a set of mercantile books.
Behold the real functions of money, divested of ail
material incumbrances! Gold, silver, treasury notes,
currency of any kind, redeemable or irredeemable,
hâve never performed any other functions, whether
those who hâve used them were conscious of it or not.
Such method of accounts may be likened to a pair
of scales held by each party, on one side of which is
loaded the merchandise sold, on the other the mer-
chandise bought, and whichever side falls short, checks
(money) are used to make it balance. Ail the différ-
ence is that, insteàd of weight, we tally in value, and,
instead of pounds and ounces, we count in dollars
AND CENTS.
By this System, at any time that one of the parties
should desire to know the balance for or against him,
he will find it by simply counting the checks in hand and
çomparing the amount of them to the amount he began
operations with. If less, the balance is against him (as
economists call it),hehas bought more than he has sold;
if larger, the balance is in his favor, he has sold more
than he has bought. But, favorable or unfavorable,264	THE LABO R EXCHANGE.
su ch balance will always be exactly equal to the différ-
ence between the checks in hand and those at the
beginning. How simple!
Commerce originated in the diversity of the earth’s
productions and is enlarged and intensified by the
division of employments. Its object should be the dis-
tribution of natural and artificial productions, not the
accumulation of money or checks. To make the ac-
cumulation of money the object of commerce, is like
making the accumulation of plows the object of agri-
culture, or the accumulation of picks the object of
mining. Such objective points cripple commerce And
would cripple agriculture and mining.
Money or checks should be kept in constant motion,
as the pendulum of a clock, going and coming in -a con-
trary direction as merchandise cômes and goes; ever
marking accurately the balance between the parties.
Were it possible to présent this view of commerce in a
panorama, the dullest intellect would readily detect the
folly, nay, the barbarity of accumulating money.
However, before the above scientific System of cash
accounts be adopted for general use, its advocates
will hâve to give a rational and satisfactory answer to
the following questions. These questions stand to-day
at the head of the docket before the Court of civiliza-
tion, and, in this fact, we foresee the downfall of mate-
rial money, and the substitution of an immaterial
method as herein inculcated. The questions are:
ist. Of what material should such checks (money)
be made?
2d. What should be the amount issued?
3d. Who should issue it?
4th. What should be the value thereof?THE LABOR EXCHANGE.	265
5th. What should be the basis or guaranty for their
rédemption?
First Question.—It would be superfluous at a time,
when paper performs ninety-nine per cent of ail mone-
tary operations, to discuss the material out of which
the one-hundredth part of it shall be made, in order, it
is cunniiigly maintained,that it may give stability to the
whole financial structure! To an unprejudiced mind,
this would look to, be the most absurd of human con-
ceptions. The use to be made of an article indicates
the material it should be composed of. Razors should
be made of the best Steel; spectacles of the clearest
’crystal; and unbeclouded reason would indicate that
such checks (money) should be made of a light, divis-
ible, durable and cheap material., The desideratum in
the interchange of commodities is to avoid loss in the
ways and means of performing the operation. High-
ways, railways and money are the principal ones of
these ways and means. Hence the cheapest transpor-
tation and the cheapest money will finally prevail.
Neither of these means should hâve their cost enhanced
by the forced use of rare,costly insufïicient materials,by
monopoly or legislative restrictions. Already, in the
Labor Exchange, a demand cornes from ail the Branches
that the checks (our medium of account) be made of
the best bank note or government bond paper. This is
lighter than silver or gold; it is immeasurably less cost-
ly, more durable, as it can be renewed at a light ex-
pense, while the loss of those metals by abrasion is ir-
réparable; it is more divisible, easier to handle, and in
quantity sufficient to meet ail contingencies, hence be-
yond the control of monopolies.
But it is unnecessary to argue this point further, for266
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
as we hâve said, paper, in the financial world, bears
upon its wings ninety-nine per cent of ail exchanges.
It will soon absorb the remaining one per cent and
wipe out gold and silver from the field altogether.
Second Question.—What amount should be issued?
If reason had her way, this question would be readily
answered. Where in the whole field of production, is
there another case where the law imDoses restrictions as
to the amount? It is universally admitted that the pro-
duction of any object should extend to the demand
forât. Sufficiency should be the only limit, and even
that limit should not be imposed by law. Who would
want a ladder that does not reach the desired object, of
a bridge that does not fully span the chasm, or an en-
gine which cannot mpve the train? Yet, of such char-
acter is our présent money. It is so limited in mater-
nais so scarce, so confined to parties and localities,
that almost the whole train of industry and commerce
is dragged along by substitutes. Dragged, we say,
because any part of it is in danger of being wrecked
by a barbarous law requiring gold rédemption.
Money, like everything else, should be issued in
quantities sufficient to meet ail contingencies. It should
be présent wherever needed. No part or parcel of .in-
dustry and commerce should linger one single instant
for want of money. What would we think of the mail
being stopped for lack of postage stamps? What of a
law requiring postage stamps to be made of a material
so scarce that it could be procured only in small quan-
tities, subject to chance production, and to be monop-
olized for spéculation? What would we think of. rail-
road traffic arrested for lack of tickets? Absurd and
barbarous as such measures would be, yet money re-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
267
strictions excell ail such in damaging the human race,
for it locks the wheels of all industries, of intercourse,
of éducation and of general progress. It forces civili-
zation to rétrogradé and causes untold misery. But,
one may ask, what can be the motive for such restric-
tions, if they cause so many evils? The motives are
too plain. They originate in those among us, who
make of money, not* a medium of exchange, but a
fertile field of interest, a means of foraging upon the
industries. These desire money to be scarce, that it
may be valuable. They desire gold to be the exclu-
sive material, that such scarcity may be maintained.
They want it sole legal tender, to compel people to
purchase it at their own price. Not so with the Labor
Exchange Checks. They corne forth to serve, not to
forage. Consequently they will ever be omniprésent, that
is, wherever needed, and in quantity equal to the de-
mand. No man shall ever be out of work, no product-
ive establishment shall ever stop, no school house shall
ever close, no commodity shall remain unused for want
of money.
Third Question—Who should issue Checks (money)?
This question requires a more extended considéra-
tion, being surrounded by denser préjudices, and a
rational answer to it more in conflict with pre-conceived
ideas.
The general opinion is that the government should
be the only source of money. This doctrine has corne
down to us from periods when all commerce was barter,
and when gold, silver, and other portable, impeçishable^
materials were used as médiums of barter. At first,
governments had undertaken to assay and weigh those
metals to prevent impositions and frauds among traders,268
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
and thus maintain the peace. This was right and
proper, as it was to fix weights and measures. But
when governments went beyond this and enacted that
debts and taxes should be paid in those metals, at the
exclusion of the thousands of other productions, they
enacted the most tyrannical of ail laws.
But, notwithstanding that governments hâve assumed
the whole right to assay, weigh and coin gold and sil-
ver for money, as well as the right of outlawing ail
other articles of wealth, natural and artificial, the same
governments hâve never assumed the exclusive right of
furnishing the people with money, metallic or paper.
On the contrary, when out of money themselves, and
believing it impossible for the peoples to supply them
•with it,they hâve resorted to a dastardly and ignominious
policy of borrowing it and placing the people under
bondage. It has been under the most extraordinary
circumstances only, when money could not be obtained
by taxes nor loans, that government issued paper
money temporarily. We are aware of the pressure
which is brought to bear upon the government to sup-
ply the people with money. We hâve for years been *
clamoring for the same, believing such policy in-'
comparably superior to the barbarous one of borrow-
ing. Yet a careful and considerate study of the qués- N
tion has convinced us that the issue of money should
be eliminaced from the functions of government, at the
exception of treasury drafts wherewith to pay public
expenses. These drafts” should be exclusive legal ten-
^der in-payaient for taxes,and joint legal tender, at their
face value, with ail kinds of useful commodities and
services, between citizens. Weigh this plan, carefully,
reader, and y ou will discover the good effect it wouldTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
269
havç on our barbarous monetary System. It would
abolish public bonds and relieve the government from
ail financial pressure, at the same time it would main-
tain perfect equity among the people. Those who ad-
vocate the exclusive right of governments to issue
money, hâve never given a valid reason for their creed.
This creed they imbibed from infancy and is not the
resuit of a rational conclusion. Hence, verbally and
in publications, they but reiterate the same traditional
assertions that “the constitution conferred upon con-
gress the right to coin (not issue, mind yoü) money
and regulate the value thereof” With the utmost re-
spect for those great patriots who framed the constitu-
tion, we are forced to say that, while they were eminent
lawyers, yet they lacked in economical training to be
able to handle such a question; and that, if they had
beën properly qualified, monetary ideas and financial
knowledge had not, at the time, advanced among the
masses sufficiently to admit of innovations from the
established System. So they adopted (they were by
circumstances compelled to adopt) literally the Euro-
pean System, and our ideas are yet tangled and stran-
gled in the meshes of that System.
On our part, we do not see the remotest analogy be-
tween the functions of government and that of money.
On the contrary, we see the utmost discrepancy. 'If
the town clock was out of order and we were to call
upon the king or parliament to issue an additional,
p‘ej capita, number of wheels and springs, then either
cast these at random into the clock to adjust them-
selves, or hand them to a band of speculators to filter
them through as best suits their interest, it would be
about as rational as to call upon the governor to ad-270
THE LABO& EXCHANGE.
just the'financial clock by a per capita issue of money
to distribute among the people, as is proposed. As
well may the government be required to issue ail mer-
cantile books, ail letters of exçhange, ail drafts, ail
checks, ail warehouse certificates, ail railroad tickets,
etc., as to furnish money. Every one of our monetary
disorders may be traced to government interférence.
Governments hâve made of finances the most bungling
piece of machinery in existence. See how it works.
At times we hâve some money in circulation, and in-
dustry is humming. At other times this “créature of
the law” is absent, exported, or hoarded, and industry
is silent, paralyzed, and people idle and suffèring. At
times the public treasury is overflowing, and the gov-
ernment is puzzled “WHAT TO DO WITH THE SURPLUS”
(though overwhelmed with debts.) At other times the
treasury is considered empty (though a hundred millions
in gold has been coiled therein, waiting, cat like,
ready to pounce upon a greenback mouse if it should
corne for rédemption.) At times money rushes to some
geographical point and values boom; then, suddenly it
is withdrawn, leaving a host of dupes in the wreck.
In order that the reader may form a more accurate
conception of this monetary pandémonium, let him
imagine the doctrines and operations thereof applied to
the department of transportation, for instance. Let
him suppose the government to be the only maker of
ancient canoës and carts, and that redwood and rose-
wood (silver and gold) were declared the only legaé
materials to be used. Let him suppose our modem
océan steamers and railroad trains to be considered
mere représentatives of redwood canoës and rose-
wood carts ; and that, for the safety of freighters and pas-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
271
sengers, they should be redeemed in canoës and carts at
the request of the holders of said océan steamers and
railroad trains. Now, upon this mixture of ancient
and modem means of transportation, with canoës and
carts (silver and gold) stowed away in safes and the
safes back in vaults, while steamers and trains (notes
and checks) were doing the business, but in constant
dread, thât canoës and carts may take wings and
leave them without redeemer; then let the reader try to
conceive the resuit. It would be as stupendous a
piece of machinery as the monetary System, and would
produce the same effects. At times canoës, carts,
steamers and trains would pile up in Washington and
puzfle our Solons “what to do with the surplus, ” though
owing millions of canoës and carts.' At other times,
not enough would be left there to carry the Solons
home, and the people would be bonded for the loan of
redwood and rosewood to make canoës and carts,
though a million cords of such materials had been
stacked up in the treasury, for years, waiting lest an
océan steamer or Boston limited train should corne for
rédemption in redwood canoës or rosewood carts!
But the mechanical construction is not the chief de-
fect of this monetary machine. Its chief defect is that
government money is itself a robber, and from its very
nature it can be nothing else. It cannot keep pace with
population and commerce, depending as it does on the
fortuitous yield of gold and silver mines. Besides this
uncertainty, a thousand unforeseen, uncontrollable in-
cidents rai se or lower its volume. The discovery of
new mines or the increased yield of the old ones; the
issue of currency, etc., will increase its volume. On
the contrary, an exportation of gold and silver, the272
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
hoarding of a coin or eve*i a bank-bill or treasury note;
the gilding of a frame, the making of a watch-case or a
finger ring, disturb the money fund, shake the value
of every article of wealth, and rob some class. If
it rises, it robs the creditor class, the salaried classes
and a multitude of others. If it goes down, it robs the
debtor class, the producers, the merchants and tax-
payers. At every move it robs, and hence the people
stand in dread of every change and often they are cast
into panics, distress and poverty by such changes. , A
money which keeps the industries in constant dread;
a money which can be cornered, which it is to the in-
terest of everyone to corner; a money which gives to
the one who succeeds in cornering it, power over the
property of his fellow-beings, is a dangerous instrument
to be allowed to circulate among men. It is from such
money that arose those schemes of “coining the pub-
lic crédit” into bonds; of surrounding nations with
brigandage to blackmail foreign importations. It is
from this money that arose those mountains of legal
wealth, a kind of -wealth which neither God nor
labor had any part in producing, and which would be
more appropriate to call a form of slavery, than a kind
of wealth.	<
In view of the above grave facts, we hâve become
convinced that government should let th'e manufacture
of money and the financial System alone. The genius
of man will never be permitted to bring this System up .
with this progressive âge as long as it is held in the
grasp of legislators.
Fourth Question.—What should be the value of .
money?
Ail the arguments adduced in favor of money restric-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
273
tions, such as the demonetization of silver, the single
standard doctrine, the war against the issue of legal
tender treasury notes, the stringent laws against the
issue of anything intended to circulate as money (which
has for its object the enforcement of its use) and even
the laws against counterfeiting money as a greater crime
than adulterating other articles of commerce—ail of
these are inspired by money manipulators and are based
upon the assumed necessity of maintaining the value
of money. If we ask why money, of ail things, should
be valuable, the wise answer with sophisms, and the
foolish reply because! Here is an underground, and
above ground,systematic war waged against ail the pro
ducts of labor, and in favor of a product of the law,
by a band of foragers, in opposition to the whole trend
of industrial development! Where, in the whole range
of human productions, is there one whose value gov-
ernments concern themselves about increâsing or main-
taining? Every new discovery in the line of produc-
tion, every new mechanical invention, every improved
method of applying human exertion, every forward
step in industrial évolution, which deserves the name of
progress, has for its object the dépréssion of commer-
cial values. It is only by such process that comforts
can be brought within the reach of wider cirdes, and
hence any person of sound heart and mind would hail
the time when every object of human enjoyment could
be rendered as valueless as free air. Did we not per-
-ceive the cloven foot of the prowler under the argu-
ments in favor of the value of money, we would be
utterly at a loss for a reason thereof. High values are
desired by those who hâve the article to sell. The bal-
ance of the human race désiré low values. Nay, the274
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
same person who contends for high value for his or her
product, is at the same time seeking the cheapest place
to purchase the products of others. But, strange!
money which is the product virtually of no one; an article
which is a mere means to an end, a mere pôle to catch the
fish,a mere ladder to reach the fruit, a mere conveyance
to transfer the goods—a mere tool of exchange; strange!
we say, that such a thing should hâve its value, upheld with
ail the sophisms in the power of man ! But, as we siaid, the
cloven foot is too apparent. The value of money is
upheld by those who make of money an article of mer-
chandise, and not a medium of exchange; by those who
hâve money to sell, not to buy; by money lenders and
public officiais, from president to constable, and by the
tools of these, the press. These are comparatively
few, but they are the makers of the law and the leaders
of public opinion.
Money, being a title to the wealth deposited, should
bear on its face the value of that wealth, no more,
no less. As a warranty deed, it should hâve no in-
trinsic value of its own. Such is the value of the
Labor Exchange Checks. They indicate the value of
actual. wealth deposited with the Association. The
holder of said checks will never get richer or poorer
by such holding. Commodities and services may fluc-
tuate with the variations of supply and demand, but
the checks will never rise or fall in value
Fifth Question.—What shall constitute the basis or
security of the Check?
The general impression is that gold is the only safe
basis for ail commercial obligations. Though such
basis has been found a million time° too narrow, top
slippery and too uncertain to be relied upon, yet aTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
275
benighted public continues to hâve faith in it. How
can an article which is not fit to satisfy one single nat- '
ural want of man, mental or physical, be a basis for
the support of life? Gold rests itself upon the prod-
ducts of labor and is valuable only in the proportion
of the products it can command. Yet we invert the
order of things and believe that gold is the basis of
products. We hâve here the fable of Atlas carrying
the Earth when the Earth was carrying Atlas, and felt
it no more than the lightest feather. We believe that
gold is carrying the human race, when the human race
is carrying the stuff in its pockets. The world’s his-
tory is full of failures in the attempt to make industry
and commerce stand upon this insignificant finàncial
mote.
The most reliable basis for money and checks is:
ist. That useful commodities and needed services
should exist. If these do not exist, then any kind of
money, paper, gold or diamond, becomes utterly value-
less as far as purchasing power is concerned.
2d. The right in the holder of money or check to
compel the delivery of its équivalent in such commod-
ities and services.
Legal tender money consists of, or is based upon, one
single useless commodity, and bears no right whatever -
to anything else on earth. Government confers upon
it the sole right of paying debt, but no purchasing
power whatever. Hence, paradoxical as it may appear,
if creditors were paid ofï in gold, their account with
the world would be effectually settled, and ail further
rights debarred. A refusai to sell them products and
services would reduce them to the condition of helpless *
paupers in the midst of their thousands. Nor could276
THE LABOR EXCHAMGÊ.
the govemment bring ttiem relief, for the very reason~
%that it had made legal tender money the finality of
obligations. Government has nothing itself to sell, nor
can it compel others to sell.
The fact that legal tender money is valuable above
ail commodities is not due to its being a medium of ex-
change; it is due to the abnormal and déplorable con-
dition of debts, a condition brought about by its scarci-
ty and legal prérogative. A return to a normal condi-
tion, or the repeal of its prérogative would destroy such
baneful value. Principles and Systems should rest on
normal, not on abnormal conditions. Such is the basis
of the Labor Ëxchange fmancial System. Its docu-
ments rest upon actual wealth, not law. Not one cent’s
worth is issued until wealth has been produced and de-
posited. The holder of its checks has the right to
demand the value thereof in commodities or services.
We were addressing a meeting of railroad men on
the above subject, when an intelligent officer put this
question to us: “Suppose I had deposited with the La-
bor Exchange in labor, money and goods, to the
amount of, say, $2,000, and held checks to that amount,
would the Association deed me a house and lot of
equal value if on hand, and I desired it?” “Certainly,”
we replied. “The exchange would hâve no right to re-
fuse, for in that case you virtually hâve furnished
everything and built said house.” “Should I tender,1”
continued the officer, “$2,000 in gold, would the Ex-
change deed me the same house?” “Hold on, friend,”
we replied. “Why should the Exchange give up a com-
fortab^e home for a stulf which would be no more use-
ful to*‘it than the same amount in checks which co&t
nothing?” The officer proved that he understood theTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.	277
différence between Labor Checks and gold by adding:
“I see that money has done the mischief.” We hope
the reader will also see the point.
Again, government money, metallic and paper, con-
tains another serious defect. It is uniform. Ail pièces
of the same dénomination are exactly alike. They
hâve no mark, brand or sign to distinguish the owner
thereof. If a piece is accidentally dropped and a per-
son, foïïowing, picks it up, unseen, he can spend it be-
fore the owner’s eyes, or pay it to him in settlement of
a debt. Did you ever think, reader, that the main
cause of burglaries, of bank-breaking, of train robber-
ies and of counterfeiting is the uniformity of money?
Did you ever think that it is the main reason why peo-
ple dare not carry money on their persons or keep it in
their houses? Did you ever think that it is the cause
of bank deposits? Did you ever think that, if nature
had made horses, for instance, “uniform,” exactly alike
in size, form, color and ail, we could not protect them
against thieves?—that no one would risk to hitch a
horse out of sight; that, consequently, every town would
hâve a horse bank, and every farm stable would be a
fortification or horse safe?
While the Labor Exchange check may be made uni-
form in size and form, it will always bear the brand or
mark of the owner and thus be worthless to him who
% should find or steal it. Millions worth of su ch checks
may be carried on one’s person, or kept in the house,
without fear of robbers. Even pocket change, for daily
use, çan be made perfectly safe in the form of coupon
books; and thus stop pick-pockets.
Finally, government money is issued at random to
bankers, for instance, without any regard for additional278
THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
wealth produced or deposited. What would we think
of warranty dçeds issued thus at random, to bankers,
without any reference to land? We would soon hâve
more owners than land. The issue of money which is
a title to ail kinds of' wealth, is worse.
No Labor Exchange check is issued unless wealth is
produced, and it is issued to the real owner of that
wealth.
Finally, the last defect of the government monetary
System is its antagoniâm to public improvements. Pub-
lic improvements are local affairs and benefit the local-
ity only in which they are made; yet, by the présent Sys-
tem of taxation, the whole people are forced to con-
tribue alike, whether benefited or not. Nor is it ever
possible to compensate every one for his or her contri-
butions. Public improvements can never be equalized
except’by a System similar to the benefits of the mail,
viz: taxing those who make use of the improvements.
A county bridge or road, for instance, benefits only
those who cross over the bridge and live along the road,
yet the whole county is taxed to build the bridge and
improve the road. State and national improvements
are ail of the same character and equally unjust on the
people. What is the efïect of such System? It is to
retard and often prevent public improvements. When -
a proposition for a public improvement cornes before a
city council, a county court, a State législature or con- ,
gress, ail the members representing localities not bene-
fited by it, oppose it. Consequently, such improve-
ments are astonishingly rare, and those few bear évi-
dences of favoritism and often corruption. Were it not
for this vicious monetary System, public improvements
would be immense. There never was a period in theTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.	279
life of a nation when millions could not hâve been em-
ployed in such improvements to the gresit benefit of ail. ;.
If the financial System of the Labor Exchange could
be applied to public improvements, such defect would
be corrected. The mail System would be applied to ail
of them. But, the institution being a co-operative enter-
prise, it can only improve its own property, and in so
doing it equalizes burdens and benefits, as is done in
corporations under the stock System.
With these general observations on finances, we pass
to a detail of the Labor Exchange monetary System.
This System is very simple and easily comprehended.
It is a réduction of our complicated monetary Babel to
a plain method of accounts. It consists of portable
and assignable checks of different forms to adapt them-
selves to purchases and payments, large or small, far
or near. They are issued personally for the sake of
safety. Besides these portable checks, there will also
be kept a ledger account with each member. The
material used for both checks and ledger is not gold,
nor silver, nôr any other costly material. It is tough
paper, such as is used by banks. The number of checks
and ledgers will always be equal to any emergency, and
not limited per capita or otherwise. We shall never
turn a person out of employment, or let goods perish
for lack of money. The central office will provide
blank checks and ail other documents for the sake of
uniformity, but the Branch Exchange receiving the de-
posit will fill them and issue them to depositors. Thus
the basis of the check will be the deposit itself, received
at Wholesale price. In addition to this security, as the
rentable property of the Association, will cancel checks
in rent without reducing the assets, the Association willTHE LABOR EXCHANGE.
soon hâve a basis for outstanding checks many times
wider than the immédiate deposits.
The financial operations will be somewhat as follows,
but ever subject to improvement.
Each Branch on receiving deposits of labor, goods
or money, shall issue to depositors certificates of de-
posit or checks. On receiving checks for labor, pro-
ducts or money, it shall cancel the same: and period-
ically, say, every six months, the amount of deposits of
each member, as evidenced by the checks issued to him
or her, shall be entered to his or her crédit in the gen-
eral ledger and the cancelled checks returned to the
original holder, as banks do on settlement.
Accordingly, if the Labor . Exchange were limited to
one locality, and possessed no permanent revenue-bear-
ing wealth, but dealt in consumable articles only, the
amount of certificates outstanding would always be
equal to the goods held by the Association, valued at
Wholesale price. In this case the issue and cancellation
of checks would comprise the whole of its fiscal opera-
tions. But the Exchange, is not so limited. It is gen-
eral in its productions, aiming especially to the acqui-
sition and construction of permanent wealth or capital,
and its Branches extend to every State in the Union,
and may soon extend abroad. Consequently, goods
deposited with the Association at centers of production
are transferred to points of consumption. But places of
production of one article are places of consumption of
other articles, and vice versa. Figuratively speaking,
commerce may be compared to a perennial stream,
composed of two counter-currents of merchandise Cross-
ing each other and compensating, or paying, one for the
other, without the use of money, except temporarily.THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
28l
Even in the settlement of commercial balances legal
tender money is unnecessary. Like a pendulum, money,
in the interior, and gold and silver in foreign commerce,
may swing to and fro to cover balances, but wisdom has
long since discovered that such swinging of money and
metals is a useless waste of time and means. So the
pendulum has ceased to swing for the purpose of cov-
ering commercial balances, though gold and silver are yet
moved for spéculation. Money is no longer necessary
in commerce at home or abroad. The idea of it has
rather become an Obstruction than a help, because,
while balances must finally be settled with merchandise,
yet as long as faith is bestowed on money, it precludes
merchandise from being the basis for such settlements.
The money idea should be eliminated from commerce
altogether. Interchange would then flow more freely
and regularly, ^nd dull times would be heard of no
more. Commercial stagnation is caused by money
having passed to one side, leaving the drained side un-
able to longer purchase goods or hire labor. As long
as money continues to be a factor in the exchange of
commodities, there will be no certainty of its continu-
ance. No man can pay for what he buys, except with
the product of his labor. No merchant can j>ay for
goods, except with goods. No nation can settle for
importations except with the exportation of its produc-
tions. Commerce is necessarily an interchange of goods
and services,not of money. These truths are fundamen-
tal and, if fully comprehended, would cause a radical
reformation of the whole monetary System.
The Labor Exehange Check does not disturb the cur-
rent of the commercial stream nor the price of com-
modities. In fact, it abolishes price altogether and282	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
^leaves only the relative value of commodities. Tïîie
function of the check, as stated, being to “keep an ac*
count of the ownership of commodities while in transit
from production to consumption,” it can no more affect
values than the pages of a ledger.
We hâve given above the local operations of the Lâ-
bor Exchange monetary System, viz: the simple issue and
cancellation of checks, but commerce becomes more
complicated when it passes from one locality to another.
While commodities flow in the channels of trade, the.
holders of checks pass also from place to place and
spend the same at different Branches. This fact causes
a commingling, and an ever changing condition of ac-
counts between the Branches, similar to accounts be-
tween banks. For the purpose of ascertaining, baF
ancing and settling these accounts, the Exchange, like
banks, has established Clearing Bureaux at commercial
centers. Each Branch within the radius of one of these
centers, mails periodically to the Bureau the checks it
has redeemed for other Branches, to be placed to its
crédit. There each is charged with its own checks re-
deemed by other Branches in ail parts of the country
(the Clearing Bureau exchanging checks also between
the different centers.) It is the function of these Bu-
reaux to audit these checks and return them to thé
Branches of issue, with a statement of each Branches
account with the Bureau. On receipt of said checks
and statement, the Branch makcs a record, but, be the
balance for or against it, the same remains open until
modified by subséquent operations, or covered by an
exchange of accounts with other Branches. No pay-
ment in legal-tender is ever required.
Thus the money and finances of the Exchange ^OL-THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
283
low, and do not lead, industry and commerce, there-
fore do not distort them from their natural channels
nor hamper the progress of either, as legal-tender is
doing.
THE RESULT.
The above équitable monetary System will mark a
new era in human affairs. It will do what has never
been done before, viz: establish justice. Let us ex-
plain briefly the most important results from this eco-
nomical reformation. The rest can be inferred from
the same. It is self-evident that if we surround a man
with material wealth, he will not be at a loss to find en-
joyments and happiness, especially if his neighbors are
similarly circumstanced.
The first of these results is that the worker will own
ail he produces, which is the highest wages attainable.
Nature does not pay the workers with money wages,
nor by the job, but pays them with the job. She gives
man what he makes out of the material she has pro-
vided him with. The Labor Exchange aims to do the
same thing.
If a person works for the Exchange, we pay him or
her the accustomed wages in checks. If goods are de-
posited, we pay the accustomed price also in checks.
Then when these persons .purchase anything from the
Exchange, we charge the accustomed price and cancel
the checks received. In the économie world of plun-
der, in which we lived, when these two operations had
been performed with money, the workers and depos-
itors became debarred from any further interest in their
own productions. Money was final payment. The check,
on the contrary, is only partial payment. It applies to
consumable articles only.284	THE LABOR EXCHANGE.
As stated before, man’s productions are not limited
to articles of consumption, but extend to unconsuma-
ble wealth, called “fixed capital. ” This portion of
wealth, in the Exchange, is held to be the property of
those who contributed to its construction in the pro-
portion of contributions. In order to maintain equity
among the members, the Exchange is compelled to
charge rent for the use of the permanent wealth, and
such charges cancel outstanding checks without impair-
ing the capital. It results that the assets of the Asso-
ciation will soon exceed, and continue to rise above,
the liabilities. Through the crucible of legal-tender
money, this excess of assets passes into the possession
of a so-called investor of money, it sets him and his,
free from labor, and turns out the real investors, the
workers and builders, poor and burdened with the addi-
tional task of supporting said investors. The Labor
Exchange reverses this iniquitous System.
To arrive at the interest which a memljer retains in
the property of the Association, after having spent ail
his checks, we hâve but to inventory said property, sub-
tract fronf the total value the value of outstanding
checks, divide the resuit by the amount of deposits,
multiplied by the time they hâve been in the Associa-
tion, and appôrtion to said member his or her quota.
Such is the monetary System of the Labor Exchange.
Let the toilers compare it with the System they hâve
been working under and choose between tham.PART FOURTH.
THE TRIUMPH.
And now, when least expected, came a whisper
through the air, that the governor was turning religious;
that he was constantly reading the Bible and seeking
therein such passages as in Isaiah, “Thy princes are
companions of thieyes. Woe unto them that decree un-
righteous decrees, to take away the rights of the poor.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field
to field, until there is no place. The spoil of the poor
is in your houses. Thy silver has become dross. I
will make a man more precious than fine gold. Fpr
the extortioner is at an end; the spoilers shall cease;
the oppressors are consumed out of the land. My
people shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall
plant vineyards and eat of the fruit thereof. They shall
not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and
another eat.” That he was also searching the New
Testament for anathemas against usury.
It was rumored that his conscience was very much
disturbed by the way he had treated the colonists,
driving millions of them, and their wives and helpless
children, into the black desert of poverty and want, for
no other cause than their failure to find gold. It was236
THE TRIUMPH.
rumored also that he had repented, and that he hinted
at repealing the gold Legal Tender Decree, and
making the road out of debt as wide as it was
int© it; that he intended to decree every one of the
thousands of products of labor, and other devices
which are legal tender to go into debt, also legal
tender to corne out of the same. Again, it was
also rumored that the adventurers were swarming
about the Governor’s premises, and, for some reason,
they appeared very much agitated and despondent. It
betokened truth in the report about the Governor.
“Hail the inspiration!” we exclaimed. “It cornes
from our common Father in Heaven. He has heard the
wailings of the multitude mortgaged in that horrible
purgatory of debt, and has brought the Governor to
repentance.” We listened to the reports with breath-
less anxiety, and awaited the resuit with eagerness,
‘ when, lo! out came the following:
PROCLAMATION.
To our Subjects, Greeting:
Whereas, The Legal Tender restriction has been
the cause of ali public bonds and private mortgages in
the colony, and has caused wide-spread poverty and
woe; and,
Whereas, Public bonds are a violation of the Con-
vstitution, vouched-safed to us from our forefathers, which
guarantees to the colonists “inaliénable liberty” (bond-
age and liberty being antagontstic principles), and
Whereas, Mortgages on real estate discourage its
improvement, and consequently retard progress and
prosperity; and
Whereas, Many of such bonds and mortgages are
held by foreign adventurers, either directly, or by attor-THE TRIUMPH.	287
> neys, and thus are a menace to our sovereignty and
the liberty of our beloved people ;
Therefore, Be it decreed, that, in virtue of the
right of Eminent Domain in us. vested, ail persons and
■ corporations, domestic and foreign, holding bonds
against this colony, or any portion thereof; or mort-
gages on real estate, shall, within six months from the
date of this proclamation, présent said bonds and mort-
gages to our colonial Treasurer and receive payment of
both principal and interest in legal-tender, non-interest
bèaring Sovereign Drafts.
That ail bonds and notes, not presented for pàyment
within the said specified time, shall be null and void,
and debarred from collection.
It is further decreed that, at the expiration of the
six months, as above determined, ail mortgagees shall
paÿ interest on their respective debts, to the colonial
government, at the rate of	per cent per an-
num, until the principal be paid. And
That, from the date of this proclamation to the expi-
ration of the six months, ail prosecutions regarding the
collection of debt shall be staid. And
Whereas, A creditor has lent only an article, money
or other things, which he was unable or unwilling to
make use of himself, and the debtor came in as a bene-
factor, not only to himself, but to the lender and to the
public at large by putting the article in ûse, said lender
should bear the favor of the government in preference
and should not be forced to pay the “p°und of flesh”
in compensation for articles which, without him, would
hâve laid, or perished, unused.
Therefore, be it further decreed that every article
oî utility to man, and everything which has heretoforep' p ;	T- t .y :
288	THE TRIUMPH.
been held, in law and practice, legal for the contrac-
tion of debts, shall hereafter be held legal tender, at ' %
appraised value, for the payment of the same. And, ,
lastly,
It is further decreed that ail the expenses of the
government shall hereafter be paid in our Sovereign ’
Drafts on the colonists, and that ail such drafts shall
be receivable by our officers in payment for ail debts,
dues and taxes, at face value, and that the same shall >
also be legal-tender in payment of debts among the
people, and that ail contracts for the delivery of spe- -
cific articles, gold, silver or others, not in the possession
of the contracting parties, shall be held to be option
deals and “ipso facto” not enforcible in law.
The Governor.
This Proclamation, short and pointed, struck the
adventurers like a clap of thunder. They became ter-
ribly excited. They hurried to and fro from bank to
bank, and from one attorney to another. What a pre-
dicament! Every one felt that his revenues were at
an end. • Conclaves were at once convened in bank
parlors to protest, remonstrate and devise means for
averting the dire calamity hanging over them. At one
of these conclaves a vociferous one was overheard ad-
dressing the assembly as follows:
“I always felt, gentlemen, that we were not safe under .
a free-school syStem. I was convinced that educated >
men would no longer perform menial services. I feared
that such men would be concocting schemes whereby
to shun work, avoid paying their honest debts, and live -
in idleness. Then again, gentlemen, I always feared
this universal suffrage abomination. It is ail bosh, that
every man is fit to govern himself. What does a clod-THE TRIUMPH.
289
-hopper from the country, a laborer from the gutter, or
a mechanic from the shop know about government?
Bamilton was right in opposing universal suffrage when
our civil government was framed. The ancients never
committed the blunder of educating their serfs, or of
giving them a vote or voice in governmental affairs. I
hâve been watching, gentlemen, the resuit of these two
fatal errors, and it came as I.expected. You hâve ail
seen, as I hâve, educated blatherskites from the labor-
ing classes leave their work and tramp over the colony
among mechanics, laborers and farmers, preaching the
most damnable doctrines, inciting them to disrespect
for their superiors, and organizing them into anarchical
Unions. I said then that we should put our foot upon
such Unions and stamp them out of existence. We
should hâve black-listed every member and starved
them out of employment. These Unions are but schools
of communism, socialism, anarchism and dynamiters,
fit only for powder and lead.” With the last expres-
sion, the speaker struck the table in front of him a hard
knock, adding, with a higher pitch of voice, “And the
governor is no better, gentlemen!”
At this point the assembly sprang to their feet,
stamped the floor, swearing like mule-drivers, hitting
the air with their fists, and making dreadful threats
against the rascals and that bigoted fool, the Gov-
ernor. Finally, they had their attorneys to draw up a
remonstrance against the proclamation. It ran thus:
“Honorable Sir:—Thebest class of your citizens are
amazed at your last proclamation. They attribute it
to a stroke of superstition, and therefore believe that,
when you return to your reason, you will not attempt
to enforce such an act of vandalism against vested -290
THE TRIUMPH.
jights and institutions made sacred by the sanction o&
ail governments for centuries.
“But, sir, the very fact of its publication has already
done an immense harm. The benighted colonists, who
happen to be in debt,are drunk with foolish joy, believ-
ing that such act of robbery will be enforced. It may
take the army to quell them down and put them to
work again, for this class (debtors) is more numerous
than your Honor may imagine.
“We expect, Honorable Sir, that you will, at once
repeal said thoughtless decree, and make provision to
restore law and order in the colony.
Your best friends,
The Adventuers.”
The reply that the Governor gave to this remonstrance
was characteristic. He wrote:
“Gentlemen:—Your remonstrance was received and
has been carefully considered. The arguments therein
against my last decree do not change in the least my
détermination to stop Oppression in the colony, to open
wide the door out of the prison of debt, and bring
forth my beloved people to liberty. I feel that I hâve
been working heretofore for the good of the few. I
shall hereafter work for the greatest good to the
greatest number. Because piracy was carried on for
a long period, it did not become a virtuous occupation.
Because slavery was spread over ail the Earth and last-
ed for centuries, it was not made venerable by time,
religion, nor civil governments, who upheld it. Now,
because an iniquitous monetary System has enjoyed
the sanction of governments, and is made hoary
with âge, it does not prove that it is anything but an in-
iquity, worse th^n slavery. It has perverted the wor-THE TRIUMPH.
29I
ship of the true God into the adoration of a golden
palf. It has separated our beloved people into lords
and servants; it has enabled the few to luxuriate in idle-
? ness and crime, and has doomed the many to a life of
servitude and misery. It is, besides, useless, as proven
> by the Labor Exchange Check. It produces nothing
and extorts ail. I hâve determined, God being my
helper, to wipe it out of the Temple.
The Governor.”
This answer aroused the adventurers to fury. They
organized their puny forces into a law and order
.. league 'with intention to attack the Labor leaders
wherever found.
We were talking, rather lively, to a group of friends,
when some adventurers recognized us as a Labor Agi-
tator and one of them, advancing, “You rascal! (the
title usually given by highway robbers to their victims)
You blatherskite! y ou communist!” heraged at us, and
shook his fisL
This volley came so suddenly and unexpectedly that
it threw us off our usual calmness. We regretted it
àfterward; but, at the moment, our tèmper got the bet-
ter of us: “And you sinners!” we replied, “You worship-
pérs of Mammon! You hâve been living in idleneas
and luxury out of others’ toil so long, that you think
you hâve acquired thereby the right to do so forever.
You are not aware that a cankerof greed is eatingyour
heart, and that you are surrounded by an atmosphère
of envy and hatred. You hâve been heaping coals of
fire on your soûls here and hereafter, by your extortions
from the poor. Your pampered children hâve imbibed
contempt for the toilers of Earth, and vent their pas-
r siôns in vanity, dissipation and crimes. Many are the2Ç2
THE TRIUMPH.
victims you hâve strewn on your path through life. The
cries of these victims hâve reached the throne of God.
Hence this glorious reformation! Nor do you confine
your oppressions to this life alone, but continue them
from beyond the grave. Only yesterday one of your
congeners died, leaving one hundred thousand Florins
to be invested, and the extorted revenues of it to be
devoted to keeping an electric light in his tomb and an-
other in his grave constantly burning. We hâve seen
the day, alas! when such commands from the dead, were
implicitly and scrupulously obeyed,and men were drawn
from production to do such work. Thank God and our
good Governor, that day has passed never to return.
There is not a man in the colony, certainly not a mem-
ber of the Labor Exchange, but would hâve told that
wîcked moribond of y ours, to take his Florins along
with him, as future générations would no longer need
them, and that the living had resolved to be free to
manage their own affairs and minister to their own
comforts without wasting time and means to the services
of arrogant Schylocks rotting in their graves.” And
here raising our tone, “Repent ye génération of vipers,”
we cried, “for the day of judgment has corne.”
Thus we spoke, and the crowd applauded us. We re-
gretted it, we said, because it is not generous to vilify
a fallen foe.
Finally, the infuriated law and order laguers, ac-
companied by their attorneys, started in a body to the
Governor’s palace. On approaching, they heard bands
playing. They saw banners floating. They found the
square in front of the palace densely crowded with
enthusiastic colonists, shouting, hurrahing and cheer-
ing. They found the Court and Palace thronged withTHE TRIUMPH.
293
the “bone and sinew of the land,” gathered from farm,
factory and mine, to pay homage and express their
gratitude to their deliverer. They saw everywhere the
police and soldiers fraternizing with the people. They
saw sights and heard sounds which brought dismay to
their very soûls. They saw poorly clad women, with
tears of joy rolling down their emaciated cheeks, lead-
ing barefooted children by the hand to let them catch a
glimpse of the “New Moses” who had delivered them
from financial bondage. Nay, they saw the Governor
himself, moved by compulsion, his eyes moist with tears,
clasping these children to his bosom, and, in sobs, im
ploring them to pray God for him that He may forgive
him for the wrongs he had done, and permitted to be
done, to their parents. Yes, they saw enough to tu*' .*
them back, many of them repentant.
The night of the Jubilee was spent in general festivi-
ties. Ail the cities and towns in the colony were illu-
minated. The leading streets, squares, public gardens
and parks were thronged with a joyous crowd. Fire-
works, bands, singing, balls, theaters and shows innu-
merable. The “Palaces of Industry” of the Labor
Exchange were festooned with garlands, streamers, and
ornaments inside and out, and from ground-floor to roof.
Crowds attended the Opéra House to witness a pré-
sentation of the startling events we had just passed
through, entitled “The Money Game,” in four Acts.
The first Act represented the game played through a
bank grate, by four parties, two within and two outside.
The players within were called Receiving and Paying
Tellers; those outside, Depositor and Borrower. The
game began from outside. Depositor passed car*
Jhrough the grate to Receiving T^n-r, and Borrowe,294
THE TRIUMPH.
pulled the cards out again through the Paying Teller.
Most of the shufïling, however, was purely imaginary, no
cards passing either way, but was tallied as real, and it
had the same baneful effect on Borrower, who was
always the loser.
The second Act was at a farm-house and represented
the struggles, the privations, and the various projects
and schemes, some wise and some foolish, which the
poor farmer had devised to meet the interest on his
mortgage and avert the coming doom. The grief and
despair of the family, when ail efforts had failed, was,
we were told, so vividly depicted that it drew tears from
the audience.
The third Act was the Tragedy of Eviction, when
i Governor was lending his assistance to drag the
farmer and his helpless family out of their home.
The last scene represented the sudden arrivai of a
squad of Labor Exchange men, mounted on fleet horses,
bearing the banner of Industrial Liberty, and bringing
to the bereaved family the glad tidings of the glorious
Reformation, with instructions from the Governor to
the sheriff to immediately restore the family into their
cherished home and inform the money-gamblers that
the money game was at an end in the colony and forever.
Those who attended the performance pronounced its
effect as indescribable.
Others visited an imaginary présentation of the ruins
of Mammon’s Temple,the most imposing édifice ever
erected in the world to hero or God. This magnificent
Temple had been the glory of mankind, the Mecca of
the human race; but was now a mass of broken pil-
*s and crumbling walls. It had gone with the ruin
f Empires. The Cage, called the Treasury,whichTHE TRIUMPH.
2 95
held the Gold Calf, had been dragged out from the
“Sanctum Sanctorum” and laid rusting among broken
columns. The calf itself, had been dashed against the
rock of Common Sense. Here and there among the
Ruins could be seen an adventurer, bemoaning the
downfall and desecration of the great god.
We visited a panorama improvised by a member of
the Labor Exchange. It consisted of three scenes
representing the past monetary System and its final
ending.
The first scene showed a rolling mass of men and
wealth paralyzed, as drift, in front of a very narrow
gâte on the arch of which were legible the words,
“Needle’s Eye of Legal Tender” and on the sides
“The Only Portal to Wealth. ” An expansive r,
rich country was visible in the distance, but an impass-
able barrier closed ail access to it, except through the
narrow gâte.
The second view represented a vast and rugged
région called the “Kingdom of Legal Tender Crédit. ”
Ail who had goods to pawn were enticed to enter this
kingdom, by leaving their goods in pledge at the gâte.
A large crowd had entered here, preferring to risk this
country rather than to remain and perish at the gâte of
the “Needle’s Eye,” and the pawned goods at the gâte
were already mountain high. Within this région there
seemed to be a life and death struggle after “fire-flies.”
Thousands had abandoned the rich fields of production
in the chase for these “Aies. On our asking the show-
man what virtue there wa» in “fire-flies,” he replied
that there was none whatever; but that they had been
declared legal tender for the rédemption of goods
pawned at the gâte. At intervals, but very few Aies2ÇÔ
THE TRIUMPH.
could be seen flashing in the air. At such times the
people appeared seized with panic, as if a dreadful
calamity were at hand. The struggle after Aies would
then become really Aerce, and soon thousands of men,
women and children would be cast out destitute, and
their goods at the gâte would be handed over to the
few fortunate ones who happened to hâve a few Aies.
The outcast men stood grieving, the women weeping,
and the children vaguely gazing and wondering at the
mysteries of men and Aies. A stranger could not hâve
comprehended the signiAcance of such tragic scenes;
but the reality of them was yet so vividly impressed on
our memory, that we trembled lest it should return.
The third scene represented the grandest and most
autiful landscape ever seen by mortal man. Imme-
diately under the observer, could be seen the place
where the “Needle’s Eye” of Legal Tender had stood,
now blown to splinters by the explosion of the Gov-
ernor’s proclamation. Gray-headed men were search-
ing among the rubbish for fragments to store away in
muséums as relies of barbarism. Far beyond this his-
torical spot, marched the labor légions, leaving behind
them volumes of wealth as they advanced. Still
further where the sky touched this Eden,we could dim-
ly discern the Governor on horseback chasing the pawn-
brokers out of the country. Altogether, it was a mag-
niAcent sight, never to be forgotten.
On our way home, we passed a squad of boys intox-
icated withmerriment. “What is ail this doing and re-
joicing about, boys?” we a9ked,for curiosity. “Why, the
Governor has joined the Labor Exchange!” they shout-
ed. We felt amused,and went on, resumingour train of
thoughts about the wonderful reformation which hadTHE TRIUMPH.
297
been accomplished in so short a period. Oh, how glo-
rious! The long night of social chaos, oppression and
plunder suddenly transformed into a bright day of
light, liberty, equity, peace and happiness! We kept re-
peating—Oh, how glorious! Oh, how glorious!
During that never to be forgotten night, our rest was
disturbed alternately by the vivid picture of the Jews,
as given by the prophet Nehemiah:	“And there was a
great cry of the people and their wives, against their
brethren saying: ‘We hâve mortgaged our lands, vine-
yards and houses that we might buy corn. We hâve
borrowed money for the king’s tribute and ail that upon
our lands and vineyards, and lo! we bring into bondage
our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of
our daughters are brought into bondage already; neitb' r
is it in our power to redeem them, for other men hâve
our lands.9 91 Here we would suddenly awake in a fright.
Or, our imagination would be aglow with the descrip-
tion of St. John in Révélation saying: “And I saw a
new heaven and a new earth: for the firstheaven and the
first earth were passed away. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven, saying:	‘Behold the tabernacle of God
is with me, and he will dwell with them and they shall
be his people and he their God. And God shall wipe
away ail tears from their eyes, and there shall be no
more oppression, neither sorrow nor crying; neither
shall there be any more suffering, for the former things
are passed away.’”
We were awakened next morning by peals of cannons
booming in the dawn of the NEW ERA!BENEDICTION.
We, who hâve passed the whole of a long life with the
oppressed, amidst heart-rending scenes of misery and
woe; we, who, during ail these years, lived, as it were,
on the borders of a better land, in full view of a
brighter day, from which but a thin fetich veil sepa-
rated a gold benighted multitude; we,who,by reason of
this mental condition, endured greater agony in that
vale of despondency and gloom; as we now totter along
e corridors of these “Palaces of Industry” erected
b y the Labor Exchange, our soûl exalted by the sym-
phony of musical instruments and the glee of many
voices made happy by the Reformation, rejoice in our
old âge: and from the bottom of our heart rise feelings
of gratitude and adoration to a benign Providence for
having spared our life and permitted us to see the
Legal Tender obstruction removed from the path of
human prosperity and progress, the metallic walls
around the “purgatory” of debts levelled to the ground,
and the mighty hosts, imprisoned therein, corne forth
into the Elysian Fields of the New Era.
Lo! we hâve for years waded through the “TRIALS,”
and now it is given us tô behold
The “TRIUMPH” of Labor.
To God be the praise and glory forever and ever.