People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1897 — Something About Archery. [ARTICLE]

Something About Archery.

Reprinted From “The Archer.”

A circular letter from some dupe of the one-eyed cyclops, monopoly, urging the people to join in a universal remonstrance against the free distribution of seeds through the Department of Agriculture at Washington, setting forth the immense cost of th'S feature of our public institutions, is at hand. Can it be possible that the American voters are going to permit themselves to be hoodwinked into consenting to the abolition of this beneficent feature of a popular government? Let us urge upon our readers this immortal truth, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Think of tins, no individual at his own expense is going to spend a million of dollars to print arguments in favor of saving the public from an inappreciable tax. There must be some powerful motive behind it. Let us see if we can’t find the cat in the meal tub. Suppose some syndicate of British capitalists had succeeded in suppressing the free seed distribution before it had placed the Concord grape in the hands of the American farmer, don’t you see that this delicious luxury would have remained in the con trol of our “giant cyclopian” monopoly, and instead of Concord grapes being within the reach of ike humblest citizen, they would be found only on the tables of our American nobility?

Tiie general introduction of the Early Kose potato, to say nothing about the other varieties of this most valuable of all farm products that liaye found their way to the public through the department of Agriculture, has been worth more to the tax-pay-ers of America than the total cost of this bureau from its foundation, ten times over. It was this institution that gave us our sorghum seen, our mammoth sugar corn, our best varieties of pears, berries and other fruits. Anti now who can have the brazen effrontery to ash the people to abolish this institution which has already demonstrated the wisdom of its founder by the incaleuabie blessings it has showered on mankind? No Sirs: Messrs Ayer & Co. You can’t catch the people with your chaff. We know a good thing when we have got it, and don’t you forget it. Come on Mr. Commissioner with your new seeds. Nobody is kicking but Ayers & Co. We want everything that will be a public benefit to the people of America. Would it not be a good thing for the people to take the business of free distribution of all new and choice seeds out of the inandsof Uncle Sam and allow the firm of Ayer & Co. a complete monopoly of it? They seem anxious for the job and would no doubt make large fortunes, at our expense out of the enterprise. It is a pity that the government cannot do anything for the people without interfering with somebody’s “private business.”

Now let us see what lesson we can learn from the above. We see first, a deliberate purpose to “reduce” the amount of floating currency. “The floating currency” is the money that flows through the channels of trade. We see second, a device by which the bankers can adjust their business to the volume of lawful money at any and all times. We see third, that they, the bankers have discovered how to avoid borrowing money for their business purposes.

We see fourth, they rely on organization to accomplish this reduction of floating cash, adaptation of their business to the volume of circulating medium at any and all times, this cheapening of cost to them, this saving of interest to themselves, Archery comes forth armed with their secret, and by adopting their methods<kas done for its members, the producers and merchants, what the banking Clearance House has done for the banks.