Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1891 — UNCLE SAMUEL AS A BANKER. [ARTICLE]

UNCLE SAMUEL AS A BANKER.

All banking is, and must be, j based on two things, property and credit; and the first is essential to j the last. Both are requisite for j successful banking. One may have j property and no credit, but credit, without property is not possible. Credit may be a property in j itself as it can be borrowed and loaned' but tangible property is ! always the security; property is taken as security for a loan of property, but credit is not taken as security for a loan of credit So then the one thing requisite for successful banking, and on which every thing else depends, is available property, that is, property that can quickly be converted into dollars. If this position is true, then to do a banking business one must have property at command. The People’s Party demand that the government shall become lha banker for this great people. . The first question which presents itself is, has the government the -property at command for this purpose ? =

Our government is a peculiar one in regard to its relations to prosperity. It munificently rewards its servants; it builds fine edifices; it mans and equips armies and navies; it endows colleges; it coins money; it sells and conveys land; it can raise revenue by imposition of duties, and can by direct tax upon all the people raise money in amount only limited by its necessities; it can buy and sell on the market; it can give gifts to men; it can borrow money on its credit, but the credit is based on its income, and is limited by its lawful right and power to produce such income. With all this power to obtain aud use money, the government — though not a beggar or a pauperdoes not absolutely otvu a dollar in money, an acre of land, nor any property of any description; not even credit; except as a trustee. Everything, the power to borrow, the power to buy, the power to tax, the power to use, are all held by the government as a Trust; which trust must be administered to carry on the government in accordance with constitutional law, and for the benefit of the people; to protect the citizen, pay the expense of defense and maintain the public wellfare—every citizen is a Ward of the Nation. Has the government a lawful right to tax the people, that it may obtain money to loan to any number of persons? Has the government a right to impose duties on imports, or to collect a revenue from any source, that it may thereby be enabled to loan money to any number of persons? Has the government a right to bills of credit, that it may have mocreate a national debt, by issuing nev to loan to any number of persons ? These are questions which con cern every citizen; they must all be auswered in the affirmative before the government can become a loaner of money. And then the other and more imporran t question arises: Ifgovern-. ment has this right, would it be wise to place a debt on the whole people for the benefit of a part? This question is not a hard one, and the intelligent farmer is competent to answer. 4 The above is only one phase of the relations of what Uncle Sam as a banker would be to this people. The People’s Party are truthful when they say, “the most important question for this people is that of Finance”. Every industry in the land is directly interested in the currency and credit of the nation. The farmer is conservative, he has as much at stake in his government’s success as any one, and will not voluntarily jump into a ditch until he examines its bottom; he sometimes gets his boots muddy, but does not wade in mud for pleasure, nor will he wade very deep to pull a few sore-heads out of the mire; he reasons that mud is good for sores, but sees no necessity for getting in himself. Wm. W. Gilman.

Buy pure teas and fresh roasted coffee at C. C. Starr’s. We roast our own coffee as needed, consequently ‘have no old, stale stock. Hold! Just in; a fine line of all kind of Watches, Clocks, Jewelry and ; tSiiverware at lowest prices, at H. J. i Rossbacher’s.