Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1903 — POLITICAL COMMENT. [ARTICLE]

POLITICAL COMMENT.

Where Io the Ifeopey? Those who favor tinkering with the currency, and those who do not, agree in one thing. All admit that there has been a grout increase in the volume in circulation In the last few years. This is borne out by the figures. In 1897 we had actual money in circulation to the amount of $1,640,209,510; in 1902 we had $2,249,390,551 ic circulation, anti Aug. 1, 1903, $2,382,018,406, an increase in six years of $741,808,079.

In the same years we produced gold to the amount pf $431,570,170, aud tmportd& gold to the amount of $213,695,918, a gain in gold supply of $645,266,088. In 1897 there was $205,700,000 in the national treasury, $628,206,600 ip banks, and $1,012,000,000 outside of treasury and banks. In 1902 there was $313,900,000 in the treasury, $837,900,000 in banks, and $1,411,400,000 outside of treasury and banks, or in the bands of thp people. The percentage of money In the treasury and in the banks is less than In 1897, while there has been an increase of 3 per cent in the money in the hands of the people. In other words, the Comptroller’s reports show that there is less money in the banks In proportion to the entire supply now than there was six years ago, while the amount in circulation outside the banks is $399,400,000 greater. While the volume of money in nil the banks, including savings banks, has increased 33 per cent since 1897, the transactions of credit hhve more than doubled. This would indicate that there has been a greater increase In trade than in the supply of money. There has been a noticeable growth in the credit system, and at the same time an increasing use of currency in business. The money now in the hands of the people is more largely employed In business fmm ago. In other words, there is little hoarding. Proportionately more money is going to wage earners and Into the bands of farmers. While there are great aggregations of capital, representing heavy cash and credit transactions, there is still more money ip circulation among those who buy and sell in a small way.

There have been times when no man could tell where the money was that ought to be in circulation. The treasury and clearing house reports show where it is now.—Chicago Inter Ocean. No Class Hatred. “There, is no worse enemy of the wage worker,” said President Roosevelt at Syracuse, N. Y., yesterday, ‘than the man who condones mob violence iu any shape or who preaches class hatred. The wage worker is well off only when the rest of the country is well off. He can best contribute to this well-being by showing a firm purpose to do justice to others.” The President’s warning against its worst enemy was appropriately uttered on a day chosen by organized labor to exhibit its material strength. For in many quarters there is a disposition to persuade organized labor that its interests are soioebow different from those of the rest of the nation—to make of organized labor a class fighting for class ihterests.

Too many of the preachers and teachers of organized labor take this view and strive to persuade tjieir fellow workers that they are distinctly a class whose interests are separate from and antagonistic to those of the nation who do not work for wages paid as such by a visible employer. ' Any attempt to set up classes within the republic is uot only un-Ameri-can; it is destructive to the republic. Every one of the dead republics of tbe past died because it permitted class consciousness to become acute and its politics to degenerate into a struggle of classes. Either it permitted thp rich to exploit the poor or the poor to plunder the rich, and so died. “We can keep our government on a sane and healthy basis,” said the President again; “we can make and keep our social system what it should be only on condition of judging each man, not as a member of a class, but on his worth as a man. A healthy republican government must rest upon Individuals, not upon classes.” And upon individuals the republic depends. There must be no class hatred.—Chicago Inter Ocean. Why Not Supply Onr Own SascnrT For the last dozen years we have averaged annual Imports of sugar exceeding $90,000,000. We are looking for now markets. Our reciprocity friends are particularly concerned In the gaining of more markets for our products. Well, here is a market worth $90,000,000, sure and safe and constantly Increasing. Why not sell our own sugar in this market? “Because we do not produce It,” says the Reclprocator. Well, why do we not produce it We have the land, we have the men. we have the capital. That $90,000,000 which we send abroad would Increase our spendable Income to just that amount, a large part of which would go to our farmers to whom our manufacturers want to sell m ore good a We would be $90,000,000 ahead any way you look at It. . I t Is a nice little market and a nice bit of money, and It Is right here; why not grasp it and keep U? j i f And yet -when the Cuban treat? foes IMPMm ttte—teiYtrißi atm be

here, but it will never be our market, Jt will belong abroad, and the benefit will go abroad. It’s a very simple little matter, not com plicated in any way. Just leave things ns they are for ten or even five years, and we will have ’our own sdgar industry capable, of supplying all our own wants. There is no question about it In spite of adverse legislation, of-continual agitation and doubt; in .spite of the acquirement of Hawaii and Porto Rico, our beet sugar industry has made a marvelous start and progress, but thia Cuban treaty, if put into operation, will be a staggering blow. It’s a pretty serious matter, gentlemen of the United States Congress, and It should have your most earnest thought before action is taken.—American Economist. Labor’s Prosperity. Statistics just published, which show the great increase in wages that has come during the year 1902 in the State of Massachusetts, are of generaL Interest because there is no reason to regard the condition of wage-earners in that State as exceptional. It is beyond doubt an example of a condition that prevails throughout the country. The wage-earners of Massachusetts received In 1902 from their employers the sum of $193,552,175, which was nearly sixteen millions more than their total wages in the previous year. The average earnings of the individual workers in all industries was $459.98, which was $10.29 more than in the previous year. In six of the nine leading industries of the State more work was done, either through the employment of more hands or through the putting in of more timej in 1902 and In 1901. ■ V , . .Tk*'~<»Ftiifzer manufacturing industry shows the largest per cent increase in the total amount of wages paid out —81.84. The shoe industry is next •with an increase of 2842 / per cent. Employes of the malt distilleries command the highest wages, averaging sßsl2 a year. Workers on models, lasts and patterns in the shoe industry are next, with average yearly earnings of $740.42. Such figures as these prove that there is little Justification for the cry that has been raised frequently by agitators that the wage-earners were not getting their share of the general prosperity. —Albany Evening Journal.

Unr Exports to Canada. The Canadian tariff gave to the products of the United Kingdom and most of her colonies a preferential reduction of 12% per cent since April, 1897; 25 per cent from August, 1898, to July 1, 1900, and 33 per cent since that date, and yet Canada has increased her purchases from the United States as follows:

1896 $50,078,921 1897 04,928,821 1898 83,714,086 1899 87,974,961 1900 95,319,970 1001 105,789,214 1902 100,042,993 1903 - 123,472,416 While the reductions to the United Kingdom were increasing first to 12% per cent, then to 25 per cent and again to 33 per cent, our sales to Canada have more than doubled. Canada wants our products and buys them. That’s all.

Prosperity Rampant. From every section of the country, from every industry comes the one and only cry, prosperity. A census of the leading bankers reveals a state of confidence and stability never before known. The farmers are rejoicing over the splendid outlook for go9d, if not unusual, harvests. The manufacturers were never so busy. The August buying was never before equaled, anrl the transportation companies are being taxed to their utmost facilities. Every man who wants work can have it. What • grand consummation! What a perfection of protection! What a vindication of Republican financial and tariff legislation! Revise such conditions! Impossible. Can the cloudless sky be made clearer? We want no tinkering of the tariff. We want no free trade, we want no reciprocity. Let well enough alone. By all means stand pat. ' s

. \ . f - * Ocnerot Pro»p»rltjr Untouched. Notwithstanding the feverhrh condition of Wall street, the next six months gives Indication of a Arm continuance of national prosperity. The wheat crop, according to all estimates, will he enormous, probably a record breaker; the cotton crop will be eleven million bales, or more than three-quarters of the world’s output; the corn crop will likely reach 2 300,000 bushels, and the manufacturing and mining output promises to keep even with the highest llgures. The actual prosperity of the country is unchecked, and It goes to show that, after all, Wall street Is far from being the whole thing.—Oswego . Times. , . ***» Invariable Kean It*. The Democrats are getting li\t© a useless sweat over the tariff. When It needs reforming the people will let the Republicans hare control of the Job. The Democrats have been tried —with free soup, Coxey armies and <uc(s like results.—Valley Mills (T«X»s) I'rotecthwlM.