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THE JACESON ECONOMIST
Official County Organ.
OFFICIAL ORUAN OF WINDER.
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF GEORGIA.
(Pending referendum vote )
PUBLISHER EVERT THURSDAY EVENING
JEFFERSON OFFICE:
With the Ordinary in the Conrt House
P. W. will represent the
paper and take subscriptions.
SubscriDtion Rates.
Oxx Year, - - SI.OO
All subscribers outside of Jackson
oounty will remit through the national
paper CLUB, Atlanta. Ga. See club
advertisement in another column
A. G. Lamar, Editor.
Geo. D. Bennett, Bus. Manager.
THURSDAY. JANUARY 12, 1899.
Legal Advertising.
All legal ads not settled for will be
dropped after second insertion. Parties
interested will take notice.
Your Neighborhood.
Just think, doar reader, a minute
Think over the names of vour
friends who do not take The
Economist in your neighborhood.
Hand them your paper and try
and get them to subscribe. Ycu
could help us a great deal in this
way without much effort or
trouble and feel the better by it.
The great trouble is that you will
read this and agree to help us in-
croase our list, but you forget to
keep this resolve.
No man can work out his own
salvatiou otherwise than by labor
ing for the salvation of others.—
Mazzini,
The Walton News has been pur
chased by Col. Joseph H. Felker,
of Monrue, and it and the Messen
ger will be consolidated.
Almand. the conyers Merchant,
has been brought back from Cali
fornia by the officers. It is
thought lie will make a settlement
with his creditors.
Every farmer should resolve
this year to use less guano, plant
lass cotton, buy less goods on a
credit, raise every thing at home
and study economy in all things.
The Economist congratulates the
editor of the Plow Boy for the dis
tingushed honor centered on him
by the citizens ot Buford in making
him mayor of that prosperous little
city. Brother Wilson knows how to
edit a paper and we feel assured
knows how to make the best
mayor Buford ever had.
The increased output of gold will
change the minds of the goldbugs,
and in a few years it will not sur
prise us to find this class advocat
ing silver as the standard. We
would regret this very much on
account of a few men we know,
who have delighted in being
known as gold standard men with
no prospect of ever handling any
of the precious metal. It would
be extremely humiliating, we im
agine, for these WISE financiers]
to be forced to advocate a silver
standard.
Universal Brotherhood.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
If you recognize the brotherhood
of mau this question of Cain’s
is one of importance to you, my
friends, for the brotherhood of
man teaches you to consider the
welfare of your neighbor. And
until the world embraces this doc
trine of Universal Brotherhood
there is little hope for bettering
the conditions of humanity.
Would that all men were broad
enough and freed from greed and
self interest to that extent to real
ize this truth and embrace it,
What a change there would be in
this old world of ours. The suf
fering, the misery, the poverty and
distress that hovers over our land
to day, and that is blasting the
lives of its millions, would soon
be unknown.
Oil For Bad Roads,
Maj. M, Meigs, a civil
of Keokuk, is of the opinion that
the use of crude cil may prove a
paracea for bad roads. Maj.
Meigs says it is no trouble any
where to keep dry roads in good
condition at minimum expens
Oil prevents the earth from be
coming wet by forming a water
proof crust. So far his experi
ment* have proven very satisfacto
ry, and he claims no other mate
rial is so cheap and that no other
will prove so effective.
Prosperity True and False
The volume of trade in the
United States duripg 181)8 was the
greatest in its history, All this
great business is due directly to the
farmer. This may be questioned
as an extreme statement; but it is
one. notwithstanding, that will
stand the test of scrutiny. Let it
be tested this way: Suppose the
magnificent of 1897 and 1898 had
been instead failures —where would
our boasted prosperity be? This
great traffic of the railway, which
today is the cause of 95 per cent of
the activity m the financial world,
is due directly to the great crops of
the two years last past.
But has the farmer reaped any
thing like the harvest of prosperity
which should of right be the share
of one who has created the better
ing condititious of the nation?
Not. an intelligent man in America
but knows better. Then where is
the trouble? It is world-wide and
itis as old as trade and exchange.
Shakespeare said of it —
“Bid distribution undo excess
And each shall have enough 1”
Distribution 1 That is the word.
The failure properly to distribute
the world’s good things is the cause
of the lopsided prosperity which
we see today, not only in our own
laud, where food wastes by millions
of tons while men and women and
children starve, but all the wide
world over. And the cause of in
equitable distribution? Monopoly
back to monopoly can be traced
every economic ill which today
works such sad havoc of tee world’s
social fabric, and makes of men
who are brothers antagonists and
fees in the great struggle for bread.
Trade volume is not an index to
real prosperity. An equitable dis
tribution of products, which rec
oguizes to the last point that the
“laborer is worthy of his hire,”
that what he produces is his, is the
only basis for a true and enduring
prosperity. Farmers Voice,
The Reason 'Why.
{pV*?So> , /./
F Here is an interesting con
tribution to the currency discus
sion. W. E. Curtis in his
Washington letter to the Chicago
Record, says:
“In reply to an inquiry I would
say that ‘the reason 45 cents’ worth
of silver circulates at the same
value as gold’ is because it bears
the stamp of the United States and
and is interchangeable with gold.
For the same reason a worthless
piece of paper is interchangeable
at par with gold,”
Now. if Mi. Curtis had gone on
to show the reason why, when w hat
he declares here to be the truth is
the truth, the powers that be are
trying to destroy all the paper cur
rency the government’s fiat makes
good as gold and turn over to a few
bankers a mouoply greater than
any despot in the history of the
world ever had, his matter would
possess real interest and value.
And if he had gone farther, and
informed the people why we should
be selling bonds and paysng inter
est to the tune of millions annually
wheu the people are ready and
anxious to take the government’s
notes in all needful amounts with
out interest, in payment for ser
vice of all kinds the government
might desire, he would earn the
gratitude of millions of his fellow
countrymen who can’t for the life
of them comprehened the thing.
Farmers Voice,
Four brothers of one family
were married last week at the vil
lage of Trail, Ohio, to four sisters
of another. The ceremony of
marrying the four couples occu
pied almost an hour, the same
clergyman performing all.
The Mother of Republics.
John L. Peak, ex-minister to Swit
zerland, has been telling that association
of nincompoops called the Commercial
club of Kansas City some strange (?)
things about civil government in Swit
zerland. It was an eye opener to those
profit mongers that any people were
wise enough to take an interest in pub
lic affairs aside from the American
method of how they could skin the
great, big blubbering public. The press
gives the following synopsis of his ad
dress:
The study of government has reached
its greatest perfection in Switzerland.
Switzerland has an area of less than
one-quarter that of Missouri, and has
within its border but 3,000,000 people,
but its intelligence, progress and states
manship are by no means in proportion
to its size. Switzerland has been called
the playground of the world.
However,, it would be a mistake to
imagine that Switzerland’s chief inter
est lies iu her scenery, for she stands
among the foremost nations of the earth
in arts, science and progress. She is in
teresting because of the great men she
has given to the world—intellectual
giants who have marched resplendent
down the highways of fame. She has
sometimes been called the mother of re
publics.—Appeal to Reason.
Silver'* Chance.
This talk of the United States being
unable to maintain the free coinage of
silver without the oonseut aud co-oper
ation of other nations is all nonsense. I
would adopt free coinage without a
care as to whether or not any other na
tions affirmed the policy. A little his
tory right here is pertinent. From 1861
to 1878, while the United States was
not coining or using any silver money,
the Latin union and a few German
states that combined did not produce
one-half as much exchangeable products
as the United States does today, but
they maintained the free coinage of sil
ver at the ratio of to 1, when, too,
the production of silver bullion was as
great as it is today, and that alone and
unaided by any other government. Then
why can we not today, without the
consent of any foreign power, maintain
silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, when the
productive industries exceed those of
the German empire, France and the |
United Kingdom combined? The ability
of the l nited States to use silver will
be greatly enhanced if it assumes the
responsibility of furnishing the cur
rency for the Philippines, Cuba aud
Porto Rico, in addition to our own pop
ulation.—General Aquilla Wiley.
Municipal Ownership and Taiei.
The municipal operation of the street
railways of Dover, England, has en
abled the city to reduce the tax rate two
pence in the pound. The town began
the construction of the system in 1896.
THE TRADE BALANCE.
■ - ■ ■■■■ ■
EXPLANATION OF THE CLAIM THAT
IT IS AGAINST US.
The Peculiar Kind of Bookkeeping
Employed Id the United State*
Treasury Department—Mr. Van Vor
-1 kta Answer* Some Questions.
I have received from different locali
ties a number of letters making inqnir
les and suggestions concerning the tabh
published in The Nonconformist o
Nov. 24. I have answered most of then
briefly with the promise that I would
answer more fully through your col
umns. Professional engagements have
caused a longer delay in doing so than
I had anticipated.
I am not surprised that the table of
exports and imports of merchandise aDd
money metals, in the face of the exult
ant claims that have been made by the
gold standard press, has been read
with some astonishment if not incre
dulity, particularly by t'-oee who thus
had their attention called to the matter
for the first time. It has been so gener
ally the claim that our foreign trade re
lations show a balance in our favor that
wheu attention is called to the truth,
that in 25 years ending June 30, 1898,
there have been but two years during
which the balance was not against ns,
that truth so surprises many people that
it seems to them unbelievable.
It is difficult to understand how it
has come about that the American peo
ple have for so long been so misled in
regard to the bookkeeping of our foreign
trade that they have mistaken the loss
column for the gain and the gain col
umn for the loss. They are astonished
when told that the bookkeeping of the
treasury department in 25 years really
shows an aggregate loss of $3,622,100,-
564 of the wealth produced by this
country within that time.
It has been the almost universal cus
tom to consider only the merchandise
we have sold and exported as indicating
a balance of trade in our favor. The
inquiry has rarely been made, “What
did we get for it?” It is impossible that
a man in business can in any way or
for any purpose part with more than he
receives and have a gain. It cannot be
less impossible for a nation to do so.
It is perfectly clear that in the book
keeping of the treasury department in
the summary the column that shows
“excess of exports over imports” is the
loss column, and the column that shows
“excess of imports over exports” is the
gain column. In opder to determine
whether in our foreign trade there is a
balance in our favor or against us we
must find the sum of all commodities
exported and also the sum of all com
modities imported. The difference be
tween them will indicate the loss oi
the gain during any given time.
It must be remembered that in oui
foreign trade bookkeeping no such thin;
as money is or can be properly includ
ed, for money cannot be either exportet
or imported. In foreign trade gold anc
silver are as much commodities as an
wheat and corn.
In the treasury department are tbret
tables—one covering all “merchau
dise, ” one covering “gold ore bullioi
and coin” and one covering “silver on
bullion and coin.” These three tablet
include all exports and imports. Whei
they are consolidated, the result must
show whether there has been a balanct
in our favor or against us. If the tabh
shows an excess of exports over imports,
it is a baianoe against us and clearly a
loss of our wealth. If the table showt
an excess of imports over exports, theii
balance is in our favor, and clearly a
gain in our aggregate wealth. Id the
tables which you publish in your num
her of Nqv. 24 the balance is shown tr
be largely against us. This balanct
6hows a large aggregate loss during tb<
last 25 years to the people of this couu
try.
I quote from one of the letters I bav<
received:
“I think that if the United State
treasury is a complete measure of tb
entire results of exports aud imports o
merchandise aud precious metals, yoi
are correct. But is it a complete meas
ure?”
In what way can these three tables,
merchandise, gold and silver, fail to in
clude all exports aud all imports? There
are no commodities except gold and sil
ver not iucluded under the term “mer
chandise, ” and these three tables in
clude all commodities that it is possible
to exoort or to import. The only way
that the treasury reports can fail to he
a “complete measure’’ is that gold or
silver or some article of merchandise
should escape the attention of the de
partment in getting in or out of the
country and thus fail to be included in
either of the tables. Under the statutes,
rules and regulations of the treasury
department it is intended that every
export and import shall pass under the
observation of the officials and that an
account will he taken of it. The only
possible omission, so far as I am able
to see, is the gold and silver that are car
ried each way in the pockets of travel
ers and articles of merchandise pur
chased for personal use by visiters pars
ing to and fro. Suck omissions cannot
invalidate the conclusions to he drawn
from the tables. It is generally conced
ed, I believe, that wo lose more than we
gain by this interchange made by the
traveling public. The same writer also
asks:
“la it not true that the money paid
for merchandise exported oomes directly
to the manufacturer or to the produoer,
and being paid out by him goes Into
circulation by our people without being
measured or reported by the treasury
department?”
| It would not be possible for thia to
be trne unless the exporter went with
hia goods and brought home gold and
silver in his poobets; a not very proba
ble occurrence. If exported merchandise
is sold in a foreign oountry, and gold
and silver received for it and returned
to this oountry, it will show In the
treasury reports as an import of gold
auu silver ae oertainly ss any other
commodity will show as merchandise.
This question, and others of a similar
obaracter received, indicate, I think,
that many persons fail to remember
that money is a purely national creation
and that it is impossible that money
can appear as an export or import, be
canse it is impossible to either export
or import it. The moment an American
coin passes the limit of our territory it
ceases to be money. It is nothing but
metal. There is nothing that can be the
subject of foreign trade except commod
ities. The metals, ores, bullion and
coin are no more money in foreign trade
because they are estimated in dollars
(our money of account) than merchan
dise is money because it is estimated in
dollars.
Exported merchandise sold in a for
eign country is often paid for by bills
of exchange, sent home possibly in the
mail. The treasury department of conrse
takes no account of this, because a bill
of exchange adds nothing to the wealth
of a country. It brings nothing into the
country. It is simply an order from
somebody outside for somebody inside to
transfer property that is already in the
country. It is an order for some bank
that is here to pay the exporter for his
products sent abroad. If the drawer of
the order has nothing here with which
to pay, he will have to send it. He
must send it in either merchandise,
gold or silver. It will then appear as
an import upon the books of the treas
ury department.
This same writer asks another ques
tion:
“So far as money reports of the treas
ury go, do they not refer only to the
money belonging to the treasury?”
Most certainly not. As stated, the so
called “money reports of the treasury”
are the reports of exports and imports
of gold and silver not as money, but as
commodities. Aside from thi3, however,
it is not the property of tbej?overnment
any more than the merchandise export
ed and imported is government property.
The tremendous force of the awful
showing made by the figures of the
treasury reports is fully appreciated by
the part of the gold standard advocates
who really know anything about the
subject. They know full well that
it is the direct result of the falling
prices of merchandise and the increas
ed purchasing power of dollars that
has brought this condition of things
about. In their complete inability
to make an answer they coin a lie
to meet it. They know that the bal
ance shown by the tables as an ex
cess of exports over imports represents
an exportation of our wealth for which
we have received nothing. They have
lately set up the claim that this grr *t
sum stands to our credit in foreign
countries and pretend to believe that it
is a balance in our favor, from which
we can draw when we desire. This lie,
manufactured for the purpose of decep
tion, is the foundation for the claim
that we are now a creditor nation, a
claim which no man that is not either
a knave or a fool will make.
I am glad to have received such com
ments and inquiries. They are suggest
ive and instructive. If in anything lam
mistaken in either my facts or my con
clusions, I certainly desire to be cor
rected, and I will thank anybody who
will correct me. No right thinking
man oan possibly have any interest in
being deceived or in deceiving himself.
What we all desire or ought to desire ie
to know what are the exact facts and
then to be able to draw correct conclu
sion from them.—Flavius J. Van Vorhis
in Omaha Nonconformist.
Bnaliiaa la Bnatneaa.
Banker Perrine of Indianapolis is a
genuine, all wool annexationist, who
deserves commendation for bald frank
ness. He does not waste time talking
about our duty to oppressed races, and
our mission as a world civilizer, and
our self election as the avenger of wrong,
and our remarkable declaration that if
we hoist the American dag on the stadt
haus in Berlin it must stay there, and
so forth and so on. He says: “There
are 400,000,000 Chinese, and every
mother’s son of them ought to have a
folding bed and a bicycle. Indiana is
the state to furnish them.” There is a
man for you! His words ring like the
chant of the silver throated bugle amid
the raucous maunderings of the annexa
tion gabfest. Banker Perrine does not
explain how the acquisition of the Pa
puan infested Philippines will sell fold
ing beds and bicycles to the Chinese,
but his heart is in the right place.
There are 1,050,000,000 folks in other
parts of the world. Every mother’s son
of them needs canned beef and ohunks
of dead hog. Chicago is the town to
furnish them. It is our duty to proceed
to grab the earth.—lconoclast.