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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1899)
1. ' .I.JA..I.-- . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . . - The Conservative * Let us not forget 40 TO 1. get that one of the most interesting subjects that can en gage human thought is the subject of making a living. Man must use his best judgment to that end. His own head must be his attorney and guide in fight ing the great battle of life. It is said that seven-eighths of the hu man family derive their support from the land , which comprises only about one-fourth of the earth's surf ace , the re maining one-eighth getting their living from the sea. The great moss of man kind then must look to the field , forester or mine. Having no mines or forests out hero in the West , wo are engaged in raising horses , cattle and sheep , grain , butter and eggs. We have to exchange a good share of these things for other necessaries , such as a home for our fam ilies , fuel for winter , clothing and gro ceries. Also pay a portion for taxes to enable the government to exist which , like the church , lives off of the people passing the contribution basket around every year. It only simplifies a truth when we say the farmer buys his coal with his wheat , his groceries with his butter and eggs , M and pays his taxes in the fall with a R steer. Some good people think the gov fcwl ernment can help us make a living. If * > s so , it might commence by paying its own taxes. This would bo a very simple test. The fact is , as has been well said , "government is like a fence around a 'Yi farm. The fence raises no wheat , plants & no corn , harvests no crops. It only pro tects the farmer while he does his work himself , he each year giving a portion of his time and labor to keep the fence in repair. " So government builds no houses and buys no cool for winter , no shoes for the children. It only protects K * ' | us while wo do these things for our selves , we meantime contributing a portion tion of our earnings to keep the govern ment , like the fence , in repair. This government does not own the in dividual's property. He owns it him self. If not , how can John Smith take his herd to Canada ? The United States owns nothing but a few forts and arsen als and gunboats and now and then a postoffico building in a large city. If this government , like one of our churches , owes a debt no execution can touch the property of the individual member in either case. Some one says , "that is all right as far as it goes , but don't we use money in exchanging things we raise for things wo buy ? What about that ? " Now wo all have exaggerated ideas about the importance of money in this matter of making a living. Wo become frightened before wo get close enough to it to see its oper ations. Two men sat on a rock discussing the hard places in the farmer's road , among the rest the subject of malting hay for animals of the barn the coming winter. They concluded that if the people had moro wagons they could put up more hay. "Certainly , the more wagons the more hay wo can haul , " they said. The third man comes along. He says , "No , no , gentlemen , you are wrong. Myself and two sous put up over 100 tons of hay last fall , hauling it with two wagons. We could not have used moro wagon if we had had them , bnt we could have hauled twice as much hay with same wagons if we had only had the hay. " The wagons on the farm illustrate the money in business. Both are products of civilization. There was a time when neither was used by man. Both used in moving property. Both useless when idle. Suppose you had put your wagon under the shed two years ago and kept it there , and buried $1,000 in the ground same day ; what is either worth today more than it was then ? Take your pen cil to it. Will the money buy any more ? Neither wagon nor money is consumed by use like bacon and flour. The wagon will haul many loads in a year. The dollar will pay as many debts in the same time. On a well regulated farm only a small proportion is invested in wagons for the best of reasons. The wagon produces nothing. Suppose a farmer should awaken in the morning to find his wagon burned to ashes. Looking around he sees his farm , his barns , his granaries , his horses and his cattle and his fields of growing grain. He takes his pail and as he whistles , "Home , Sweet Home , " he goes and milks the cows. Turn the thing around , burn everything else save the wagon , and watch the farmer's feelings change. You ask me if we have enough money. I ask you if we have enough wagons. The great judgment of mankind , the highest tribunal on earth , says , "Yes , enough wagons and money too as much money as other nations of the earth have. ' ' The question of money interests me about as much as the question of wagons , no more. But there is a ques tion that interests me forty times more than either , and , strange to say , people don't talk about it. That is the question of property. The Youths' Companion recently stated that the property of the United States was $1,000 , to the individual , The records show the money of this country to be about $25 to the individ ual and our country has as much as the average nation. To simplify , the prop erty of this country bears about the same relation to the money of the coun try that one first class cow bears to one dollar about 40 to 1 hence to my mind property is that much more important with this advantage in favor of prop erty ; the cows , horses and sheep , not to mention the little red hen , all true to their natural instincts , multiply them selves over and over again for the benefit of their owner , while money , as THE CONSERVATIVE has truly said , has never been known to produce its owner a cent while in his possession. Not until it leaves him in exchange for other prop erty in some form is its owner bene fited by it. The point wo are trying to make is that the subject of property is far more important in the matter of making a liv ing than the subject of money forty times more and if men would only bond their energies toward the produc tion of property instead of regulating the money system , giving the subject of property at least the thought it deserves compared with money , they would be a long ways ahead. So far as I am able to judge the man engaged in general farming in the Western states today is able to buy with his property as much of the things of earth , including money , as he ever could anywhere. At least get as much for his labor. The truth is , the most fruitful source of wealth with us is the free coinage of grass that is , con verting grass into beef "without wait ing for the aid or consent of any other nation on earth. " This product of Na ture is found in abundance in many places. Grass costs practically nothing. Beef is a good price even under the gold standard. If the gold dollar is a two hundred-cent dollar as many have claimed then beef must be a double price , and hence there is a double argu ment in favor of coining grass. If all this is so and wo are getting as much for our work as our forefathers did we must not be bonding willows looking for wind-breaks , but we must go to work like they did and get our share of this world's property just as they did. With all the commotions in the at mosphere every two years about gold and silver I am profoundly convinced that we overlook the great , important matter of getting our share -of the world's property. If we only do that we shall have our share of the world's money. G. H. CARIIOLL. Miller , South Dakota. The engineers of the populist locomo tive all use the Chicago platform tenders with which to furnish themselves fuel and steam. But they lubricate with silver republicans. They all belong to the office-getters' guild. They damn all who belong to the office-holders' brotherhood. They wish the ins out and the outs in and of such is the kingdom of fusion. "The administration feels fully as sured , as long as Mr. Bryan and his favorite issue project themselves as the paramount fact of political consid eration , that it need take no thought of the result of elections , ' ' remarks The Des Moines Leader ( ind. ) "Mr. Bryan seems in perfect health , and his hold upon his party seems stronger than ever. Hence the administration goes to sleep of nights , and its slumbers are not disturbed by dreadful visions of what may happen. "
