Newspapers / The State’s Voice (Dunn, … / July 15, 1935, edition 1 / Page 2
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INTEREST DEEMED THE BETE NOIR OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS. (By PAUL BARRINGER, Sanford, N. C.) Preliminary to the Real Subject Many think that the wealth of this state has deliberately kept liquor agitation before the peo ple in order to divert their minds from economic subjects — this in the belief that a drunken peo ple are more easily controlled than a people sober enough to fully express themselves and their bet ter desires. Our recent legislature was apparently more interested in “liquor control” than in the well being of the whole people, and it is becoming in creasingly evident that many counties already have liquor control (control by liquor), with-the prospect of that control becoming more'and more apparent as liquor gets a better hold and can more easily control policies and elections. Wealth has always overstepped itself and seems always to forget that it is produced by sober, and not by drunken, workers. Concentration of Wealth Cause of Unemployment I did not sit down to write you about liquor but, having observed the attitude that many weal thy men have taken, I merely brought the above -in as an approach to a day and condition wherein n man may produce, may own and may have the liberty to exchange his surplus for the surplus of another to make a fuller and a better life. We have had at Washington a temporary pro gram of borrowing and spending, which was probably a necessity but which will soon burn itself out, leaving a burden that will crush the spirit of the producers and leave millions sucking an empty teat. It is quite generally conceded that a concen tration of wealth is the prime cause of unemploy • ment and want. This, because we have developed ® system that has segregated wealth in one sec tion and power to consume in another section. As I see it, nothing permanent or vital to its cor rection has been proposed except in one small instance of holding companies for utility opera tors. This was, of course, killed with the aid of those Sterling fefiersonian Democrats from North Carolina. Interest the Chief Culprit Believing sincerely in the capitalistic system and especially that definition which says “CAP ITALISM—the possession of property,’’ I am, after a thorough study, convinced that our eco nomic un-balance is caused largely by one thing, Interest. As a producer I get thoroughly peeved at the continued propaganda to throw the cause of the depression on the working men and women of the nation and the effort to seriously discuss in thigh places the advisability of scrapping highly developed machinery and technical knowledge in order to relieve unemployment. As a people we 'have learned through production how to banish starvation and to supply the reasonable wants of every one who is willing to give a reasonable re turn in goods or services for what he gets. I know that our trouble is in distribution and I also know that we probably have the most effect ive system of distribution that the world has ever known. I believe that it is not the fault of our system of distribution which is to blame. Credit Load Too Heavy For Public to Bear We have built up a debt structure through banks, insurance companies, personal, corporate and public financing until the' load by its own i interest accruals is so heavy that the possibility of trade is blocked and the ability of the public (working) to carry it is destroyed. Thus its in crease has had the encouragement of those who have tried td switch their private credits to the government and have to a large extent succeeded in doing so. What we have in the bank we call money but when we go through a bank closing period, as only a short while ago, we find that banks do not deal in money but in credit. They are not depositories of money but depositories, or ware houses if you please, of credit. Banks are neces sary for the proper functioning of our commerce just as they are necessary for the proper protec tion of credit for the owners thereof. The ser vice rendered is for the owner of the credit and the owner should pay for its keep just as he would for the storage of a bale of cotton in a warehouse. I may be wrong in this, and judging by the ex isting custom I know I am wrong, but I have no criticism of our great corporations earning money and paying dividends; nor of any worker, whether great or small, getting amply repaid for the goods exchanged or the service rendered. I pbject to Jhose jvho continually, withQut effort tie themselves onto creative effort and sap its strength without giving anything' in return. I believe that the. persons drawing interest on bonds is just as surely receiving a dole as the most humble negro going to the CWA for his weekly quota of flour. Interest Absorbs Fourth of Income It is generally conceded that total production in the United States is today around fifty billions of dollars annually in value. It is generally ac cepted that we have about two hundred billions of debt, probably a little more (public, corpor ate, and private). This at six per cent will make a yearly interest charge of twelve billions annually. One fourth "of all production to pay interest for which the producer receives a nice little slip of paper saying interest paid to Janu ary first! I see nothing morally wrong in interest, but I do see that it has reached the stage where it is the prime cause of unemployment and is dis rupting the; stability and moral integrity of this nation, just as it did in the Roman Empire. The introduction of the machine for the pro duction of' wealth has greatly intensified the burden of interest, as we have used every con ceivable means to turn property into interest bearing credit until we have destroyed the value of property and enhanced the value of credit, which of itself has no intrinsic value. Its value is built upon the continued use of property, la bor, and mental ability in creative effort and in distribution and consumption. Credit a Commodity—The Only Commo dity That Grows Credit is a commodity and the omy commodi ty, I think, that appreciates in value, after it be comes a finished product capable of being thrown into banking channels. This credit should have a normal depreciation if not used in creative and consumptive channels just as a crib of corn is sub ject'to the weevil or other causes of depreciation instead of growing its per cent while in the crib as does credit in the bank. The owner of credit should pay for its keep and he forced to eat on the principal if puts it to no constructive use. The founders of this country realized what would happen through continued ownership of property and I believe wrote it into our basic law that there should be no entailment of prop erty. This has, in a great way, been circumvented through the establishment of institutions for the purpose of entailing credit until its own accruals have practically eaten up the liquid funds of the country. Interest accounts for much of the concentra tion of wealth, but together with birth control it is largely responsible for the many economic ills that have beset us. I am not one of those who see a good purpose in breaking up large estates and having them taken over by the government, as this procedure would accentuate the demand for liquid capital or cre dit. I still'believe that the basis of solid govern ment and stable society is the natural family unit. I believe that the family trained in the use of accumulated wealth is in a better position to administer it for the public good than is the government. I believe without the use of inter est these families would be forced to go into creative effort to exchange their surplus with others or that they would soon go into eclipse, as the old t;adition of “three generations from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves” asserted itself. Let Taxes Decrease as Number of Consumers Increasesi Believing that natural re-actions should be en couraged, I would relieve all large estates of in heritance taxes if there were as many as eight children in the family and then increase the rate of taxation in direct proportion to the decrease in children. This might have to have some slight variations but as a fundamental principal it should stand. This would prevent, through the generations, a segregation of wealth through stagnation of increase among the wealthy while the poor in creased in number. We speak of the present system as an economy of want, and demand an economy of plenty, but I can see no fundamental changes other than those listed. There may be some, for my vision is limited, but trying to get something for noth ing and getting it through the interest system always comes to my mind as the prime cause of our economic breakdown. The troubles of interest gave the Romans a proverb of which the literal of translation is that it was the cause of most dissension and rebellion. This is equally true for all time, for a study of its effgcts have convinced me tljat it has through out history ensiled more people than all tyr ants, destroyed more initiative than all socialistic ..governments, and accomplished regimentation n\\ .a scale that no New Dealer could ever Conteni plate. Ability to Absorb Interest Charges Lost Bfecause of our past development in vi-oju territory our nation has been able to absorb the interest charge but now, having possessed thi • new Jand, we are again face to face with interest and if we are to move forward continual! v. prp vate initiative must be encouraged, prorluctir-i and distribution must be encouraged, accumula tion for one's family must be encouraged--but. be sure that1 there is a family to receive it. If there is no interest charge allowed, that fondly must produce or consume its inheritance, anil ■wealth will be distributed in an orderly and nat ural way. There will be no more plowing up acres when others who are in want would give what the owner desires for his acres’ products. The factory could distribute without interest’s taking its fourth and selling in a distressed market of its own makings We could have a distribution and production limited only by one’s desire and will ingness to give in exchange. Wealth would have the ability to maintain itself only bv rendering a service and not by fastening itself as a barna cle on some unsuspecting producer never to be shaken off. Ownership yes; common stocks yes; and let them earn what they may. Bonds yes; security yes; but with these no earning power. Credit then would not be considered wealth, and money would become a true measure of wealth. A perfect day, no. Human beings still have onery 'streaks in them, or some of them have, I am told, but the economic pressure would be lifted while the system we have could distribute the wants of ‘.the millions from one to another as they produc ed the desires of the nation. NECROLOGY As the last copy was being prepared for the Voice, came the news of the death of our good friend and that fine physician and valuable citi zen, Dr. R. B. Wilson of Newton Grove. We are sorry. His passing means the loss of another of the old line of country physicians, whose min istrations have been a boon to distr ;sed hu Taj-dily, we pay a word of tribute to :hev. Vr. Bost, whose life work lay in Durham and whose services were labors of love. Less than a thou sand dollars his estate was estimated to be. Hut that was on earth; there lias been no reckoning of the treasures laid up in heaven, “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.” A far safer invest ment that than the millions of another North Carolinian who has just passed, though I have no information at all upon the heavenly invest ments of Bowman Gray. Yet the poor preacher probably enjoyed life in this old world as well as did the millionaire, and his name will longer be reverenced. Down in Sanford, Florida, passed three weeks ago Frank J. Gonzalez, a brother-in-law of Yrs. Peterson. Debarred from business for two or three years by a complication of diseases, includ ing almost total blindness, he spent his last days in spiritual development. Kneeling by his bed he .remain an hour in prayer, arose lay down with his hands folded upon his breast and dropped to sleep to awake no more m this vale or may Of one of the old Spanish families of Colonial Florida and engaged^ in business in Sanford tor forty years, the merchants of the little city paid striking tribute to his worth by closing the stoirs of the city for an hour during his obsequies. A few miles from Dunn, a few days ago. 111 one of tbe old ante-bellum homes which lay "'d v in the range of the cannon shots from the bah e of Averasboro, passed Eugene Smith, at the age of sixty. His life had been one of uprightness am civic service. As chairman of the Harnett county board of education for years, he performed a magnificient service for the people of IEine county. We. quote a beautiful tribute from an editorial in the Harnett County News—in"t a sentence or two, but enough to glorify the cha'al ter of any man. Says Editor Steele: “ ‘A gentleman’s gentleman,’ it has been said of him, and that comes nearer fitting him t ian anything else, except it should perhaps be Co< gentleman.” Mr. Smith and his family have been very: to the editor and his family since our confin Duhn. Mrs. Smith, in fact, is a relative, fon1iei • Miss Mary. Robinson of Clinton, whoserg1 a1^ mother was a Peterson. To her and to then la ^ ily of fine sons and daughters, We extenc|,s)n1h thy, as we do to the families of the others me tioned and to those of other friends who ^ passed but for comment space is noLsii»lu<n'
The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.)
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July 15, 1935, edition 1
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