Twentieth Century Socialism Part 16

[78] Since writing this I see that Jaures makes exactly the same observation in _Van Norden's Magazine_, August, 1909.

[79] The metronymic tribes were tribes in which there was practically no paternal relation. The mother was the head of the family and the offspring took her name. This condition of things prevailed for some time in ancient Egypt.

[80] This is elaborated in "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 96.

[81] "Government or Human Evolution," Vol. II, p. 102.

[82] Translation, see Appendix p. 422.

[83] Article 414 of the French Penal Code and Law of 1799 of the British Parliament.

[84] Book III, Chapter III.

[85] "Organized Labor." By John Mitch.e.l.l, p. 4.

[86] Ibid., p. 3.

[87] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, page 1.

[88] Bulletin of the Dept. of Labor, 1898, pp. 714-717.

[89] Andrew Carnegie's article on the Steel Industry in the Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. XIV.

[90] Statistical Abstract, 1908, p. 445.

[91] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. 1.

[92] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. XVII, p. lii.

[93] Ibid., p. liii, 1901.

[94] "Organized Labor," Chapter x.x.x.

[95] "Organized Labor," p. 240.

[96] Ibid., p. 163.

[97] "Organized Labor," p. 163.

[98] "English Socialism of To-day," pp. 99-100.

[99] Letter of Police Commissioner Bingham, New York city, N.Y.

_Times_, Jan. 5, 1908. See Appendix, p. 423.

[100] Book II, Chapter III.

[101] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 18.

[102] Report of the Industrial Commission, 1901, Vol. I, p. 29.

[103] Ibid., p. 31.

[104] "Most members of combinations feel that the tendency is to make work more permanent under the combination form of doing business, inasmuch as the combination is better able to adjust the supply of goods to the demand, and thus to secure regularity in their productive conditions." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. x.x.xi.

[105] "Some of the witnesses are of the opinion that the industrial combinations give to the labor unions a decided advantage, inasmuch as it enable them to deal with the trade as a whole instead of with separate manufacturers." Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol.

XIII, p. x.x.xii.

[106] Book II, Chapter I, Unemployment.

[107] Pittsburg Survey, Charities, XXI, p. 1063.

[108] Charities, XXI, p. 1035.

[109] Senate Reports, 52d Congress, 2d session, Vol. I, Rept. No.

1280, p. xiv.

[110] Ibid., p. xiii.

[111] _Political Science Quarterly_, March, 1908.

[112] See Appendix, p. 424.

[113] Many workingmen still believe in the possibility of strikes and even of a general strike. I do not take account of such strikes, because they have not yet occurred and labor does not seem organized upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale to make such strikes possible.

[114] Report of the Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, p. x.x.xi.

CHAPTER VI

MONEY

No attempt will be made in this chapter to enter upon the disputed questions regarding money, but only to point out undenied and undeniable facts in connection with its use and abuse.

Coin, whether gold or silver, is used all over the world as the medium of exchange. But gold and silver available for the purpose of coin are limited in amount and totally inadequate to serve as mediums of exchange without the a.s.sistance of other devices. Thus banks of issue are organized for the purpose of issuing paper money. This money is upon its face redeemable in coin, but banks of issue, relying upon the probability that all paper issued will not be redeemed on the same day, issue far more paper money than they have reserve in coin. In England, this reserve is notably small.

Business, too, is conducted largely on credit; that is to say, the trader buys goods not with coin, but with notes or promises to pay gold, relying upon the probability that he will sell the goods before his notes come due and thus be able to meet his notes with the proceeds derived from the sale of the goods purchased with these notes.

Industries, railroad companies, and transportation companies also use credit for the purpose of building and running their roads and factories. This credit takes the shape of permanent bonds and temporary accommodations of the same character as the notes used by private traders. The total number of bonds outstanding at par amount to-day in the United States alone to $13,500,000,000.[115] It is through the ability of railroad companies to issue bonds and credit notes that they are enabled in prosperous periods to extend their roads and factories.

Farmers also borrow largely upon their farms for the purchase of implements, live stock, improvements, etc. Recent figures of bonded indebtedness are not to be obtained; but they figure in the billions.

Again, cash payments are no longer made in coin; they are for the most part made by check. Checks are not paid in coin; they are cleared through clearing houses; the banks in every financial center belong to a clearing house through which they daily settle with one another, paying only differences of accounts in cash. Thus, in 1906, the total transactions of fifty-five banks in New York city amounted to over $103,000,000,000; yet the balances paid in money during the year only amounted to about $3,000,000,000--a proportion of 3.69. So that through the clearing-house system instead of exchanging gold to an amount of $103,000,000,000 the whole business was transacted with only 3.69 per cent thereof in coin.

The above figures tend to show how small a relation is borne by coin to the total exchanges of the world. Indeed, although coin is still the ultimate medium of exchange, commercial and industrial transactions are conducted for the most part through an enormous system of credit built upon a comparatively small amount of coin.

The importance of this is considerable, for it puts those who have coin and those who handle coin in a position which enables them to control the industrial and commercial activities of the Nation. This feature of our money system occasions what are called "financial crises" as distinguished from commercial crises. Commercial crises and industrial crises are due to overproduction. Financial crises are produced for the most part by a breaking down of credit.