“I am aware that some of your zealous people will say that this Wisconsin farmer was not a wise and prudent man for buying that $6,000 farm on time when he had nothing to pay for it. I fully agree with them; for, as I claim, no system of money is good which does not eliminate all credit. It is this unwiseness which I am here endeavoring to show, but these zealous people who condemn this Wisconsin farmer have helped to make still worse contracts. Let us see what they are. “In 1866 the national debt of the U. S. was $2,783,000,000; and in 1890 it was about $1,183,000,000. About the year 1866 wheat was worth about $2.50 a bushel, and if the national debt had been contracted to be paid in _wheat_ (instead of dollars, remember), it would have required, in 1866, about 1,008,000,000 bushels (one billion, eight millions). In 1890 wheat was worth about 60 or 70 cents, and the national debt was $1,183,334,688. At that price it would have required about 1,900,000,000 bushels. Thus you see that you owed about 90,000,000 bushels more in 1890 than you owed in 1866. “In making this comparison, I use wheat because I believe it to be one of your foremost staples, but you can use beef, pork, oats, corn, wool, kegs of nails or any other important staple. You will notice, then, that it is not a scarcity of any particular commodity in 1866 and an ‘over-production’ in 1890, but that it lies in the varying purchasing power of the dollar. In 1866 a farmer could purchase $2.50 with one bushel of wheat (remember that the buying of _money_ is the first half of a commercial transaction); money was cheap then. In 1890 he could purchase only 60 cents for a bushel. The capitalists who hold the money made money scarce, so that they could receive a large quantity of _commodities_ for a dollar of it. Thus you see that your capitalists are not only robbing the masses by charging interest, but also by increasing the purchasing power of the dollar. You see, he holds the dollar; the poor man has no dollars.