In all discussions of the subject the creditors attempt to brush aside
the equities involved by sneering at the debtors. But, Mr. President,
debt is the distinguishing characteristic of modern society. It is
through debt that the marvelous developments of nineteenth century
civilization have been effected. Who are the debtors in this country?
Who are the borrowers of money? The men of enterprise, of energy, of
skill, the men of industry, of foresight, of calculation, of daring. In
the ranks of the debtors will be found a large preponderance of the
constructive energy of every country. The debtors are the upbuilders of
the national wealth and prosperity; they are the men of initiative, the
men who conceive plans and set on foot enterprises. They are those who
by borrowing money enrich the community. They are the dynamic force
among the people. They are the busy, restless, moving throng whom you
find in all walks of life in this country--the active, the vigorous, the
strong, the undaunted.
These men are sustained in their efforts by the hope and belief that
their labors will be crowned with success. Destroy that hope and you
take away from society the most powerful of all the incentives to
material development; you place in the pathway of progress an obstacle
which it is impossible to surmount.
The men of whom I have spoken are undoubtedly the first who are likely
to be affected by a shrinkage in the volume of money.
The highest prosperity of a nation is attained only when all its people
are employed in avocations suited to their individual aptitudes, and
when a just money system insures an equitable distribution of the
products of their industry. With our present complex civilization, in
order that men may have constant employment, it is indispensable that
work be planned and undertakings projected years in advance. Without an
intelligent forecast of enterprises large numbers of workmen must
periodically be relegated to idleness. Enterprises that take years to
complete must be contracted for in advance, and payments provided for.
A constant but unperceived rise in the value of the dollar with which
those payments must be made, baffles all plans, thwarts all calculation,
and destroys all equities between debtor and creditor. If we can not
intelligently regulate our money volume so as to maintain unchanging the
value of the money unit, if we can not preserve our people from the
blighting effects which an increase in the measuring power of the money
unit entails upon all industry, to what purpose is our boasted
civilization?
By the increase of that measuring power all hopes are disappointed, all
purposes baffled, all efforts thwarted, all calculations defied. This
subtle enlargement in the measuring power of the unit of money (the
dollar) affects every class of the working community. Like a poisonous
drug in the human body, it permeates every vein, every artery, every
fiber and filament of the industrial structure. The debtor is fighting
for his life against an enemy he does not see, against an influence he
does not understand. For, while his calculations were well and
intelligently made, and the amount of his debts and the terms of his
contracts remain the same, the weight of all his obligations has been
increased by an insidious increase in the value of the money unit.