Page:Coin's Financial School.djvu/136

118 where was standing. The little schoolmaster putting his hand on it, said:

"This ball, as proportioned to the largest one, indicates the debts of the world, which are, if we include debts of all kinds, about 200,000 million of dollars at the present time. The total value of all the property of the world in 1890 was about 450,000 million.

"This value has since been shrinking, and will continue to shrink until it is about one-half its present size as represented by this largest ball.

"But this ball that represents debts will not decrease any. Its present tendency is to grow larger.

"When this ball," indicating the one representing values of all property, "has shrunken to half its size, it will be about the size of this one representing debts.

"The history of nations shows that when the debts of a country are two-thirds of the value of all its property, disintegration sets in. Strikes—riots—revolution—provisional governments, as with our neighbors in South America at the present time.

"When you reduce wheat to 50 cents, and all other property accordingly, you don't reduce debts at all. You only make it harder to pay them.

A note executed five years ago which 1,000 bushels of wheat would then have paid, now takes about 1,500 bushels to pay.

Though we have paid since 1869 about 5,000 millions on our public debt in principal and interest, and have reduced the principal from 2,700 million to 1,000 million, it will now take as much of our property to pay the 1,000 million as would have paid the whole 2,700 million in 1869.

"A farmer may buy calico with his 50-cent wheat