OCR Text |
Show PWMT P106RESS1V 0 Official National Organ of Natural Development Assn., A New Economic System " " FOR IIU3IAN Vol 2, No. 13. N ABOVE SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH APRIL 7, 1933 PRICE $2.00A YEAR WELFARE-MA- MONEY EDITED BY C. N. LUND. 52 POST OFFICE PLACE Let the People Own All the Public Utilities Lrfc MOVE STARTED FOR A SOME TRUTH ABOUT THE MUNICIPAL POWER PLANT PRESENT BANKING SYSTEM WHAT PROGRESSIVE LEADERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THEM (Taken in part from a Correspondent in llano Colonist). Thomas Jefferson said, I sincerely believe that the proposed banking system is more dangerous than standing armies." Benjamin Franklin's money, issued of Pennsylby the Commonwealth vania, loaned to the people without interest (thus, a person borrowing return $100 per year for ten years, when the mortgage would be cancelled), produced the most prosperous people under anything like similar circumstances in the worlds history. Their prosperity being so conspicuous that the House of Parliament brought Mr. Franklin before them to explain the cause, which he jdid in his characteristic simplicity. "It is on account of the ease with which the products of one mans toil can be exchanged for the products of another man's toil, with the money they have $1000 would adopted." As Franklin and Jefferson helped frame our Constitution, we should know what it means when it says the "Congress alone shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof. Vr This Paper Is For the People Beginning with this issue this paper becomes a pronounced exponent of the idea of community ownership of all public utilities. We are firmly convinced that it will be for the best interests of 90 per cent of all the people everywhere to own and control their light, power, gas and other utilities, and we shall work diligently toward that end. Those who believe likewise are hereby invited to lend us their aid by subscribing and helping to circulate the paper more extensively. We also stand for government control of the banking business and a bearing medium of exchange. We are not losing enthusiasm for N. D. A., but simply supplementing it. non-intere- st AS IT APPEARS Communism has the following prinEvery political party has declared ciples for its platform,- no matter how against any centralized money or many economic .theories may be banking power on the Free Soil of wrapped around it in disguise, or what America. false names it may assume. They are President Jackson saw their the principles . now in operation in and with his hickory club Russia the avowed enemy of all govtall timber, for the ernments and particularly of the Unitto them 'fdrove . time being, but they came back. ed States of America. President Lincoln .signed the re(1) Abolition of all ordered govcast of the National banking act. Un-- ", ernment. Abolition of the family (of constitutionally delegating the power to issue token money to greedy pri-- 1 marriage and the substitution vate corporations on which to collect of communal education for the j tribute, they demanding the. children). of the greenbacks and demoni-tizatio- n (3) Abolition of all religion. of aihfer, leaving them a prac-- j (4) Abolition of patriotism. Lincoln, it must be tical monopoly. (5) Abolition of private property. remembered, did this with fear and (6) Abolition of inheritance liberations. trembling over the future results. President Taft referred to the national banking system as The pres- -' ANOTHER 230,000 LOSE JOBS IN MARCH cnt miserable patchwork that satisfies with-draw- al . nobody. r President Theodore Roosevelt, after the system had been working for 45 Comyears, appointed the Industrial mission, who reported in 1915 that the Rich 2 per cent of the people own 60 per cent of the wealth, and the Poor 65. per cent of the people own only 5 per cent of the wealth." Woodrow Wilson said: We have been dreading all along the time when the combined power of high finance would be greater than the power of the government. Have we come to the time when the President of the United States or any man who wishes to be President, must doff his cap in the presence of this high finance and .say, you are our inevitable ruler, but we will see how we can make the best of.it? Not so in the case of President Roosevelt He has taken the bull by the horns and is out with the' law after the dishonest bankers. His work is very good, but the only system that will give permanent relief is for the government to take over the banks and operate them, not for profit but for the good of the people. & A SCRIPTURE LESSON FOR TODAY And whosoever la content with his wealth while so much as one man in the whole land shall lack bread, the same enter not Into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore I say unto you, upon the thee of the earth there la not For If seen one good rich man. good, ha would not consent to be rich and at ease while his brethren are suffering and poor. Though a rich man oft has words of brotherhood upon hla Ups, yet hath he no brotherhood In hks heart, or ho would no longer remain itch. ' GROUP SEEKS INITIATIVE PETITIONS FOR. PROJECT Initiative petitions seeking adoption of an ordinance authorizing the city to build or buy a municipal electric power plant were sought at the city recorder's office Saturday by a group of Salt Lake residents. The proposed ordinance would empower the city to issue $18,000,000 in power bonds, to be repaid by proceeds derived from operating the plant. A special fund would be set up for payment of interest and retirement of the bonds. Features .of the project as outlined in the proposed ordinance are: 1. Establishment of service charges sufficient to meet interest and payment of the bonds and to cover operating, maintenance and depreciation charges. 2. Maximum rates not to exceed the existing schedule of charges for different classes of service as established by the state securities commission and effective in Salt Lake. 3. Any surplus of income over expenses to be transferred from the special bond fund to the general fund for reduction of taxes. 4. After acquisition or construction of the plant, termination of all contracts to supply the city with electricity for heat, power or lights, provided the contracts are terminable at the citys option. 5. Acquisition of suitable land if construction of a plant should be necessary. Petition and Ordinance Following is the full text of the 'official petition and the proposed ordinance which the city commission is asked to en act: INITIATIVE PETITION To the Honorable Ethel McDonald, City Recorder of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, State of Utah: ' We, the undersigned citizens and legal voters of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, respectfully demand that the following proposed ordinance shall be submitted to the Board of City Commissioners of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, for its approval, or rejection at the regular meeting thereof to be held on the day of 193 , and each for himself says I have personally signed this petition; I am a legal voter of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, adand my residence and post-offidress are correctly written after my Sec. 2. Forthwith after the adoption of this, ordinance, the Board of City Commissioners shall prepare and adopt plans and specifications for, and shall acquire or construct, upon land now owned or hereafter to be acquired by the city, in accordance with such plans and specifications, a plant for the generation of electricity, including the requisite distribution system and street lighting system, sufficient in capacity for the present and reasonable future needs of the city; said entire electric plant and system, when acquired or constructed, to be owned, maintained and operated by Salt Lake City for the purpose of furnishing light and power to the city and its inhabitants. Sec. 3. To pay for the cost of the acquisition or the construction of the electric plant and system contemplated by this ordinance, Salt Lake City shall issue its obligations to be known and described as Salt Lake City Municipal Light and Power Revenue .Bonds, in an aggregate principal amount not exceeding $18, (XX), 000, to bear such date and with such rate of . RUSSIAN COMMUNISM DEFINED Washington. William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, in a statement tonight, estimated that 230,000 persons lost their jobs in March, bringing the total unemployed well over 13,000,000." name. Peoples Ordinance No COURAGE An Ordinance authorizing Salt Lake Now, this IB --year-old young man City, Utah, to acquire, own, mainA Federal Commission of Emtain and operate an electric plant ployment shall be established. It and system for furnishing electricity1 will collect data concerning the for light and power purposes to the amount of work done during the City and its inhabitants, and providlast twelve months and the amount for the construction, mainteing of work proposed for the next nance and operation of such plant D1 twelve months. The Statistical and system. vision of the Department of Labor Be It Ordained by the Board of City and Statistical Departments of all Commissioners of Salt Lake City, States can supply the necessary InUtah: formation from data at hand. The Section 1. That Salt Lake City, same organisations can got Informs Utah, TNM1, in the manner provided tlon concerning the people now by this ordinance .acquire, own, mainworking and the people out of work. tain and operate an electric plant and It will be a very easy task to cal- system for furnishing electricity for culate the number of hours of work light and power purposes to the city which enn he given to every and its inhabintants. able-bodi- ed worker. There are various kinds of courage and manliness to be met with In llfo but It Is a long time slnee i heard as good and stirring example as that shown In this story of Mr. Viator Smith, who Is still with us end waiting for the ehanoe to fly back to South Africa. Mr. Smith was offered 1000 pounds by a firm of distillers if he would ask for a whisky and milk, as soon as just for a he landed. He refused. He was also offered a cheque for 400 pounds if he would eay that he smoked a certain brand of cigarettes on his way. Nothing of the sort, said young Mr. Victor Smith. Also, at the hotel where he was staying, surrounded with admiration, someone bought him a special South African cocktail. Thank you, but I never take cocktails, mid Mr. Victor Smith. . pick-me-u- p, GOOD INSTRUCTIVE FOUDS BOSTON interest and maturity dates and other provisions as may be fixed and determined by the Board of City Commissioners. Such bonds shall be paid, both principal and interest, solely from the proceeds derived by the city from the operation of the municipal light plant and system contemplated by this ordinance. Sec. 4. To provide funds for the payment of the interest to accrue upon said Salt Lake City Municipal Light and Power Revenue Bonds, and to retire said bonds at their maturity. Salt Lake City shall establish a special fund, to be known as the Municipal Electric Light Fund," into which shall be paid all revenue derived by the city from the operation of the electric plant and system contemplated by this ordinance. The city shall, through the appropriate action of its Board of City Commissioners, establish and enforce a schedule of charges for electric current, sufficient at all times punctually to pay the interest accruing upon said municipal light and power revenue bonds, to discharge the principal thereof at maturity and to cover all operating expenses, maintenance and depreciation charges, all in accordance with such approved methods of operation and accounting as are usually applied in the operation of similar utilities by public corporations, but the maximum rate the city will charge for said electric current, shall not exceed the present schedule of charges for the different classes of service as established by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Utah effective in Salt Lake City. Out of said special funds the City shall pay the necessary costs and expenses of the efficient and economical maintenance and operation of said municipal light and power system; the interest as the same shall accrue and the principal at maturity of the municipal light and power revenub bonds wfiich may be issued and outstanding under the provisions of this ordinance; and after the foregoing deductions and payments, extension and improvements of the system or for the purchase and retirement of the Salt Lake City Municipal Light and Power Revenue Bonds, to be issued as con- - SECRETARY OF BUREAU VISITS SALT LAKE UNIT Dr. E. J. Helms of Boston, Secretary of the Bureau of Goodwill Industries, spent part of a day this week with President Stringham inquiring into and discussing the N. D. A. The Goodwill Industries of which orDr. Helms is secretary, is self-heganization covering most of the nation and numbering many thousand lp members. When Dr. Helms left he took with a copy of the book Natural Government, which he read on board the eastbound train. A few days later, Mr. Stringham received a letter in which Dr. Helms asked that the N. D. A. consider cooperating with the Goodwill Industries. Read the Paper Or You Perish Under the caption Think or Perish," van Loon, the author of "The Story of Mankind," recently wrote: Today, in the midst of the greatest revolution the world has ever seen, there is only one unpardonable sin INDIFFERENCE. And there is another sin, almost as unpardonable as the first, and that is IGNORANCE. Before the Throne of Coming Events, it will avail you nothing to explain, Well, I did not understand, or So many things had happened, I just could not keep interest." For you shall go down into the limbo of those who do not deserve to survive those who had ears to hear, yet heard not; and eyes to see, yet saw not. In the olden days, before the Machine became our Iron Man Friday, people obeyed the law: Work or Starve. Today the sloThink or Perish." And gan is: since none of us are alone on this planet and since all of us are influenced by the ideas of our neigh- bors, "Think dr Perish really means Read or Perish." Ex. NEW YORK CHILDREN STARVE NEW YORK CHILDREN UNDERNOURISHED The press has given out that 55 per cent of New York's children are suffering from malnutrition, which means that they are undernourished and thereby become dwarfed in body and mind and generally come to premature graves. Would it be wrong to confiscate the centralized and corrupt wealth of that Tammany ruled city and use it for making healthy and educated these impoverished children in order to bring them to good citizenship? No, it would not. The welfare of children should be above money and above profit. God heap mercy on the future of any city that permits its childhood to be starved and stunted. templated by this ordinance, and thereafter to the general fund for the reduction of taxes. Sec. 5. After the adoption of this ordinance, no contracts for supplying Salt Lake City, or its inhabitants, with electricity for light, heat and power purposes, contrary to the provisions of or the purposes contemplated by this ordinance, shall be entered into by the Board of City Commissioners or by any officer, agent or representative of the city; and when the electric plant and system contemplated by this ordinance has been acquired and is ready for operation by the city, all contracts to supply the city or its inhabitants with electricity for light, heat or power purposes, terminable at the option of the city, shall forthwith be terminated. Sec. 6. The Board of City Commissioners of Salt Lake City and the proper officers, agents and employees of Salt Lake City, are hereby authorized and directed to effectuate all of the provisions of this ordinance, to the end that the municipal light and pow"Your book," he wrote, "is a fine er system contemplated by this ordianalysis of present conditions and a nance shall be ready for operation by sane explanation of the way out. the , 193...- -, day of. Also that he would write further on or as soon thereafter as possible. the matter of working in harmony See. 7. In the opinion of the Boaitl with the Goodwill Industries. of Commissioners of Salt City, The headquarters of the Goodwill it is necessary to the peace, health and Industries are in Boston. It is setting safety of said city that this ordinance the unemployed to work on the theory become operative immediately. that the only cure for unemployment Sec. 8. Now, Therefore, Be It Oris employment. The crippled and dained, that an emergency is hereby those whom industry cannot use, are declared and this ordinance shall take trained in useful work and made effect and be in force upon the day of its passage,-- approval and publication. The movement is sponsored by Passed by the Board of Commissioners of Salt Lake Cty, Salt Lake many churches, but is not sectarian. In answer to Dr. Helms' proposal County, State of Utah, and approved 1933. for cooperation between the two or- this day of President Xganizations, Stringham SIwrote that the N. D. A. would be glad to consider the matter. Mayor. ASKS CO-O- P FOR MENTAL DIGESTION NM. HELP By Will Dobson STRANGE FELLOWS Here in Utah, politics have made strange bedfellows. We have a Democratic governor and a group of Democratic state senators who are opposed to most of the important policies outlined in the National Democratic platform and advocated by Roosevelt. Most of these policies were defeated by these senators in the recent legislature. What got by the senators was vetoed by the governor. Yet these opponents of Democracy went into office on the Democratic ticket. To the average voter it would appear that they had defied their parthe votty leaders and double-crosse- d ers who placed trust in them. THE FARMER AND THE WORKER If the organized farmers of Utah will join with the wage earners in an organized demand for decent state government, they will get it. They can check the crusade of organized finance against our public schools. They can force a reduction in pow- er, light, gas and telephone rates. They can place the tax burden on incomes in proportion to ability to pay instead of on homes, farms and the necessities of life. They can restore majority rule in Utah and abolish government by corplobbies. oration-paid PURCHASING POWER , President Roosevelt is going at the farm problem backwards. Instead of cutting down production, he should be creating a market. His plan is destructive instead of constructive. The only reason the farmers have no market is that so many million are unemployed and the balance are working for Chinese wages. Give all workers jobs at adequate wages, and see how fast the market revives. Workers are spenders if they get anything to spend. It is not wages but dividends and interest that are hoarded. This depression will never be even dented until wages come first and profits last. The market of the farmer is in the pocket of the worker. So, for that matter, is the market of the mill, the mine and the factory. Pay the worker, and see industry revive. When you rob him you rob Economics are simple yourself. enough. It is greed that is complex and creates the problems. THE ONLY INVESTMENT The many billions of dollars the government has been vainly pumping into our financial system through the R. F. C. should have been put in at the bottom in the shape of wages. If this had been done by Hoover in the first place, there would not be any banking, railroad nor farm problem today, because there would be enough money in circulation to furnish these groups the needed business. The government should compel every industry to pay adequate wages and finance the payment to a stage where the industry could stand on its own feet. Wages is the only investment the government can afford because it is the only outlay that will cure the depression. As soon a? the government puts the unemployed back to work at adequate wages and compels the payment of like wages throughout all industry, the depression will vanish. Until then, it will never leave us. Pay the workers good wages. They will immediately spend them. Business will revive, factories will have a market, farmers will have a call for their products, and railroads and bank have a call for their services. Indefensible profits and too low wages caused this depression, cutting wages and firing workers deepened and prolonged it. Only resumption of work at high wages can cure it. Attest: City Recorder. (Seal). |