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principal and interest on these "investments." Now, when England is spending five billions of dollars a year in war, Parliament is assured that they can carry on the war five years on what the debtor nations owe England. Had it not been for the single gold standard, which enabled them to draw such vast wealth from their bonds and "investments," they would not have the means to carry on so great a war. Nor would their interests prompt them to do it. It is the desire to keep up this system of drawing wealth from other nations that has caused the war. England wants a monopoly of this "business," and Germany is fighting for "self-preservation," that is, to keep England from getting all or more than her share of the trade and wealth of other countries. Under the gold and silver system of money that had existed for thou- sands of years these nations could not have drawn such fabulous wealth from "investments" in other countries, and this greatest war the world has ever known would in all human probability not have ever been, and surely not during the present age. It was forced on the United States by the great money power of England and Germany, in the interest of great wealth, when they were drawing billions of dollars for bonds, stocks and all kinds of investments in America, all made payable in gold coin of much greater purchasing power than the original investments, constantly being rein- vested and increasing in values. Now this vast increase of wealth in the hands of the already wealthy owners of stocks and bonds and accumulated money, by laws increasing the power of their accumulated capital, at the expense of the debtors and laborers, is reacting with terrible force against those who did it. It is sweeping away billions of dollars, millions of lives, and destroying the labors of a century. War expenses, war taxes and income taxes will take all their income in "gold coin" and some more, and they will be glad to remonetize silver and have the money of the world, gold and silver, when this war is over.
In the United States silver continued to be standard of
