230 
Annual Uepobt of the 
Therefore, I say to you that the agriculture of to-clay, while it 
requires nerve and untiring perseverance, presents to me a bright 
and happy future. 
INTEREST ON MONEY—A HIGH RATE RUINOUS TO 
PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY. 
BY SECRETARY W. W. FIELD, BOSCOBEL. 
Office at Madison. 
Money is a convenient medium of exchange of the varied pro¬ 
ducts of a people. It is a friendly and valuable servant when used 
as was intended by those who instituted it for exchange. It is im¬ 
practicable if not impossible for each person to grow or manufac¬ 
ture every article he may desire or need, hence the wisdom of gov¬ 
ernments in making or coining money for the benefit and conveni¬ 
ence of all. It may not possess any of the qualities or elements 
necessary to supply our daily needs, but is simply a representative of 
each and all. A grows grain, B produces meat and other products 
of the soil, C mines coal and other minerals, D manufactures cloth, 
E boots and shoes, F hats and caps, G the useful and beautiful in 
art, and so on to the end of human wants, each contributing some¬ 
thing to the physical, moral or spiritual condition of man, hence 
making life more pleasant and enjoyable. 
To barter or sell the products of each to all the others is difficult 
and expensive, but either may be sold for money, the legal repre¬ 
sentative of each and all of these commodities, and this money can 
be exchanged for each or all of the other products, at the leisure of 
the possessor or to suit his convenience or necessity. 
A person may convert his property into this medium of exchange, 
representing thousands of dollars, place it in his pocket and take it 
with him to distant parts of the country without inconvenience, 
and there purchase pioperty again or loan it for interest, while if 
he should desire to transport property, actual value, the same dis¬ 
tance, it would be burdensome, and for some property quite impos¬ 
sible. These are the beauties and benefits of money. They show 
clearly that it is an excellent servant* a valuable representative of 
all desirable things. But how is it when this representative of all 
