The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-02-13

indnstrlons Deiehbors were working. Did
the merchants lose these debts! No, they
tackled their losses Oh the accounts OF goou
men who were disposed TO pay their de6ts,
and This was the class that suffered. Men
got supplies, and hired number OF hands,
and being i'm provident managers and inca
pable farmers, they only made hall cToi s.
Their laboreFs would soon begin 10 suner
for supplies, and commence depredating
uD1n their industrious neigh6Ors and La
borers on well-conducted places likewise
become demoralized. And this was the be-
ginning OF The lawieSsness IN his county and
Southwest Mississippi, and the lien law was
responsible for it. Il was bad > stem:
The coiored men had been the principal
sufferers by the law, and IL would De great
Nv to tn ir benz ii if the law rcpea ed.
He said thar The merchants ia his section
had been cXtOrtiona't, selling provisions,
even on the 1T OF September AT l00 7
cent. profit. There was not merchant III
the town OF Sammit that did not charge
tIoar 30 To $50 per cent profit, aHd THESE
prices wer,- the result OF tie lien law sys
lem The laborers have been working siard
from year % year, and they cannot get oQt
of debt and are b coming discouraged Ii
The farmer and the iaoOier worked toSetn-
er, il tise farmer had control OF The labor, lt
would be better for both.
Mr. Shands said: He cid not expect To
change the vote of any member, but as he
had proposed the substitute, he would CIV"
HIS i6 t>OilS 1lGlaOuHt OCkOh - - " tAiee-
profession of whom Henry Clay sal |, they
worked harder. lived better, aud died poorer
than any ctheTs-thc lIw-Ee had aisp been
IA tarDer, and filled every position on a
farm from talt . a ii IL hand up. I'll =,
Iheie tore. thought he underSto ODD the sub
Jet. The lien law OF 1867. was a running
ulcer, undermining the State OF Mississippi
and it was tine t. call In phys clan.
There was never yet patient So sick bnt
thai hope was left, and he still tn )94ht
there Was hope for Mississippi Our Il ter
Southern States had tried e ime plan
bat not being as fertile aud produc; i've as
eur own-had been forced to repeal the
taw sooner than ourselves. Is the lea law
a good one? he had only heard one mem
b r argue hat it was beneticial-that was
Gen. GholsoE, who Gad assisted in making
the law, and had a pecu lar affection for it,
Ii it is IA bad law, who suHrrs from Il !:
Certainly not the rich man, nor the mer-
cnant who sells his goods. either honesty
or dishonesty Though ne ina nothing to
say against them. 1t only Injured the
iaboring classes who mad used IL provis
ions. IL was short sighted aud mi>tak en-
policy winch caused is enactment eleven
years ago. The products OF Mississippi
were as great in 1877 as in lS59--there are
no more people to ieetl now than then. bur
one was Il time OF great prosperity, and
the other the reverse; S40,010,U0O came an
nuallY into Missi, sippi, hlt did not remain
long enough to do any good. Tie DAD not
nticipate great reiiei from Natio 1al Il Ia n
cial me ,Sures. 1t had been a ser It'd hat it
would be arrogance for Tie Legislature TO
undertake To b. the guardians OF the people
and sly whether hey should have credit or
not. If his reading of the Constitution
we're CORE ct. we were the guardians
of the people. The Legislature pre-
scribed rules Tor the sale OF liquors,
laws, and he thought it the great duty of
the Legislature to look after tile inter, SITS Of
the people. lie thought the State had sui
fcr.d more from the lrin law than from
Radical rule. Tue law had destroyed all
credit except upon crops TO be grown, yet
some gentleman proposed to restore credit
by votlng to continue this law. He thought
the better plan would be TO get rid OF il by
gradual emancipation" What class de-
sired the continuance of this law? He an
swered the merchant class. lie has been
claimed that the lien law had kept the lands
of rhe country from being sold, and that the
mOrtgaged crop going to tbe merchants mac
saved the lands, The merchants claimed
that they had lost money enough by the
lien law to absorb all the lanNin the State :;
still they desired its continuance. n . doubt
they had met losses in speculationS, but
their gains had more than made up for their
losses. There was a greater and stronger
cry coming from the laborerS of the coun-
try asking that, by some means, they be
brought out from under the baneful intlu
ences of the lien law. lie did not think there
was a man who desired the law to be per-
manent, but hoped, ut some futu day, to
get rid OF it, Some suffering might en>ue
III the substitute were ad opted, bat it would
be the suffering like haviag an aching
tooth pulled. The substitute proposed TO
ease the people down from this law
Every argument in favor OF the lien law
RreSnpposed that We would a Il Ias waI e
continued. But give people warning that
the law is to be discontinued, and they will
begin to set their houses in order; it Will
command the people to wake up from their
lethaIgy and 90 TO work Our system OF
IN tort gaging a crop before planted, is as OBJ
noxious to moralists as the species of gamb-
ling known as dealing in futures. The
substitute proposed that when crop was
in existence it could be mOrtgaged. The
effect would be to cause economy and pru-
dence, until their crop was in such cOndi-
ton that credit could be obtained and then
the farmer could ask for credit with much
better grace than now, and there would be
competition tor his trade. and those enOr
nous prof S which had been alluded to
wnuld be cut off. There might be some
suffering; but ''now is the accepted time"
Too much cotton is grown in Mississippi,
Tut so long as the lien law was in force il
had to be raised to pay debts. The increase
of exemptions of broad-tuffs was a good
move.
Mr.. Speaker Percy (Mr. Gholson in
the Ckair,) said: The magnitude of the
subject was sufficient apology for his ap
pearance on the floor. In his opinion it
was the most important subject before the
House the present session. The agricultural
interest of Mississippi was involved, and
whatever law was enacted or repValed should
be we'll thought over and carefully consider
ed, for upon its issue might depend The future
welfare of the State. II had been said there
was only one who had the boldness to all
vocate the law-he would be the second one.
He thought it beneticent law, and the
fact of MIR. Gholson's assisting in framing
il entitled it to the respect of Mississippians.
He was surprised by the arguments that had
been adduced. The law had been denounced
as a bad one. but he had heard nothing to
prove il. We are a poor people, but is the
IN law the cause of itS Look back ten
years ago: there was in circulation 50 or
81 for one now; cotton was worth % to
30 cents per pound, now it is and 10 cents
per pound. Is not this the cause of the
present distress? 1f not our condition
ought to be an exceptional one, and our sis |
ter States should be prOsI erous But look at |
their condition. In the great Northwest |
where the russian war created demand for |
their products. and where there was no lien |
law, there was a million suffering people |
In the great city of New York the value of
properly has shrunk in the last ten wears rs |
per cent. Failures and prOStratiOns were !
The rule. Did the lein law cause this? No; |
there was no leln law the re-t was the re- |
suit of general eau es and national legisla- |
ion. II the various interests of the Union |
nave been subject to the same distress. 1t |
1ad been asserted in Congress that there |
we're 100000 people in the United Suites |
for bread. Not similar cry has |
been heard from Mississippi We were not /
roubled with tramps and other evils, and |
f the lien law was the cause OF this condi-
ion, he would say God bless the lein law
He sand the substitute was ny brid; pal
ering with legislation in a double sense
It purported TO keep alive the so called lien
aw, to suit some people; and also had the
fleet to repeal it. Let Us face the law direct
it or repeal il, and not legislate
delusion and snare. The repeal of the
Ith section of the law would have the effect
o put the labOrer under the foot OF the land |
,wner. The substitute provides that from |
he 1st of January to the lst of May, no one
hould give lien on The crops. These were
L. Lat IL 81