The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1878-02-10

la
sWereu, the merchant class. It has -
c.ntiheu that the lien law had kept rhe Lands
Oh the country from being sold. and thar rio
mortgaged crop going to the merchants ha -
sh me lands. The merchants claimed
tNaC they had lost money enouyh nv, - =
lien law to abs rb all the lands in fine Stata
sun they desired its continuance. No dnnI,
they had met losses in speculations. hnt
| thelI gains Mad more than made up for rhair
losses. There was a greater and stranger
cry coming from the laborers of the conn
try asking that, by some means they 10
Drought out from under the banefIl i1an
ences oil the lien law. He did not think there
was man who desired the law to be per
manent, but hoped, at some future daV, to
get rid or 1t, Some suffering might ensue
II the substitute were adopted, but it would
| be the suffering like having an aching
tooth pulled The substitute pronosed r.
ease the people down from this law
| Every argument in favor of the lien law
| presupposed that we would ALWAYS want
credit a now, which is true if the law i
continued. But give peolpe warming 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
| Iethargy and 90 TO work. Our system Of
mortgaglng crop before planted, is as Oh
noxi0us to moralists as the species of gamb-
ing known as dealing in futures. The
substitute proposed that when a crop was
IN existence it could be mortgaged. The
| effect would be to cause economy and Dru-
| dence, until their crop was in such condi-
ton that credit could be obtained aud 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 profits which had been alluded to
would be cut off, There might be some
| suffering; but NOV is the accepted timen
Too much cotton is grown in Mississippi,
but so long as the lien law was in force it
| had to be raised to pay debts. The increase
OF exemptions of breadstuffG was a good
| move.
Mr.. Speaker Percy (Mr Gholson In
the Ckair,) said: The magnitude of the
| subject was sufficient apology for his sp-
pearance on the floor. In his opinion il
was the most important subject before the
| House the present session, the agricultural
interest of Mississippi was involved, and
whatever law was enacted or repealed should
be well thought over and carefully consider
ed, for upon its issue might depend the future
welfare of the State. 1t had been said there
was only one who had the bodness to ad-
vOCate the law-he would be the second one
| He thought it a beneticent law, and the
fact of Mr.. Gholson's assisting in framing
| it entitled it to the respect of Missssippans
| He was surprised by the arguments that had
| been adduced. The law had been denounced
as bad one. but he had heard nothing to
| prove it. We are IA poor people, hut is the
|
| years ago: there was in circulation So or
81 for one now; cotton was worth 25 to
30 cents per pound, now it is s and 10 cents
| per pound. Is not this the cause Of the
present distress? If not our condition
| ought to be an exceptional one, and our sis
| ter States should be prOsL 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 million suffering people.
| In the great city of New York the value of
! properly has Shrunk in the last ten wears *
| per cent. Failures and prOstratiOns were
the rule. Did the lein law cause this? No:
| there was no eln law there-it was the re-
suit of general eau, es and national legisla-
ton. All the various interests of the Union
have been subject to the same distress 1t
had been asserted in Congress that there
were 100000 people in the United States
suffering for bread. Not a similar cry has
been heard from Mississippi. We were not
troubled with tramps and other evils, and
if the lien law was the cause of this condi-
ton, he would say God bless the lein law
He said the substitute was hybrid; pal
tering with legislation in a double sense.
1t purported to keep alive the so called lien
law, to suit some people; and also had the
effect to repeal it. Let US face the law direct
continue it or repeal it, and not legislate
a delUsion and a snare. The repeal of the
llth section of the law would have the effect
to put the labOrer under the foot of the land
owner. The substitute provides that from
the 1st of January to the lSt of May, no one
should give lien on The crops. These were
the hardest months in the year. He was
planter himself, and knew that the great
burden of the year was in those months.
The labor had to be secured, stock provided,
and food and clothing furnished. If the
bill was adopted, the landlord was not re-
stricted from giving credit to labor, and its
effect wOHld be to strike down competition
The laboring population of The State had no
money, and it was further admitted that
they could not make crop without money
or credit. Are you prepared to say Ito
gamble or betl that they will be any better
off twelve months hence than now. If not,
beware, how you enact the proposed laws.
If they were passed, twelve months hence
there was but one place where the laborer
could get credit, and that was from the land
holder. In speaking of laborers, he meant
the negro population of Mississippi. But it
the labOring class were sOlidly white, no
man would dare to rise on this floor and in
troduce a bill to deprive them of part
of their credit. And this seemed a blow
at the colored population. Can we not come
up to the mark and legislate without refer
ence to color. We should not occupy the
position once occupied by the United States
Government, that OF treating these people
as wards-it was not wise or just 1t re-
uuired craftsmanship to meet this question.
interest. There was also another great
interest-the landed interest, and he
thought the bill would strike this
interest more severe blow even than
the laboring interest. Say we have 1O0,-
600 laborers in Mississippi, and he would
say they could not be supported at less
than $50 per head---s5,000,000 annually
spent in the State of Mississippi Strike
out the lien law and where must the So
100000 come from? 1t must come from
the land. and if the landholders have not
got it, and they are universally poor, they
will have to get it on credit; and the land
ed interest will be encum bered with mort
cages and deeds of trust in order to raise
the money. He did not know any land
holders who had money, and they would
have to 90 to the merchant and give mort
gage on their lands, and after all the mer-
chant would close them out and the lands