The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-10-22

provisions In 1870 was nearly double what IL
was In 1873. Should this rati1c continue To
Increase, the value of exported provisions
will In five more years exceed the value Oh
our exported cotton.
In 1859 petroleum, which Is raw or crude
kerosene, was discovered In PennsylvaInddaao;
Last year there was exported, s4o'o"'oV'
Ten,years ago, we exported no live stock
worthy of notice, Last year we sent abroad
Sill 100000 worth. Five years ago had amy one
proposed 70 export fresh meat, he would have
ported nearly Sl0.00O,00O worth OF. fresh beef.
mutton and pork, und Ssonle Of It went TO
Japan and the Islands OF the Pacific, but
chiefly TO Great Britain so that to-day fresn
1000 miles west of New York, are sold In dai-
ly competition In tte English markets with
meats butchered on the spot.
DAYS OF
Ny friends, If this is not progress, what is
It? Think you had solomon lived In these days
he would have written, as there anything
whereof II may be said, see this Is new? u
hath been already of old time which was be-
fore us" . "a . "and there Is no new
thing under the sun ?"
/, In addition " the above enumerated artl-
Giles the United States exports Il vast guam
tity of wood and articles manufactured OF
wood, furniture, lumber, agricultural lnple-
IncntS, sewing machines, Iron and manufact-
urcs In iron, fire arms, cotton goods, leather,
hops, naval stores, soaps, ordnance stores, OIL
cake, and cotton seed, and hundreds OF others
aggrcgating n valueof S7S7 ,0W,OD.
Great Britain is our best customer, taxing
s. per cent. of orr cotton, G5 per cent. OF our
provisions and roper cent. OF our bread stufis:
Germany re(piypS u Dpr cent. OF our Oil. ana
China about . per cent. OF our cotton manu-
features.
II it be true, that the exports of q country
must exceed Its imports to secure prosperity.
and that our exports are S27l, M0, 600 more than
our imports, why Is 1t that prosperity does
not smile upon our country? why Is IT, that
our land? why is it, that North, South, East
and West, we are familiar with that unwel-
come visitor that sticketh close; than a broth-
or, infinitely known as Hard TimesP"
mind there are but two: i. The deranged
condition OF our monetary affairs has CAUSED
too great IN inequality In the distribution OF
the wealth Of the country: that thing known
universally, and accepted Ms money, Is In the
hands OF too few. And secondly,
WE ARE A NATION OF DEBTORS.
The Secretary of the Treasury in his last an
nual report says: TIL Government has In cir
~cuIatiol s34,6Sl ,Ul6 In greenbacks; that the Nm.
bioLGhA va" Va "oiSha SfHh
United States-have In circulation S323, III, 10 In
National Bank bills; that the gold in the coun-
try amounts to $3.50 ,335},30O. and the silver S99, :
09J.57, the two metals aggregating 1856. 1891 OF
coin, so that the ~greenbacks, the National
Bank bills and the coin are not very unequal
In amount In the country, the three aggregat-
This same authority tells us In the same re-
port that
THE INTEREST BEARING DEBT
of the United States is 81, 7G7. G43, 200. If we esti-
mate our population at 4S,0OO,OOO, the debt OF
the country Is more than S37 to each inhabi-
tant, while the circulation Of the money OF the
$50 to the inhabitant. AS, however, OF LEAST
one-third the money Is kept In the Treasury
and the vaults Of the banks to provide against
emergencies, there is really in circulation only
about S5 per capita.
From the report of the Treasurer ! gather
these additional facts: The 2,05G National
Banks own q capital OF 1886, l47, 1886, and their
from which they realized q surplus profit Of
sl57, 1873 ,9&, or very nearly ten per cent. upon
every dollar they handled OF bills, capital,
loans and deposits, And yet some men at
tempt to Induce the belief that National Banks
ore a blessing To the people.
Ofthese 2,05G National Banks, 5S of them are
In New England, 30 in New York State, 25 In
Pennsylvania, % in New Jersey, 80 In Mary
Ohio to California, and only 95 In oil the
South, including Kentucky and Missouri.
You are aware that u National Bank is or
ganized by, parties subscribing money, which
'is Invested In the bonds Of the Government,
and for every 500 900 so invested and deposited
with the Treasurer Of the United States, there
are CIV n In return 00,0W0 worth OF notes TO be
circulated GlI as the bills Of the bank so organized:
and pays them al interest upon the bonds In
which 1.-THE stockholders have invested their
money. Beside drawing this Interest the bank
loansthe bills to
THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO BORROW
ut from seven to ten per cent. per annum.
These banks are also allowed TO receive money
on deposit for which they pay a small interest,
md which they loan as they do their own bills.
The Government taxes these banks one per
cent upon their circulation, and oue.half per
cent. upon So much Of their capital as Is not In
vested In Government bonds, and one-half per
cent. on their average deposits. The states tax
them on average OF about two per e upon
their capital, SO that their total tax Is Only
about three and ~one-quarter per cent. upon an
amount equal to what they have invested IN
Government bonds, while The interest paid
them. by the Government upon these bonds
averages four and one-haiI per cent. e..
Beside these National Banks there are 55
Savings Banks, TIust Companies and private
banks in New England, ,32G of the same IN the
Middle States, l,9JJ in the Western states, and
onl;' 5D In all the South. The capital OF all
these various Southern banks is only 81, 0iO ,OO,
whilst The capital OF the Western banks ~
SIG. so UO, and / re capital OF the New England
md Middle States banks Is S13l .9l0,OOU. Then
there ure In New England md the Middle
are very wealthy and loan a vast deal or
money. There Is not a State IN the Northwest
which Is not
COVERED ALL OVER WITH
held by these Eastern companies. The Presi-
dent OF the fitna Life Insurance. Company. OF
Hartford, Connecticut, told me two years ago
that his company had loaned l,UO.OW TO inc
farmers OF Iowa, which loans were secured BY
mortgages. The city Of Chicago r Is t11d"s
S2OU, OOU, 600, and not three months ago | saw the
lax sale lists OF real estate in that city which
covered lS6 pages Of o newspaper.
These SAME shyloclis, for such many OF them
ara have their clutches upon some Of the
Southern States. Mississippi Is blanketed
with mortgages; Alabama Is little more free;
Georgia, with all her reputed prosperity, Is
suffering equally with the resi-, ana none OF
them to-day are one whit more prosperous
mar South Carolina, and you are as capable or
Judging OF our solvency and financial status as
I am. a
states is in the hands of these few bunking in
stitutious, you can well understand how they
can control the affairs of the government, ana
by collusion enhance or depress our prosperity.
But worse than this: there are three men 10
New York State alone who by collusion could
produce q similar state OF affairs. VIM. ii.
Vanderbilt is worth slO0,ON,GO Wln. IS. Astor
is worth $75,WO,0W and a.. I. Stewards estate,
represented ny JuuSc IAllGoui mot S'0,e"'
Un-the three aggreguting s2ij. zoo, 900. Suppose
these men were to convertLheir entire property
into United States bonds and present them, AT
maturity. for payment at the Treasury, as they
would have 3 right 10 do, 1t would
EXHAUST THE VAULTS
of every dollar of their coin. Where then
would be our return TO specie Yes,
nv friends, the distribution OF wealth In this
cnnntry is too unequal, and Is greatly q conse-
ouencc OF our late fratricldal war. Much VI
cious legislation, us well as speculation has
centralized the wealth as well as the power OF
this Government into the hands OF o few.
During the war Congress passed o law MAX
ing greenbacks " legal tender for oil debts pup.
lie and private, except duties on imports and
interest on the public debt. " It'll this money
ali internal expenses Of the Government were
paid. Foretgn contracts were negotiated IN
coin. o course, more or less dlstrust perVaued
the public mind, and thisc caused the owners or
coin to hoard 1t. For these two reasons coin
backs. In July, 1884, one dollar IN gold was
worth s25S In ~greenbacks; nor did the market
vary in price materially until February, 1853,
when a gold dollar was worth S2.6 In green.
backs, During these six or eight months spec.
ulators, both foreign ard native, hopeiul that
the effort to establish O Southern Coniederacy
was a failure,
UNLOCKED THEIR MONEY CHESTS
and invested their boarded coin In paper mon
ey at an average rate OF two and a quarter 10
one, This paper money was then at Once con-
yerted into Government bonds at or about par.
Let me illustrate: A has SlW IN gold which
he exchanges for SIS worth OF greenbacks.
With this he buys S225 worth OF Government
bonds, drawing five or six per cent. semi
Now, five per cent on SIS Is ~ per
cent on the SlO0. so, for his investment OIL SlO