The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-09-15
rhe MunIa For Liens.

Mk. EDITOR The a'i'i"y With which
our people indulge II. hi. luxury is alb
solu;rlv unaccoun;atle. No; satisfied
with covering thcir crops with .hrec dif-
frrcut e"t, Il l!cls--rents. supplies snd
guanps-.:hcy are Jus. aS ready as though
there WAS no previous incumbi-,ncc 10
saddle their growing crops with still
others III. stove man comes along und
~ pati;,i"s on the great advantages Of
cooking stoves. every word perhaps true,
and tho crnprer SAYS. well, would like
to hA,r one. but ! hayii't The money
NO difference" says the ycudcr. you
can have tn" stove on the cotton option"
AMI the trade il made at once. Pay dav
i, in tla distant future. and cotton bags
plenty in the dim distance. Next comes
along the clock pcddlcr, and tells how
:inp.Irtant il Is u have good clock, and
hi, is The very dot, and besides ii is sucl:
.hiug Of beauty. Like to have ore.
will buy, for then my crop will be made.
and it's bound to he good one, and ]
will nave the money NO difference"
SAYS the vendcr, you can take the clock
now on the cotton option, aud pay for Il
in the Fall" And the trade Is made.
one Of these gentry visited us last Spring,
determined 10 sell us q calendar clock at
the lovely price of 49, 90 all on n long,
long credit. and without any interest.
We wondered in our simplicity what the
fifty cents VIZ, tackled Dn for, and were
told that il Was tho exact cost of the man
! ufActure with only 4 small per cont. of
profit 10 cover expenses. The credit was
| ~ long cN ar1 without interest, that no
! objection was made ~ L. terms. but we
| had Il good clock already, costing only
| ten dollars. been running for fvrty years.
kept good time. H. use buying higher
priced one "But, says the ven,!cr, "this
| cOc!i will wivc yOu the dag OF the week
or month. hours. minutes and seconds.
| and, besides, il Is II clock more becoming
| u man of your standing and business
Ju,t -ign that paper. "a printed notc.l
| and will set up the clock for You. with
| a guarantee for a hundred years as long
As we would probably want one On
rcaIing the note wr found that the signcr
waive. MI his right. under the home
| stead We would not siGn such note
| even II we were II purchase, but the ven
| der assured us We would not he inter-
rupted if we should not pay to the day :
| il was n nero matter uf form, ,Ec And
| besides, if he could sell me one, il would
| enable him tn sell perhaps half doZon
| others, being a man OF note and infiu-
| ence. and u good deal of such fattery.
| But we did not bite.
In another case of which we have heard,
| u neighhorhood Of good farmers patron
/
| with 4 waiver of tho homestead, and re-
sisted payment. hut was advised by the
| Trial Justice that they would have 10
pay, and better do it without costs which
they did And 30 it goes.
This whole system OF credit. engen-
| iered by the lien law, is demOraliZing to
| the last degree. and the very cheapnesS
Of the thing and case with which u lien
| can be given iS the greatest objection to
| it, and makes the temptation to indulge
almost Irresistible. The Legislature
| should hesitate long before they decide
| TO perpctuute a scheme fraught with no
much OF evil to the whole country. 1t is
| a.. :he principle of licensing grog shops
| ut every cross road, and then holding up
your hands in holy horror at the evil
consequences which will be sure to fol-
low. No coInpulson Oh no! not Il bit
| OF it, but an irrcsistib Bile TEN pintinn placed
there by the Legislature itself. to entrap,
| and ieIasc, anu ultimately ruin CIR fol-
| bowman.
We could 60 on and detail for days the
| evils that arise In many forms Under the
| credit system, engendered by the lien
law. Observe that tho liens arc all due
] tho first at November, thus forcing the
| crop of the farmer upon the market in
the first two months of the season. thus
tying his hands aud placing him ut the
| mercy of the speculator. Isn't this hond-
age in its worst form? Thore Is credit
| system Wnlcn WtS OllCo III NtSuO III tulS
| country. which was of decided benefit to
| tho poor man. The difference between
cash and credit was not more than ten per
| cent, and then the debtor had the whole
| of tho Fall and Winter in which to mar.
ket and sell his crop and pay OFT his in
debtedness. Such credit as that work
| ed no injustice to the poor man, and TOOK
no advantage Of his necessities. and of
| course was a benefit Tho whole system
| of credit, engeudered by the lien law, if
conceived, and arranged for the express
| purpose OF binding tho farmer helpleSsly
to tho Jnggernaut car OF the speculator,
| could not have been more effectually
| done. And vet when the farmer, like the
worm, even turns and writhcs under the
| oppression of this miserable system, he
is set upon by tho whole race of specula-
tors. from Dan to Bersheba, and Go.
nounced as an enemy to the poor man.
| If the lien Law ia the best friend the poor
man has, then ais daily prayer should be,
| Lord, save me from my friends.
In answer 10 tho argument that tho
| landholder's lien is necessary to secure
| his rents, we reply that never until the
adoption of The lien law was the coilec-
| ton of tho rents even ieoparded. Under
| the common Law the rents were always
| secure, but in addition there il now Il
| statutory lien, securing the rents to tho
| amount of one-third of the crops raised
This, of ITSELF would meet the eIiSency
in 4 large minority Of cases. but repeal
the lion law, and IL necessary, which we
do not believe, make general statute
securing rents. and the objection Is re-
moved. Thus the moro we investigate
this whole system of iening, we discover
more and more certainly that it never
WAS conc0cied in the interests of the far
mer. landholder or tenant, but rather to
subordinate their interests to the support
of the merchant and speculator
'We are thoroughly convinced that q
laborer can ave Us well, il not better
than he has for the last ten years. upon
decidedly smaller wages. provided the
farmer will take charge of the matter by
raising enough provisions at home. 1t
cannot bo done If tho negro is left TO the
mercy of the merchants extravagant
time prices for corn and bacon. South
ern Ctitim.or January. lS77--4thenJ, Ga.
If the ahnre stern truth. describing tiie
condition OF the farmer in Georgia fivo
years ago. was published now as the con-
dtion of the South Carolina farmor, moth
ing could be more truthful or more mp.
propriate Georgia has already passed
the ordeal through which we are now
passing, and has buried forever the vaga-
ries and oppressious OF the lien law. It
is doomed in this State, and 1t Is only a
question OF time as to it's demise. The
day of extortion upon the farmer is
waning, and very soon its sun will set in
the obScurity OF oblivion. so mote il be.
Again, and lastly, we say il Is hardly
fair 10 force upon the farmer, in matter
of special interest to the agricultural
class, system which, IN his alignment,
his solemn protest.
BcY WHIPPED TO DEATH. augusta,
!Se;..e#:h>. .2.-J0s Mathis, OF Hail Coun-
~, a white boy is years old. was whip