The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-09-01
The Lien Law.

ME ED!IoE: Lien. Lien. Iiv.l.,.
Lien 10 the landlord for rents lien 10 the
merchant t)- supplies lien 10 the fcrtil-
can run the gauntlc; of tliier such liens.
and come out with Whole bones. j. a
lucky man, indeed. Ana yet there arc
persons who will ;cll the farmers. it i
the bcs, you can do. Lien 10 me for vour
supplies al about 100 per cent prof, aver
age. or whatever price my own interests
may dictate. II the farmer denlurs at
any Of the prices indicated, lie is met
with the reply. ii is the best YOU can do
Please inform the farmer wha: is the per
cent upon bushel Of corn, purchased
III July or August, on Il three months
credit. AT % per bushel when the cash
price i only - cents per bushel? And
50 on through the " hole catalogue Of tile
necessaries of life. And so when the end
of the year comes, the poor farmer. aftc.
paying all these liens, in .loiety Of
cases, has nothing lett To pay the black
smith. nothing to pay the mechanic who
repai.s his wagon or rncnds his children S
shoes, nothing for the doctor who admin
listers To his Sick wife or child. nothing
for the poor school teacher VINO educa,cs
his children, and. worse ihan all moth
ing tn run his little farr: for,he next year.
And this u6s been the history of the lien
law ever since it was first inanguratcd
AMI such will continue TO be its history
as long rs pcrpetuated. The farmers
have tried ii for ten years and, with SIM
Gular unaniinliy. cry out all over the
State, II Is only evil and that continually.
Away with any such relief AS that
The shortncss Of the present crop does
tl..IN ~, I'm
cnily. II the crop was an average one,
the tenant would have nothing left; if it
is only half crop. the loss, if any, must
he shared 10y the different liens. The
day the lien law was first inauguratcd
was like the opcnin. of the Pandora's
box, cage full OF unclean birds. TO the
farmer. The merchant came to tho far
mer, with his lien III his hand: Sign
this, and / Will furnish yon with vour
meat and bread, much cheaper than YOU
can raise them, and make cotton So.
too, the landlord, with cotton az good
price, he was hcguiledbv the Syren song,
and said to tho tenant: mako Gotten
and will take all the rents in cotton.
And last of all comes the guano mer-
chant, with another lien in his hand ::
Sign this. and will furnish YOU with
your fertilizer cheaper than YOU can
make II, and YOU can pay for II in cotton.
Make cotton! make cotton!'' So the
lo'i DcSeC on every side.
forsook the old beaten path Of his fathers.
to make supplies first, and then raise ali
the cotton possible besides and launched
out on the foolish experiment Of irving
to raise cotton TO buy everything else
with. The rest need not be told. We all
know it. The lien law. along with the
aii-cotton theory and Euano craze, has
transferred our smoke houses and corn
cribs to ST. Louis and Chicago. and de.
prived our families of almost every lux
ury to he had in this genia cline for al
most the asking. Can't take the time
from the cotton 10 have Il decent potato
patch or turnip crop, or Il garden, or any,
thins but cotton.
OF course. there are exceptions. Some
tenants. white and colored. are doing
we'll. but usually they do well in spite Of
the lien law aud without its aid We
know coloreu Tenants who can re, credit
any where they are known Without n
lien, and we know many white tenants
who have made money since the war on
rented land, but i'll every case, so far as
cur observation extends, no thanks TO
the lien law.
LEI hc turner's aione. Their own man
hood will work out the difficult problem
better without than with any siicii ieyis-
lative tinkcring. The farmer in Georgia
can live and prosper without lien law.
IN North Carolina the farmers spurn such
an idea, and We do not sec that the South
Carolina farmer is so much better or
worse, II you will have il, rs to be entj-
tied to the great i'lr,iru of being leaned b.
the hcn law. -i9ain, ,re say iet the farmers
03onc. A FARMER.