The Ripley advertiser. [volume] (Ripley, Miss.) 1843-1897, 1884-02-09

year to yesFa until We not only
astonish ths.wOrld, but No are act
ually a marvel to ourselves. Who
at the date Of the enactment of fthea
law could have been made to be-
lieVe the reality oftO.day--the coti
ton States nearly all with laws sim
liar to our own, producing Cversev.
en- millions Of cotton bales, with a
fOod crop annualiy increasing ard
every year apprOximating more
nearly the full measure of the
country'S wants. Do you ask why
all this Isl | answer, that for our
own State, it is because, under the
lien law, NO man with strength and
a will to work has been so POOR that
he could not pledge the coming
frsit of his labor and secure the
means necessary to enter him in
the race fer competency and even
fortune. Leok all over this conn
try and note the vast numbers Of
men who by the aid of this law
have worked their way from moth
ing up to the point of successful in.
dependence. And let me ask are
there not thousands Of others who
to day are equally deserving and
who equally need the benefits OF
this law! Why may we not expect,
for the future, results to individuals
and to the State equal y as satiSiac-
tory as in the past? But he noticed
that some Senators had said that
We must repeal the law to prevent
the production OF so much cotton,
and to force our people to take a
new departure in behalf of diversity
Of crops. To this he replied :tat.
the benefits of the lien law would
enable parties the more easily to
make the desired departure, as all
changes from well settled and fixed
customs were attended with more
or less business stagnation, and
time and capital would be needed
to bring about such a revolution
Industry and capital went together
hand IN hand, aad the laborer who
had neither monev, credit, nor
basis OF credit was placed, so far as
the products of his labor were con
cerned, at the mercy of his more
fortunate neishbor, and with the
repeal of this law would ba but lit
tie removed from the condition of
the slave. Strike down this law
and you not emily injure the
vast body of non landholding labor
ers, but you strike terrible blow
at that most useful class of small
land owners, who were, in his opin-
ion, doing more to build up and
strengthen the material interest of
the cOuntry than any other class
Of our community just emerging
from the bondage Of poverty and
planting themselves in some little
spots they could call home-you,I
by the repeal of this law, compel
them In case Of need either to
abandon this cherished place or
put 1t under mortgage for sup
plies which have heretofore teen
secured under the operation of the
section of the Code which it is now
proposed to repeal Such leglsla-
ton was, in his opinion, wrong, and
failed to meet the wants of the la.
borers of our State.
Concluding, he said: Let the Ag-
ricultural Lien Law alonel To re-
peal it is to open up the flood gates
of oppression and drive to the wall
the most deserving class of our cit
ns-ths homestead land owners
of the State. In this free couutry,
at least, agricultural prosperity
constitutes the basis upon which
the prosperity Of all other classes,
and the welfare Of the State rests.
The mechanic at his bench -the
doctor ia his shep-the lawyer IN his
! =