The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-01
The Lien Law.

Whether the lien law shall be re-
! pcaied or not is one Of the important
questions that the members Of the
General Assembly have to consider
There is no doubt that the practice
Of giving mortgages on ungrown
crops IS most pcrnicious one, and
is an infallable indication Of hnan-
| cial disaster in the affairs of those
who follow it. No man would give
q mortgage on something not yet in
existence unless driven to il by the
desperation Of his necessities, or, if
not so circumstancCd unless we were
so wanting in business discretion or
SO possessed by speculative maui"
rs TO make his iaiIuro - certainty.
under any circumstances. As tAc
agricultural lien business is conduct-
ed in this State it is surely and rap
idly running Il large proportion Of
the agricultural population, and
through them acting similarly upon
the rest Of the people. including the
merchants who take The liens. siNcc
they will thereby lose the trade" OF
those whose credit is thus DESTROYED
and who arc thus rendered Unable
longer to buy their goods. Tie
merchant who takes q lien on an TN.
grown crop assumes Il greater risk
than he would if lie held MORTGAGE
on something that was already in cx-
istcnce. He has to depend on the
honesty Of his debtor to make him
n Wnpl- Al Il y 4
that crop on bis skill as Il farmer and
on the continuance OF his life and
health during the time that must
clapsc before the crop is gathered.
lie is dependent also on tic due sue.
cession Of favorable seasons to make
the crop turn out enough to pay or
the lien. Therefore he charges
higher prices for the goods which he
advances to the farmer under the
lien, he adds rs much interest rs the
law will allow hun 10 charge, and kr
SCipulatcs in many instances that the
crop Shall be sent to him to sell OH
commission. All This is not merely
q remuneration for the use Of lis
money but is taken as an indemnity
against the heavy and unusual risk
he lncurs III making advances On the
credit Of crop not yet in existence
and which may never come into cX.
istcncc. Now it has been calculated
that the aggregate Of these charges
Tor interest, commissions and extra
prices would amount to from fifty to
Scvcnty-iivc per cent. on the cash
value Of the goods sold. In other
words, the farmer who pays Ills lien
pays from fifty to scycMty-livc per
cent. for the use Of the merchants
money for about nine months. ANY
business man can sec at once that
the farmer cannot carry on business
long ut that rate. On the other hand
it is urged. with Il show Of reason,
that If the lien law should be repealed
many Farmers wou'd not hc able TO
make q crop at all, because thcv
could obtain 10 advances having no
security TO give. If this be true it is
truly Il lamcntablc state oj affairs. for
no average farmer can ever expect to
become independent Of ;Eic lien S,s.
tenn so long as lie resorts to il, he
cannot reasonably hope even 20 make
crops year after year that will sup
port his family ana pay Tor t!lr %u3.
plies used in makiAr t&G!n with H.ty
per cent, interest ahdc, lie can
only postpone the disastrous tcrmim-
alton for a year or two to find him.
self hopclcssly in debt at the cnA Of
that time.
Those who are reduced to tho nc.
ccsslty OF procuring advances by
giving liens on lnturc crops, and
those who arc SO reckless as to Give
them without necessity. would proba-
ply not profit by repeal Of the lien
law. A repeal Of this law WOULD
leave matters as they stood before il
was passed. and it would simply be
impracticablc to enforce by process
OF law lien given on a prospective
crop. Would that prevent the mcr-
chant from acquiring an interest in
the farmers crop by articles Of co.
partnership or other special agree
mcnt that would have all the cxn:bi.
tant effect Of the present lien?
The fact is, too much is expected
from Legislation. 1t cannot supply
the place OF industry, intelligcnce,
economy and thrift on the part Of
the people. They must realize the
evils Of pcrnicious business methods
and learn how to avoid tEcm and pur-
sue successful ones. TO hope for re-
lief from any other source is simply
adciusion.--COlnmbiu RcrDyd.
Ihn Lon