The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-01-27
The Lien Law.

"And there is thing under the sum
Fec. /. 9.
EDITOR CLARION: To illustrate the
foregoing quotation from the Book OF
Ecclesiastes. and as pertinent to dis
cussion of the lien lava subject now
agitating the minds of our legislators
let me make use Of another portion OF
the Bible-Nehemiah, V, l-5-which Is
as follows: "And there was great cry
of the people and of their wives against
their brethren the Jews. For there were
thar said, We, our sons, and our daughters,
are mdaV: therefore tce take up corn for
them, that lre may eat, and lire Some also
there were that said, We hare nortgdged
our lands, vineyards, and houses, that lce
might bay corn, because Of the death
| There were also that sad We hare Dor
rOlCed money for thu Kings tribute, taresI
and that upOR our lands and UtBeyal d.
| Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our
| brethren, our children as their children:
and, 10, ace bring into bondage orr sons ana
our daughters to be servants, and some of
our daughters are brought into bondage
already; neither is 1t in our po'cer to re-
deem them; FOR OTHER MEN HAVE OUR
LAMBS AND VINEYARDS.
And these words were penned over two
thousand three hundred years ago , and
after "A war had swept over Judah and
Jerusalem; aud after strenuous efforts
had been made to regain lost property.
Does not the description fit our cwn
State? Has not the lien law worked tor
us the same evils it worked tor the peo-
, pie of Judea? Has any good ever re-
T suited TO anybody except to those en-
gagged in the supply or advancing busi
ness? And how many of them have
reaped any permanent advantage IRON
4 their chattel mortgages? Has the mum
/ Der exceeded one in a thousand! Anc
3 has not this resulted from the fact thai
the system is evil, and only evil, and thai
continually? Is it not now akin to tina
q abomination known as tae Louisiana
+, Lottery, into whose capacious NAV ST
a many of the hard earned dollars of thu
laboring poor have gone? Look at tn
lien law as you may, it has all the eyll
pertaining to it that pertain to gambling
l. in its worst forms-notwithstandI al
. the good you can say about it. IKI
EVILS ARE TOO GREAT TO BE COMP al
IBLE WITH GOOD MORALS. The mel
chant sees the evils and is compelled I
add 20, 80 or 100 per cent. to the ord
J. nary cash prices OF the goods sold to hi
good customers, to cover losses on good
D. sold to his doubtful and unreliable Gus
le toners. He EFFORTS from honest me
money to pay for what he sells on
credit to dishonest men. Is that moral
III riQht? Then a man, formerly homes
= but whose nature is human nature, all
~ human nature only,) who has taken u
! corn" for his numerous family, fnc
. that after every possible effort he is NJ
going to be able to meet the account f
supplies bought at the enormous cred
- prices he agreed to pay, begins to pla
10 for saving some of his mortgaged ere
from the clutch of the merchant whol
= he now looks upon as too exacting. III
= bread and meat are gone, and there
- nothing to show for ii" and why shout
= all the crop go to the merchant? L.
al cuses, if not reasons, are easily fOun
q and the farmer soon finds some plausib
q excuse for running his mortgaged prope
~ III ty in another direction, and thus defrau
" his merchant. This, ne ka01c, is morally
&c ,oeH as legally ,crong. But the tempt
u ton is great. II is an eUa iahe' eRt IN 4
te lien lar The merchant and the farnl
-, have been gambling under color of la'
!" and this gambling results-as all gar
: bling usually resuits-in the financial a
&c moral ruin Of those engaged IN it
az Then again: 1t needs not the wisdo
Gu of a Solomon, or a Nehetaiah, to See th
the destruction Of the caiue Of Turning Ian
:. in Mississippi as largely o,oing the lien Ia
:! which gives the insolvent tenant an o
= parently better basis of credit than Il
y landlord who owns the acres which Il
!" improyident tenant is running. 1t I
Il verses the laws of political economy a
:; plicable to such cases, and effectual
- Il' puts "the bottom rail on top" and kee
Lne' him there. Prevent the incumberipg
y "crops growing or to be grown" al
=, credit il at once restored TO its form
= legitimate basis-personal honor or re
h he estate. So long as the present syste
- continues, farming lands will have
~ market value in Mississippi, and o
nc daughters will remain in bondage, al
30 other men will "have our lands and vii
II. yards"
- Judge Campbell was right when
IA sought to secure the repeal OF the Ii
~, law in 1880. 1t is ply it was not do
no then. One who differed with him
90 that time now makes this amende. NJ