The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-10-07
A GEORGIA JUDGE.

Hon. J. K. Hines, Judge Of the
Middle Circuit of Georgia, has written
a letter on the Alliance demands,
which has been made public. The
writer is not a candidate for Office,
and this letter was given IN answer to
a request from a personal friend. The
following is his treatment of the Sub
Treasury plan:
The Sub-Treasury plan; not in all
details; not literally, as embraced in
either the Senate or the House bill,
but a measure providing for financial
aid to farmers al harvest time, so that
they will not be forced to throw their
entire crops upon the market all at
once at a deprecated price, but at such
time as to enable the honest tillers Of
the soil to secure the fair market value
thereof. II would be silly to demand
exact adherence to the present details
of either of those measures All that
should be asked is, that the govern
ment so aid the farmers as to prevent
spectators and gamblers from rob
bling them of their honest earnings.
There needs must be an authority in
the money, making power and it's viii.
lingness to come to the relief of the
people at certain seasons and in certain
crises. If not, government fails in it's
chief function of furnishing protection
to person and property. 1t is not
enough that government should pre-
vent the highwayman from forcibly
roboing the citizen of his goods and
chattels. This was sufficient in the
rude ages, and when there was little
complexity in social affairs. Now we
are environed by greatly complicated
circumstances. Robbery is not now
effected by force. 1t is accomplished
by fraud. Wheat kings and corn
kings and cotton kings and railroad
kings can combine, can aggregate cap
ital, and, knowing the times of the
harvest, can plan to run down prices,
and thus as successfully deprive the
farmer of his fair earnings, as if done
by highwaymen. There are two rem
edies. One is to punish those who
combine to run down prices, and to
prevent the purchase of large quaint
ties of produce or merchandise by any
one save for his own consumption or
for sale to customers who buy at re,
tail for their own consumption. The
other remedy is to put farmers in pos
session of the means of fighting those
who conspire to injure and to rob
them. One way to do this is to let
the government store agricultural
products, not of a perishable nature,
and advance money thereon to the
owners who were the producers. Pro
visions should be made for monthly
sales of products so stored, so that
each crop would be put on the market
for consumption for the run of a year.
l have never entertained any doubt as
to the constitutionality of this meas
ure. L have Q Q no particular pro-
vision of the Constitution cited to show
that this scheme is unconstitutional.
If this plan is unconstitutional,
much that the national government
does is unconstitutional. If it is con
stitutional for the government to issue
silver certificates upon the deposit of
silver bullion, or silver coin, or to is.
sue bank notes upon the deposit of
government bonds by national banks,
them surely, it is constitutional for
the government to issue it's notes
based upon the deposit of other pro
ducts. There can be no difference in
principle. Silver bullion is not more
sacred than cotton. Government
bonds are not more immaculate than
| wheat. But, some will demand