The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-11-11
A BLOW BELOW THE BELT

A BLOW BELOW THE BELT
In his "leader" for September 1851,
the editor Of the NeWS and Con- Ter en-
deavors to create prejudice against the
Sub Treasury scheme by assuring that
its object is essentially the same as
that contemplated in what is known
as the doctrine Of " Protection"
Nothing Ou5 the most superficial
view Of the subject could have led che
editor to such a clumsy conclusion,
when the true parallel lay So near to
view, that a mOmen 8 earnest refe;
ton would have revealed its presence
to the sincere lover of truth.
The real object of the Sub Treasury
is not to benefit the farmers to the
detriment Of any other class. It's
prime object, as we have pointed out
to our esteemed contemporary, time
and again, is to provide some means
of restoring the volume of the cur
ren;y the amounts yearly, monthly,
daily, distracted by the retirement Of
United States bonds, and to increase
the aggregate circulation to a volume
in keeping with the increased neces
sites Of trade.
We grant that it is a " hard les
son, and we are ready to make due
allowance for stupidity, ~congenital and
acquired; but we must be pardoned,
if once and again, we are taken up
short ia u patience.
While admitting the need of an in
c ~eased volume Of currency, however,
and Directing bitterly to the Sub
Treasury plan, our contemp )rary does
not offer any other plaa W. infer,
therefore, that the pending proposition
to supplement- with silver, suits him
very well
Now we void ike t. In w, IA all
fairness aot REASON, why the adoption
Of silver bu'Iion as a basis for the ut
terance Of clrrency is . "protec-
ton" in the same sense and to the
same extent, as the proposed adoption
OF cotton, grain and tobacco is "pro
tec,3ou."
The only difference we a see IS IN
the number Of people benefited.
1t would be interesting by the way
to see the figuring by which the Ne10s
and Courier arrives at this remarkable
statement: With the amount Of
prot 9ction * x x x the larger
the projected class, the less benefs
they receive, AMI the greater the bur
den on the unprotected class There
may be a good deal of politics in that
proposition; but precious little mathe
MATES.
The rational statement e the case
is that in the adoption of Il -esis for
our currency, under domjn&n eories,
some tangible value mus. j. selected.
This basis when adopt. and the
currency put in circular IA, will be
beneficial to all GLASS; .lgage in
t AIDE.
But aside from this il CIV benefits 10
all classes, and super a.. = / to it, will
be the incidental bene / occur. ing
to producers of the bas adopted.
This is unavoidable, inevI , le.
Shall a monopoly of this occidental
be given a few wners of sill mines;
or shall the incidental benef 5, insep
arabic from the establishment of a
currency. be distributed as widely as
is consistent with the objects in view,
namely, the issuance Of a sufficient cur-
rency for the trade Of the couutry on
a cash basis?
The only rational parallel to the
Sub-Treasury plan is the parallel
between the Democratic doctrine of a
tariff for ven with incidental
protection to certain classes; and a
currency adopted to the needs of the
country with inciden al benefits to
those Furnished the basis.
We congratulate our contemporary
on the progress he is making toward
a discussion Of this measure, albeit
his progress seems to be along the
line or method known in tra~nscendental
mathematics as "indefnite approach
We are encouraged in our previously
expressed faith that be will get down
to a d,scussion of its merits after a
while. - Cotton Pant.
There is no use in setting peach
trees in wet ground. If they thrive
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