Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1890-04-16
TENNESSEE CURRENCY.
MskeShifts to Which People Wore Forced
to Resort y Century Ago.

Mskeshifts to Which People Wore Forced
to Resort y Century Ago.
While looking through the Life and
Speeches OF tho late Hugh Lawson
White, few days ago, we were so
struck with a passage in his great
speech against the Sub-Treasury bill.
delivered in the United States Senate.
March, 24th, 1888, that we concluded
its reproduction at this time might
prove as interesting to the readers of
the Sentinel as it had been to ourself.
While the "Reminiscences shows the
makeshifts to which the early settlers
were forced to resort in the absence of
either a paper or metallic currency, it
also illustrates how the genius Of the
thrifty and shifty East Tennessee of
that early day was holding its own with
that of the manufacturers of wooden
hams and cow-heel gun-fints in the
Gland Of steady habits"
In the course of the debat e on the
Sub-Treasury bill, Mr.. Webster had good
humoredly referred to . law OF the short
lived estate of Franklin" which pro.
vided for the payment of tho salaries OF
the State officials in the skins of certain
wild animals at established values, in
lieu of money. Judge White, toward
the close Of his speech, adverted pleas
antly to this matter and expressed his
qualification that a Renaissance of the
early legislation Of his own people had
served to put the Senate in a state OF
such excellent humor. He added:
''But, sir, the Senator knew nothing
of the practice under the State law:
therefore we have not the full benefit
which we ought to derive from his rem.
iniscenoe. He could have related the
whole incident so much better than l
can, that l regret he did not mention
this subject to me before he addressed
the Senate; if he had would ha We given
him the additional facts, that the whole
might have been detailed in the Senate
in his own good tempered and felicitous
manner
ut will be remembered that the Gov
ernor, Chief Justice and some other
officers were to be paid in deer-skins;
other inferior officers were to be paid in
raccoon-skins. Now, at that day, we
were all good Wings, although we had
some Of the notions of the Democrats OF
the present day.
"We thought these taxes might safely
remain in the hands of the collectors as
sHb-treasuries until wanted for disburse-
Eent. The taxes were, therefore, fairly
collected in the skins and peltry pointed
cu: IN the law. But the collectors, as
report says, knew that although raccoon
skins were plenty, opossum skins we're
more so, and that they could be procured
for little or nothing. They, therefore,
procured the requisite numbers of opos.
sum skins, cut the tails off the raccoon
skins, paid them into the general or
principal treasury, and sold the raccoon
skins to the hatters.
1.-THE treasurer had been an unlucky
appointment, although a worthy man
He was foreigner, knew nothing OF
our skins and peltry, and was, there
FORE easily deceived by his sub-treas-
urers. When this imposition was dis
covered the whole system went down,
and we never have had great fancy
for leaving the taxes in the hands of the
sub-treasurers, or collectors, from that
day to this."-Knoxville (Tenn-) Sen.
tinal