The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1890-06-26

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| per cent OF the market value of the
products. Of course there must be
officers and employees to take charge
ct these warehouses and and their
contents, receive and receipt for
the products deposited, pay out
the money to the depositors, re-
celve the money when the products
are redeemed, sell unredeemed
property, and generally to exercise
the combined functions of ware
housemen, bar kers, auctioneer and
executive officials.
AL these officers and employees
must be compensated for their SER
vices either by fees charged to the
depositors OF products, or by pay
ments out OF the public treasury,
and all or nearly all will be parti-
sans OF the administration in power,
because under the Constitution they
cannot be chosen by the people, but
must be appointed by the Presi-
dent or the head Of a department,
or the judges Of the United States
Courts.
ut is proposed to appropriate the
sum Of $50, O00,000 at once to begin
the erection of these warehouses,
and while we have no accurate data
upon the subject, it is perfectly safe
to say that they would cost alto
gether many times that amount, all
which must be raised by taxation on
the people, the farmers themselves,
under our system paying much
more than their equal share. There
are more than 2,400 counties in
the United States, but No more than
one-third of them, if thar many,
produce and sell annually more
than $500, 900 worth of wheat, corn,
oats, cotton and tobacco and, there
fore, not more than one-third of
them could possibly avail themselves
OF this plan if it were adopted. It.
will be seen. therefore, at the very
outset, that it is plan to compel
the government to issue and dis
tribute money for the benefit of the
people living in the rich and pro-
ductive counties at the expense of
the people living in the poor and
less productive ones.
WILL AID THE SPECTATORS.
Moreover, it is a plan TO enable
INSCRIPTIONS spectators to take
advantage of the farmers pecuniary
necessities and ex:ort exorbitant
prices for food from people who re-
side in cities and towns and villages
and from people who reside in the
country, but do not own these par
tlcular agricultural products. Il is
evident that no farmer will subject
himself to the labor ana expense of
transporting his products to the
public warehouses and to all other
charges which he must pay for stor-
age, for handling and taking care of
them while there, when he has
barns and granaries at home, unless
he is in debt and absolutely needs
the money which the government is
to advance, and if he is in that un-
fortunate condition, from what
source is he afterward to acquire the
the means to redeem his products
by returning the money and inter-
est and paying the warehouse
charges? In a great majority of
cases ne will never be able to re-
deem them, but will be forced to
lose the remaining 20 per cent. of |
the value of his products, or sell his
warehouse receipt whatever he can
get for it, which will be very little,
for 1t must be remembered that at
ter he gets his warehouse receipt he
has remaining interest of only 20
per cent, in the product, less charges
for interest, storage, ETC., and this
is all he can dispose OF. He will
find the time rapidly approaching
when he must have money to re
deem his products or sell his small
interest in them, or allow |
them to be sold at public auction
by the government and this will be
the golden opportunity of the spec
ulators, whose agents will swarm all |
over the country ready to take the
warehouse receipts from the embar-
raised owner for a merely nominal
sum.
The receipt is simply privilege
of redemption like pawnbroker's
ticket, and fhe farmer, being him
self unable to redeem, will be forced
ultimately to dispose of it at any
price offered. | do not think that
any considerable number of intelli-
gent people in this country will
unite in asking the government to
establish a system which will COM
pei them in a large number of cases
to sacrifice the products of their la
Dor.
But suppose the farmers are able
to redeem the products in order to
offer them for sale in the market,
what would be the necessary effect
of the proceeding? When thew de-