Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser., 1890-06-20
A Remedy for the Farmers.

"A kennedy Tor the Farmers.
In the last issue we took occasion to
review the long exposed fallacy of the
"Greenbackers'" idea of imitation OF
the currency as means of bringing
wealth to poor people. Our apology
for that lies in the fact that, by the
peculiar process IF education" which
is claimed to be going on in the Farm
ers' Alliance. some of the fal mers are
induced to believe that this old thor
oughly exploded f,llacy is a new truth
which has just dawned upon the
minds IF some of the brilliant states
men who are engaged in the good
work Of educating" them. But TO
show that the more intelligent Of the
Farmers Alliance people kave not
swallowed this deception, we quote
from Supt. Humphrey, one of the
leaders Of the Alliance, who made an
argument recently before the U. S.
Senate committee on agriculture, as
follows: 81 DO say this, that however
large you may make the volume OF
money, it will not meet the demands
of the case, tecause suppose We had in
circulation six dollars for one now,
what then? Six will be worth one,
and six dollars worth of goods will be
worth about one dollars worth now.
You preserve in that way a sort of
evenness Of the scales and that is all.
dn increase IN the vOlume Of currency
cannot materially affect any one except
the debtor cl ss.''
This is the same conclusion reached
in our article in the last issue. The
imitation OF the currency can only be
sensibly contended for as means oil
enabling the debtor class of farmers
to rid themselves of the present bur
dens of debt by paying only portion
of what they now owe. 1t is claimed
that the farm property of the country
is mortgaged to death and the General
Government must exercise its extra
ordinary powers to give them relief at
the expense of the mortgaged credi-
tors. This is the only rational ground
upon which an imitation of the cur
rency Can be demanded. The justif.
cation for this, as we pointed out last
week, is charged to the too hasty and
unjust contraction of the large volume
of the war currency, which is alleged
to be the parent of the farm mortgages.
We believe that the farm mortgages
are due chiefly, if not solely, to the
robber tariff; but waving this point
and conceding that the government is
warranted in exercising an extraordi-
nary power to relieve the farmers from
acrisis, We believe the true remedy will
be found, not in the dangerous exped-
tent of initiation, but in q Judicious
exercise Of the power to establish a
uniform 50 stem Of bankruptcy, which
is one of the specially delegated pow
ers of Congress.
States may pass inselseat laws. in
che absence of u general bankrupt law
Of Congress. but States are specially
prohibited by the Federal constitution
from passing any Law which will i'm
pair the obligation Of contracts. There
fore the States are powerless in pro-
viding remedy but the General Gov
ernment does not labor under any such
restriction. 1t has the power to pass
a general bankrupt law, absolving
debtors under existing contracts from
the bonds Of their Indebtedness under
any conditions it may think proper to
prescribe. Some question has existed
as to the right of the Federal govern
ment to extend the operation of the
bankrupt laws to any debtors but
what were known in the English law
as "traders;" but by the act of 1S41
and the judicial decisions thereon, it
was determined that Congress may ex-
tend the bankrupt laws to all classes
of debtors.
Under all the bankrupt laws which
have heretofore, from time to time, ,ex ist-
ed, there have been more or less of ex
emptioDs to the bankrupt who surren-
dered his property. By law to be passed
it could be provided that farmers and
householders should have a prescribed
homestead exemption, and thus they
could be let out of any portion of their
existing Indebtedness which might be
deemed fair and just. Thus the desired
object could be accomplished in con-
formity with law and usage among
civilized nations, and without resort
ing to the dangerous expedient Of
tampering with the finances, which
have now reached stable basis. There
is no general bankrupt Law in exist
ence at present.
THE WAREHOUSE PLAN.