Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-08-28
ny THoMpsoN, sMITH s. JAYNEs.
Congressman Hcmphill on the Sub.
Treasury Bill.

IoJhoPSiS w. tSoShlaii AASsiPHtit
speech, delivered at Rock Hill. on
Thursday, August 14th, inwhich he
exposed at considerable length the
viciousness of the Sub-Treasury
scheme. He said:
i do not want to be considered
even as apparently opposed to any
thing that is calculated to benefit the
Observation-Disclosures the general
intcrests-of this country. Agri-
culture does not receive that fair
treatment at the hands of the gov
ernment that its great Importance
entities it to. l have ever been car
nestly striving to secure to it more
attention, and with what help /
could command, believe have ac-
complishcd a little. TO this end |
will be gratiied to corporate with
you. But if you arc going to do
anything, you must not act without
being sure that you are going to
accomplish the desired result. You
must not commit yourself to an issue
or a measure without first consider
ing and making sure that the success
of that measure will bring about tho
objects that arc desired.
The purpose of the ~sub-treasury
bill is a good one. l am not going
to criticise it's purpose, for that l
endorse most heartily. But I want
to act, and you want to act, for the
best interest of the whole country,
and the question to be considered is,
will this scheme benefit us or will it
hurt us2 If l understand the inter-
csts of the country, I think the re-
suit of such a proposition would be
anything but what is desired.
Now this bill is a proposition
under which the government is going
to build warehouses, in which the
agricultural products of the country
may be stored rs security for money
that the government is to advance
at the rate of one per cent pei
annum. Ono of these warehouses is
to be built in every county that sells
as much as 100000 worth of pro-
duce. There arc five different arti-
clcs that can be put into these ware
houses: cotton, corn, oats, wheat,
tobacco. Now the idea is that the
producer shall deposit whichever of
these that he may happen to have.
lie will receive IRON the warehouse
official 80 per cent of it's value in
su%b-treasury notes and a certificate
to represent the remaining 20 per
cent. That looks all very well on
it's face, but we must remember that
it is not all gold that glittcrs, and if
we investigate this scheme in all its
bearings we will find that there is
very little else but glitter. If I
have cotton and want to get money
on it, it is all right, but there are a
great many people who have other
products that will not be received at
the warehouse, and the scheme will
not work near so satisfactory with
thcm. And then again take the
products Of the Northwest. There
they raise corn, wheat, meat, and
oats. They have four products to
put into these warehouses, while we
have only one. We arc dependent
on them in n large measure for their
corn, meat and wheat. I wish it
were not so; but it is, and VIC cannot
deny it. They have the same right
and advantage Of these warehouses
as we, and while we might be able
to deposit our cotton therein and
wait for q rise, they can also put in
their products and force them up.
Well, some say it would be a very
good thing to have the price of corn
and wheat raised SO high in the
Northwest that we could not afford
to buy it, and we would then 60 to
raising these things ourselves. But
if we were to try this thing Just now,
| am afraid that it would not be
long before we would find that it
would not work so smoothly. Sup
pose, by the help of the warehouse
system, we could raise the price of
cotton. Well, the people of the
Northwest do not wear a great deal
of cotton anyway, and even if they
did, if the price gets too high, they
can fall back on last years clothes
and wear them until tho price comes
down. If they raise the price of
meat and bread, I am unable to
devise any means by which we can
eat last years hoo cake. We arc
bound to have it no matter what its