The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-10-13
THE SUB-TREASURY.
MOORESYILLE N O..

| MOORESVILLE n. &.
! Mr. EDITOR Both your cOrrespOn-
dents, R. J. Coen and the editors of the
| F'Uu2Euer County Wheel, seem to mis-
understand my arguments, for if they
! had read my communication in your
issue of June 10th they would see that
| am just as much in favor of the gov
ernment issuing more money and loan
ing it to the farmers as they are. But
| was trying to show that it could be
done, better and easier, without build
ing quantity of warehouses and ap-
! pointing an army of nOn-prOducing
officials, and trying to make a
"cOrner" on cotton or wheat, thus
trying to break up the universal law of
supply and demand. which would be
found, in the end, only kicking
against the prices"
| The difference between the editors of
the Wheel and myself is, I am entirely
dependent for my facts on which to
base my arguments on what [ read
and hear, while he sneers at statisti
clans, and appears to have some source
OF information unattainable to the rest
Of the world.
| [ do not know, of my own knOwl-
edge, that there has been a bale of cot
ton shipped to Liverpool for ten years,
| but [ have read that there was, and
base my opinions on those statistics.
He states as a fact that the fall in
the price of cotton was not caused by
the abundant crop, for the world is
still in need, but by our false monetary
system"
Now, | read at the time the news of
the collapse of the Argentine system
was given, that cotton cloths had de
clined in Liverpool, and a day or so
| following that cotton had fallen in
| prices, and the New York market did
not fall as fast as the Liverpool market
| did, and there was a sale of cotton in
| this town at IL cents after the price
had fallen in Liverpool I of a penny,
equal to Il cents here. 1t may be pos
sible but can't understand why "our
false monetary system" should reduce
the price in Liverpool before it does
here. About the world being still in
need, l read the Statistics Sept. 18th:
! Total stock of American cotton visible,
1880, 615 bales. One year ago Sept.
! l8th) (after the largest crop that had
! ever been raised there 500, ,721 But
| the statisticians may be wrong and the
editors of the Wheel right-there may
! be great need of more cotton
| did not contend that we were de-
pendent on Europe for our daily bread
or our clothes | was writing about a
market for our cotton. Now from
what I read, [ believe that the United
| States raises over three quarters of the
cotton of the world; that over five
sixths Of this amount is exported either
in bales, yarn or cloth, nearly all of
which goes to Europe. If the price Of
cotton was raised 50 per cent. and to
have this all sold in this country, it
would require the people to spend nine
times as much for clothes as they do
now. If the people had nine times as
much money to spend for clothes as
they do now, would not the most Of it
be spent for silk, linen, wool, furs and
ornaments? [ do not believe there
would be as much cotton worn as there
is now, and | do not believe the ALI
anCe nor the United States Govern
ment can force the European dealers
to pay more for cotton than the de-
mand for the goods will warrant them
fair return for.
His statement, as fact that "Eu-
rope would have bought Just as much
cotton at 121 cts, or perhaps at Is cts.
as at s cts. " is a staggerer, 1t is some
thing new in political economy, worthy
of giving its author a professors chair
in the highest institution of learning
in the land, If he can demonstrate it,
1t has always been thought that the
cheaper anything could be produced
without deterioration Of quality, the
more would be used. | know [ should
buy a suit of clothes Oftener if I could
get them for 80 than if [ had to pay
$15 for them.
In my first two communications I
did endeavOr to correct the details"
and all the finding fault have done
was with the view of doing what [
could to induce the dropping of the
warehouse system and spending all
our energy on the more practical and
as | believe more beneficial objects of
the platform. Ny plan is that the gov
ernment issue notes, payable in specie
some to be loaned to the farmers
through the State and local officials
and that every pOstOtfice that is now
money order office be made a savings
bank, and that a certain part of the
deposits may be loaned on good per
sonal security. Both of these | believe
to be perfectly constitutional, and the
postal savings bank has been advocated
by many men who could not be in
duced to favor the Sub Treasury ware
house scheme. Now I do not think the
editor of the Wheel believes that the
amount of money that would be issued
on warehoused crops in one year
would be sufficient to bring about the
great changes he describes, but that he
means the other plans of financial re
form also. see in your paper that a
West Virginia Alliance paper thinks
that not one man in a hundred would
avail himself of the advantages of the
warehouses. [ don't know but that is
little strong, but [ don't believe one
fourth of the crops would be ware
housed. In either case, the increase
of the currency in one year would be