The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-07-22

the owner of the crop and repaid when
the crop is sold arc cancelled and dc*ti oy-
Cd by the government, and o. course 50
out Of circulation.
The foregoing arc all the provisions Of
the bill. Let us makca practical illus
tration 10 show how the bill would work
should it become L law. John Smith
makes fifty bales Of cotton which claSSt $
middling, and weighs 800 pounds per
bale, worth 10 cents when stored. SMITH
owes deb $, which he ought to pay, but
he is unwllin" to sell at 10 cents and he
decides to store in the government warc-
house, gets his receipt. takes 1t to the
suh-trcasurcr and draws 81 cents on the
dollars worth of his fifty bales, which
rivcs him $1,000 instead of S2jnO he could
ret hv selling, avoid warehouse charges
and the two per cent interest, and loss
i'm weight, and close up his y"ar'S huSi-
ness without further trouble. But Smith
stores. draws the S20n0 and waits for the
chance of selling ut Il better price. The
cotton crop amounts to, say. seven OF
eight million bales.
The manufactures know the probable
amount of the cotton crop better than
the farmers. They will also know the
number of bales stored i'll the govern
ment warehouses, and also know when
the time will expire for the cotton to be
sold by the government. All the farmers
will not store, and those who do not will
most likely sell at the market price. Is
it reasonable that the manufacturers AMI
the spectators will pay higher prices
than the quantity OF the cotton will instl-
fv. simply because the supply is with
held from market by artificial and tenn
porary eNpcdiGnts?
Can the farmers Eopc to make corrers
on their crops by storing them i'll full
view of the manufacturers and spccula-
tors for fixed period and refusing to
sell during that time?
How much Of any crop will he stored
and withheld from market? Suppose l.
coo. 900 bales are stored, and 5000, ,oOo,O0'
advanced to the owners of the cotton
How long will this cotton be kept III the
warehouse unsold? 1t is most likely
that all the storing will be in the first
months after the cotton is ready fol
market, say from October to December
If the price advances on account Of tho
small quantity offered for sale, when will
the owners be willing to sell? Will they
sell on a rising market? What price
will satisfy them? If they hold until
they are satisfied with the price is it like.
lv they will sell as long as they can hold
at small expense? How much of tho
cotton stored will most likely be sold by
the owners within the eleven months
they are allowed 10 hold?
If the price goes up and the owners
commence to sell, what effect Will put
ting the cotton on the market have upor
the price? If it put down the price thu
owners will stop selling, so that it Is
pretty certain that the bulk of the cottol
l,of ], nrI. n
until the eleven month expire and the
government forces a sale.
The eleven months will expire and the
bulk of the cotton stored thrown OH the
market two or three months befor the
next and new crop begins 10 come into
market. What effect will forced sales
of all the stored cotton about the same
time, and the new crop coming in to IN
crease the supply, have upon prices?
Under such conditions of supply and
demand, is it likely the farmer will gel
as much for his cotton as he was Offered
when it was stored? If he only gets the
50 cents on the dollar he received and
losses the 20 cents more he could have
got when he stored, and pays interest
and warehouse charges, he will not like
ly repeat the experiment.
But there is a very important question
that has never yet been asked or answer
ed. What is the farmer 10 do for money
to run his plantation and make his crop!
The money advanced to him in October
and November on his cotton when ne
stored it has gone to pay debts then due
There is no provision in the sub-trcaSury
bill for advances on growing crops. 1t Is
we'll known that the farmers wh'' are III
in debt suffer more on account of the
eXactions to which they have to submit tc
get money to make their crops than they
do in the price when their cotton is ready
for market. 1t is the ruinous rates O.
interest and eXtortionate credit prices fol
supplies that consume his su bstalice ant
leave him no surplus. These are facts
we'll understood by the farmer / am
utterly unable to discover amy merit
practical sense or worth in the sub-trcas
urv scheme What the farmers should
demand OF the government is less taxa
ton, more economy in the cost Of ad-
ministration, and Il greater quantity Of
money kept in actual circulation and
available at lower rates Of interest fOl
the honest uses Of the people in theil
legitimate trade and commerce.
The sub-treasury scheme proposed to
throw into ciculation for a short, fixed
period, 50 cents on the estimated dollars
worth Of all the cotton, corn, wheat, ba-
con, and some other crops not pcrishab.C
that may he stored for a given time. II
is not unreasonable to Say that the
amount Of new treasury notes that would
be issued and advanced on stored crops
under such 4 law would reach, in round
numbers, $77j0,000,0O0. This vast sum
of money would be thrown into circula-
ton within two or three months, and
L.; a. Nc flr N
these treasury notes would he returned
to the treasury and cancelled and dcs.
troyed. What effect would this sudden
and enormous contraction of our circu-
lation have upon the price of labor, the
production of truck farms, and all other
commodities that come into market frO..I
the farm after the withdrawal from cir
culation of the $3.50, 900 Of treasury
notes?
What effect would such contraction
have upon the marke valueof the crops
that have been stored after they were sold
and delivered and we're in the hands oil
the purchasers, when the sudden and I'M
pi ccCdcntcd contraction occurred? Who
would buy the crops in warehouses ut q
price forced up by their withdrawal from
market and the temporary increase in the
volume of circulation, when the same
crops would certainly 20 down in price
as soon as they were delivered TO the pur-
chaser and the treasury notes paid for
them were Immediately withdrawn from
circulation. The government is to issue
the treasury notes for the temporary use
of the farmers who make the crops, and
then bankrupt those who buy them by a
sudden and ruinous contraction of the
currency.
If the government is TO advance 10
farmers money enough to enable them
to hold their crops to secure better prices,
what reason is there for not advancing