Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-07-30
The Sub Treasury Monopoly.

the dlIldllCc ISdu6iS d HAL Who mas the
courage to set forth the infamy of such
a measure,
U, S. Hall, president of the Missouri
state alliance, in his address before the
Texas state alliance at Fl. Worth
punctured the monopoly scheme in
the following manner:
will now examine the sub-treasury
scheme and ask my brother farmers,
for the sake of your wives and child
rem and for the love you bear them, to
listen calmly and dispassiOnately to a
plain brother alliance farmer while he
gives his reasons to you, in a kindly
and fraternal spirit, why the sub-treas-
ury scheme is fallacious, and why it
will bankrupt and destroy Us if enacted
into law.
The whole scheme and system is
based upon an assumptions false
promise.
An unanswerable objection to this
sub-treasury is that its author says that
the volume of currency could be in
creased by the farmers during the fall
and winter months in order to enable
them to bave more money to handle
their crops.
But if the scheme is for the purpose
of getting more money to handle his
crop how is he to get the money?
Why, by putting his crop in a govern
ment warehouse, where he cannot
handle it. He cannot get his money
until his crop is locked up by the
government, and he cannot handle his
crop while it is locked up. Then sup
pose we corn and wheat raisers lock up
our wheat and corn, We thus draw it
out of the market, and as the volume
of money is now greatly increased and
the prices of everything corresponding
ly higher and the wheat and corn out
of the market, what are the poor
people who do not raise these necessa-
ries of life do? Starvation, riot and
bloodshed would inevitably follow,
and the sad picture would be presented
to them of their government aiding in
starving them.
What will be the effect on our inan-
cial system if this warehouse scheme
should become law?
The farmer would come to the gov
eminent warehouse in August with his
100 bushels of wheat, worth say 81 per
bushel and as he is anxious to buy
two horse wagon. worth in July $50
and set of harness worth S25, he
deposits his grain and the government
loans him $50 on it, and he goes forth
to purchase his wagon and harness.
Now, the effect of all the farmers
their grain about the same
season each year will be to greatly |
the volume of the currency in
after they have deposited |
their grain, which will increase the |
price of everything they have to buy |
after they have gotten the money to !
buy with.
1t is estimated that if will double the |
volume of money, but recollect this
on.H-..Ing of the amount of money is
Just after the farmer has nothing to |
sell and just when he wants to buy.
If it does double the volume of |
then the farmer that wanted to |
buy the wagon and harness goes to |
town to make his purchase, he finds |
the wagon he intended to buy is priced |
at 500 and the harness at $50, for !
''the price of the commodity is fixed by
the volume of money in existence at |
the time" Therefore what he wants
to buy is double in price.
Now before he can sell his wheat he
must return the money he borrowed /
from the government at per cent |
interest and charges; after he does this
and his money is thus withdrawn from
and cancelled, and the
volume of money is greatly decreased
be sells his wheat; in other words he
buys on a market when everything is
low. The effect, therefore, of this
scheme would be to increase the price
Of everything the farmer has to buy
and to decrease the price of his wheat,
corn, oats, tobacco and cotton.
1t is hardly necessary for me to
follow ont and show the effect upon all
the other classes of business of this
doubling and halving the volume of
money each year. Financial chaos,
business and national ruin would fol-
low in rapid succession; and we know
to our sorrow that in all such financial
the farmer comes out of
the fight with the greatest part of the
Dad resting on his shoulders.
While the advocates of this scheme
protest very strongly against as going
INTO the details of the bills, yet they
have no right to object, and we should
make any man who advocates nation
Il law make its minutest details per-
'ectly clear to US.
Under this scheme l maintain that
I'D Hutch, of Chicago, could and would
corner every bushel of wheat, and that
he Inmans, of New York, Pat Cal