The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1891-05-29


of Middle Tennessee are more largely
engaged in stock raising and the produc-
tion Of corn, clover and hay, which Is
consumed at home. They realize from
the sale of stock and not from the sale
Of crops, and this accounts for their
prosperity.
''There are a few counties in West
Tennessee where the annual cotton
crops sold exceed $500, 900, to-wit;
Fayette, Gibson, Haywood. Lauder
dale, Madison, Shelby and Upton.
These counties, under the bill, would
O tch be entitled to government
warehouse. But do they need such an
| institu ton? OF all crops, cotton is the
easiest sold and commands the readiest
cash It's price is not fixed in the United
States, but in foreign ports, where 1T
comes in competition with the cotton OF
other countries. Those who have had
the largest experience in dealing with
cotton will say that the farmer who
habitually sells his crop of cotton when
1t is ready for market gets the better
| price Then again cotton, as | have
| already said, is especially a crop pro-
duced on the shares, In which the plan
ter, merchant and cropper all have an
interest, and in the majority of cases il
would be impracticable to store it in a
sub-treasury, even if it was desirable to
/
| farmers OF Tennessee would take no
material benefit under the bill, and
from their standpoint and without re-
ference to other weighty considerations
/ would oppose enacting it into law.
''2. The bill is distasteful to me be-
cause it will entail upon the people,
| wherever the sub-treasuries are estab-
lished, political agents of the party in
power. In the Southern States these
agents under Republican administra-
ton would be obnoxious, especially to
the farmers.
80. 1t would involve a vast expendi-
ture of public money, $50, 600, 900 to be-
gin with, to establish and maintain
these government warehouses, which,
under the existing system of taxation,
the farmers would pay the principal
part.
~. The measure tends toward CEN
tralization. 1t multiplies power at
Washington, and gives the party in
possession of it the means to perpetuate
its administration of the government.
-. 1t is class legislation Why
should the farmer engaged in the pro-
duction of cotton, wheat, corn, oats and
tobacco have the exclusive right to de-
posit his crops in a warehouse, built and
maintained at the public expense, and
to borrow from the government at per
cent. interest so per cent. of their value?
| Why should the farmer engaged in rails
ing stock, or in the production of hay,
potatoes, rye, barley, hemp, eggs, butter,
wool, fruit or vegetables not have an
equal right to borrow money at 1 per
cent? Why should the mechanic en-
gagged in making furniture, wagons,
plows, shoes, harness, brick, or imple-
ments of wood or iron be deprived of
the privilege of borrowing money at
per cent. on the product of his labor?
81 apprehend that these are ques-
tions that will perplex any intelligent
| friend of the measure who will calmly
take the time to think over the matter.
20. The measure will necessarily in
volve an annual imitation and contrac-
ton OF the currency. When the crops
at the end of the season are stored in
the government warehouses the treas
ury will issue so per cent of their value
to the class of farmers producing the
| favored crops. This would annually
flood the country with hundreds of mill
lions of treasury notes, all of which in
a few months must be returned to the
| treasury when the crops are sold. This
view, the most visionary scheme in our
history. That it would bring about
want of confidence in all commercial
/ pursuits and entail endless confusion
and disaster is, to my mind, evident
Confidence is everything to civilized
society. III the commerce of the world
| depended on the actual volume of money
in circulation we would find that the
| business of the country could not be
conducted on five times the currency we
now have. Not more than per cent.
of all transactions are conducted with
| currency, the other 95 per cent. being
based on confidence and conducted by
means of checks and drafts. A man
cannot be in health unless his blood
courses many times during single day
through his arteries. So with a circu
lating medium. It must command the
confidence of the people and calmly
flow through the arteries of trade and
commerce in order to secure the pros
perity of the governments. Confidence
is more important than the amount of
money in country. We should have
circulating medium and standard of
value based on the free coinage of gold
and silver to secure prosperity to the
people. This is the old and time-hon-
ored doctrine of the fathers. which will
commend itself to the confidence of the
country.
az. The bill applies only to the sur
plus of certain crops held for sale. 1t
would, therefore, result that the books
of the government warehouses would
show the amount of surplus cotton,
wheat, corn, oats and tobacco in the
country held for sale each year. This
would lead to gigantic schemes of specu-
lation. Capital could then combine to
control the surplus under the most
| favorable conditions. The bill pro-
vides for the transfer of the warehouse
receipts, and they could be purchased
in any quantity, and when once these
crops were under the control of or
ganized capital prices would go up, and
millions of dollars annually would be
wrung from the consumers of the coun-
try, who would he forced to buy them
to supply their necessities.
IS. The measure is not in the interest
of the small farmer. 1t is a scheme for
the fenefit of those who are cultivating
our western prairies on an extensive
scale. These men, often organized into
syndicates, have much trouble with the
lines of transportation. They complain
of exorbitant freight rates, and are often
placed at great inconvenience for the
want of transportation They have
little timber, and the storage of their
enormous crops of wheat is a serious
ment in a treeless country to build
look after and care for their grain and
loan them at per cent. interest so per
cent. of its value, they would, indeed,
be fortunate. Not so with the farmers
of Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.
SO. Lastly, it is not a Democratic
measure, and never could have ema-