The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-07-16

| Last Thursday was blg DAY Tor the
| Alliance'of Abbeville County, at.Green
wood. The occasion was to hear the
address of National Lecturer Willetts
of Kansas.
| Several hundred alliance men had
assembled to hear the address. Presi-
dent Stokes, of the State Alliance, was
also present and delivered an address
The two together occupied about four
hours of time in the delivery of their
speeches.
Being anxious to hear these addresses
I went to Greenwood.
President Stokes spoke first. The
| welcome to the city was extended IN
fitting terms by DR.. Maxwell. Presi-
dent Stokes was introduced by Mr..
Blake, president of the County Alliance
-
DR.. Stokes said that be would rather
occupy the position of president Of the
alliance than any other position, because
the alliance was endeavoring to solve
great questions of political economy.
and to be the head of such an organiza-
ton in South Carolina be considered a
great honor.
He said be wished to refute the idea
that the Alliance was endeavoring to
throttle free speech. He took the posi-.
ton that when two Alliance men de,
sired to discuss measure it must not
be in public, but before the Alliance.
If the opposition to the Alliance
wanted to discuss measure of the AL
lance like the sub-treasury, he would
bind the Alliance to furnish men to de,
bate it in public with non Alliance
men. He maintained that this position
was not without precedent, for in ma
tional conventions of the Republican
and Democratic parties where princi'
Piles were discussed and platforms made
| admission could only be obtained by
pass tickets. A pass word did not diff
fer from pass ticket. He said, how
ever, that the Alliance did not desire
to cover up anything, but desired the
fullest possible discussion.
**x
President Stokes then took up the
Ocala platform and read its demands,
commenting on each briefly, until be
reached the sub-treasury. He dwelt at
some length on it. He said it was not
true that the Alliance laid undue stress
upon this demand, but it had been
most vigorously attacked and a good
| general always met the enemy where
| he made his attack. The idea and aim
of this demand was to increase the Cir
culating medium. How to get this in
crease was the question. The gold and
silver men say take our metal and coin
it into money. Good, but if it were
possible to utilize every ounce of gold
and silver it would not increase the cir
culating medium over one dollar per
capita per annum and at this rate it
would take forty years to get it up to
| what was needed. The farmer says to
the government take our staple, store
it in warehouses and issue to US 50 per
| cent. Of the value. "As far as l can
see,n said President Stokes, "there is
no difference in principle in storing
bonds in the treasury and issuing notes
on them and my storing nv cotton IN
a warehouse and having notes issued
on it.n
President Stokes tLen took up the
objections to the sub-treasury, and an.
swered them. The first objection, that
it is unconstitutional, is without merit.
If the government has the. right to ac-
cept gold and silver as basis, Why not
cotton?
It is no more paternalism to accept
cotton as basis than to accept bonds.
The idea that the government can't
loan money at two per cent. when 1t
pays 1 per cent, is ridiculous. The
government does not borrow money, it
prints it.
The objection urged that this scheme
may cause a loss to the government If
there is decline in price was considered.
President Stokes said there " - no pos
sibility of loss under any circumstances.
This plan would eliminate the specula-
tor and reduce it to the law of supply
and demand.
Suppose a farmer deposits in the
warehouse S1G0 worth of cotton and
draws $50 and at the end of the year
when pay day comes this cotton is only
worth $40, and the farmer fails to
redeem his cotton. You say at once
that the government has lost $40. 1t
has done no such thing. What is to
hinder the government from buying
that cotton in and holding it, until the
price advances, and that is what it Will
do. But suppose the government wants
to sell out, and only realizes $40. The
government has lost nothing IN that
case, because the other $40 was in circu-
lation and it stands upon the same basis
as your silver certificate issued since
last July.
~
This in brief is the answer of Presi-
dent Stokes to the objections to the sub
treasury plan. Iwould like for Presl-
dent Stokes to explain what becomes
of the other $40 that the farmer could
have gotten for his cotton at the time
he placed it in the warehouse in the
illustration used above. 1t is not in
circulation, and it looks as If 1t might
be clear loss to the farmer.
Somehow I am not convinced that
President Stokes himself believes in
the soundness of his own reasoning.
I have endeavored to give bis argu-
ment as fully as possible so that the
people could see it for themselves. If
according to his logic the government
would lose nothing when it only re-
ceived $40 for $50 it had advanced be-
cause it was in circulation, it would
lose nothing if it had just given the
farmer full value for his cotton and
then returned bis cotton to him also, for
the money would be in circulation.
~
Mr.. Willetts, of Kansas, the National
Lecturer of the Alliance was next intro
duced. He is a pleasant talker, and
interspersed his speech of three hours
with anecdotes that amused the crowd.
I have not the space for an abstract Of
his speech. He said it was a little re-
markable that a Kansas jayhawker
should be addressing South Carolina
audience; but they had learned away
up in Kansas that the war was over
and that the Alliance had made all
men brothers. He said the Alliance
was not a political organization, but
ci,nrlI, ff>o oH thp