Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-10-29
DO rot WANT TT
How the Proposed Agricultural Snb-
Treasury Would Work.
Solid Mental Matter for the Farmer to Di-
gest at Leisure.
From the Meber,y Monitor.

against the sub-tfeasufy scneme Is
in a late number of the Century
magazine. 1t is devoid of political
ear marks and is worthy Of a close
reading by farmers everywhere.
The warehouse managers, who
are to decide upon the market price
of the produce, would, in nearly all
instances, be appointed through po-
litical influence, which is tanta-
mount to say that they would have
little expert knowledge of the duties
which they were to perform. These
men would have absolute power to
decide upon the sums of which the
government was to advance SO per
cent. There are, for example, IL
grades of cotton, and about as many
half grades, and there are about 80
grades of wheat. The manager
must decide not merely the grade
but the price as it is fixed in the
markets of the world at the time.
If he is an honest man and fairly
capable, the opportunity for serious
blunders would be very great. If
he be a dishonest, or ignorant, OF
preiudiced, or malicious man, can
anyone estimate the evil and inius-
tice of which he might be capablef
He could overrate the produce of all
his political and personal friends.
and underrate that of all his enemies
or rivals, and there would be no APP.
peal from his decisions. The i'm
possibility OF having a just and uni
form basis tor the 50 per cent
advance In all the warehouses, OF
even in one of them, would from
the outset throw fatal doubt upon
the value both of the treasury note
and Of the certificates Of deposit,
giving them at once a deprecated
and uncertain standard.
The farmers who are misled into
fayoring the scheme think that they
would receive at once a loan OF sc
per cent of the full value Of THEN
crop at only l per cent. Ware.
housing, insurance, and other ex-
penses for cotton, for example, are
usually between s and 8 per cent o.
its value. This would have to be
paid to the government, and would
bring the interest up to 8 or 10 pei
cent. On wheat and other products
there would be similar expenses
which would raise the interest Oh
deposits of them to nearly OR quite
the same limits. The rate of inter.
est, therefore, is not low enough tt
be beneficial to farmers who hope
by this means to pay off existing
debts at legal rates of interest
What a farmer would receive woule
be a loan for one year from the gov
eminent at the rate of9 Or 10 PEI
cent of a sum amounting to four
fitths Of the total value Of his croI
paid to him in money of uncertain
value. For the remaining fifth h
would receive a certificate whose
value would depend entirely upot
what he got for it in the open market
No buyer would ever offer him thu
full price as fixed by the warehouse
manager, for there would be tot
many uncertainties about the crop's
redemption to make the certificate
a safe investment for anybody
They could only be negotiated at
heavy discount at best, and in many
instances would scarcely be negoti
able at all.
IL warehouses were established
there would be a tendency among
all farmers seeking an immediate
market to put their produce int
them. One of the advocates of thu
scheme estimated before a committe,
of the Senate that the deposit;
would be so large as to require al
addition OF one thousand millions O
dollars to the currency in Januar,
and February of each year. Thi:
food of currency, all of which wouiC
be based upon uncertain and vary
ing bases of valuation, would be &C
companied bv another flood of GER
tificates of deposit. The govern
ment would turn out these note.
and certificates, and their receiver:
would at once put them in circula
ton. Their value would depend en-
tirely upon the popular estimat.
which should be made of their pur
chasing power. The fact that thu
notes had been declared a legal ten
der would not add a particle to theit
value. The people would max,
their own estimate of the prospec'
for the fulfillment of the promis,
upon which they were based, AMI
that estimate would fix their value
What would be the prospect 70!
this promise to be fully kept? |
prices went down after the deposit
the produce would be left there til
the very end OF the year and SOLE
for what it would bring. The eff
feet of throwing a great mass O
produce upon the market at ont
time would be to lower still turtle,
the price, and the result would be
great loss to the government which
must be made good by taxation
As the farmers of the country pa,
about half Of fhe taxes, they woult
thus have to pay half the cost o
their own folly. From the natur,
Of the case a falling-off in valu,
would be almost inevitable, for spec
ulators and purchasers would be in
terested in waiting for a forced sale
being thus certain of buying at
lower price. In case there should
be a general rise after deposit, thu
| chances would be that the farmer.
most in need of profiting by i
would have parted with their notes