The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-07-09

press 'he iaoorer aud has brought on tho
present fight between capital and labor.
What Is money, this all-powerful opprcss
orr We must have some CoEtcpjion of
what ii is and whchce it derives its power,
Who created it2 These u,c questions ON
which the people have been kept ignorant,
but now they arc beginning to learn some
thing about it. Money is q creation of
law; none of the materials of which mon
cy Is made have any intrinsic value, exccpt
the value gwen it by law. Lumps of gold
and silver do not pass as money until tbp
stamp of the government is placed upon it;
then it is money, that powerful king. The
coinage of gold is unlimited, the silver and
paper issue is limited. The Government
has the right to make money, and all state
mcnts to the contrary are false. During
The late war the United States issued mil.
hons OF grccnback legal tender notes, SIM
ply on the credit of the Government, and
that was good money, and is today. AT
that time the circulating medium was 1872
per capita, labor and produce was high.
Now it is less than $50 per capita, and la
Dor and produce is Mt u low price. If this
Is Government of the people and for the
people it is the Governmcnts's duty to fur
nish the people with sufficient circulating
medium with which to do business. The
capitalists who control tho money of this
country is only six per cent. of the popula,
tlon and this six per cent rcprcsen ting tho
money of the country controls and op-
presses tic ninty-four per cent. Of our pop.
ulation which belongs to the laboling class,
and this oppression has been growing worse
ever since the war. Money has outweigh
cd property and labor. When money be-
comes scarce and tight, labor and land 90
down; when money is plenty they are high.
| 1t is the capitalists interest to make money
scarce SO that the price of property and la
Dor will be reduced and brought in subiec
ton to the money power which is in his
hands. Once before in the history of this
country, in the time Of Clay, our people
got into such financial strait that in Mis-
souri, the best horses sold for So. so, and a
whole drove of hogs for 25 cents, simply
because money was lot to be had. We arc
| i'''' ~ '''''So HOW anu tlG
facts will prove it, oil because of the banks
and greed of capitalists. That money has
controlled our law making machinery no
one can deny. Just so soon as the govern
mcnt began to make paper money and tic
people were to be released from the power
OF the Wall Street jobher, the bankers held
a convention in Washington and began tc
plot for the defeat of this new currency
law, which would cmancipatc the people
from the chains Of the money power
This they soon did, by the means of money
influence, which corrupt legislation remains
today on the statutes foul crime against
the liberties of the working people of this
country. | want you brethren to stud,
this question and become thoroughly ac
qnaintcd with it, then you will know its
rottcnness and will he more able to under
stand the remedies offered by the demands
Of tie Alliance. That the GoTcrrmen
. can make paper dollar as good as a golC
one no one can deny. On what is thcs,
Government bonds that bring such prem
iun,, based, but the credit uf the Govern
|
for the issue Of National Bank Notes
which is good money, but We must get i
through the banks and pay higher rate o
interest therefor; that's where the robbie
comes in. The banks get the money from
the Government at about one per cent. anc
place the bonds as sccurity-thcsc sam,
bonds, mind you, that have nothing outside
OF the guarantee of ,hc Government tt
make them good then the banks, the only
channel through which we can get our cur
rcncy, lend this money to the farmer and
laboring classes at from ten to twenty pei
cent. II that is not robbery, what is :
lhcsc same banks car contract the cur
rcncy SO that cotton will not bring but three
cents per ponnd and other produce accord.
lngly. This government has run too long
in the interest OF Inc capitalist they have
controlled legislation long enough. The
~ liiancc is the way to find the relief VIC
seek, and the sub-trcasury bill is the me ans.
l want every member to study this bill that
the Alliance has endorsed, and defy any
man to prove that it is not good thing for
the farmers. Here the speaker explained
the nature of the bill with which all our
readers arc familiar
The first great advantage the farmer will
derive from this bill is that it will give MS q
flexible currency. Second, 1t will give us q
circulating medium in the fall that will en-.
able MS TO dispose of our cotton to a good
advantage. The circulating medium is so
small now that it will take every dollar in
circulation in the United States to handle
the cotton crop alone. Thus you sec that
cotton is bound to be cheap because there
Is not enough money TO handle it, Under
the tub-lrcasury warehouse plan this will
be avoided. The farmer can deposit his
cotton, get eighty per cent. of its valuc IN
money, with which to pay his de bts, and
hold his cotton. Banks lend money on
cotton, and are safe; and why not the gov.
crnmcntr Cotton is just as good sccuri.
ty as the bond deposited by the banker
with the government on which he gets