Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-06-04

vored crops. This would annually Hood
the country with hundreds of millions of
treasury notes, all of which in a few
months must be returned to the treasury
when the crops are sold. This seems. to
me, from financial to point of view,
the most visionary scheme in our his
tory. That it would bring about want of
confidence in all commercial pursuits
and entail endless confusion and disas-
ter is, to my mind, evident, Confidence
is everything to civilized society. If the
commerce of the world depended on the
actual volume of money in circulation
we would find that the business of the
country should not be conducted on five
times the currency we now have. Not
more than per oent. 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 un-
less his blood coures many times during
single day through his arteries. So
with circulating medium. 1t must
command the confidence of the people
and calmly flow through the arteries Of
trade and commerce in order to secure
the prosperity of the government. Con-
fidence is more important than the
amount of money in country. We
should have a circulating medium and
standard of value based on the free coiu-
age of gold and silver to secure prosper
ity to the people, This is the old and
tilne-honored doctriue of the fathers,
which will commend itself to the conf
dence of the country.
"Seventh-The bill applies only to the
surplus of certain crops held for sale. 1t
would, ttfher6fot5, 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 spec
ulation. Capital could then combine to
control the surplus under themost favor
able conditions. The bill provides 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 organized
capital prices would go up, and millions
of dollars annually would be wrung
from the consumers of the country, who
would be forced to buy them to supply
their necessities.
"Eighth-The measure is not in the
interest of the small farmer. 1t is q
scheme for the benefit of those who are
cultivating our western prairies on an
extensive scale. These men, often or
ganized into syndicates, have much
trouble with the lines of transportation.
The complain of exorbitant freight rates,
and are often placed at great inconven-
fences for the want of transportation.
They have little timber, and the storage
of their enormous crops of wheat is
serious problem. If they can get the
government, in a treeless country, to
build warehouses for them, pay agents
to 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. No so the farmers of Ten
nessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.
"Ninth-Lastly, it is not Democratic
measure, and never could have emanated
from the brain of Democrat. Gen.
Chalmers was right when he said few
days ago that it was Republican and
not Democratic measure. For thirty
yerrs under the rule of the Republican
party, this country has been robbed and
pillaged by the favored and protected
classes. Now, by the sub-treasury
scheme an attempt is made to allure the
farmers away from the beaten paths Of
Democracy in vain attempt to secure
class legislation for themselves. 1t is
better for victim in chains to continue
his efforts to break his bonds than to
take an opiate in order that his fetters
may be endured. No man realizes more
than | do the injustice done the farmers
by class legislation. Noman appreciates
more than 90 the patience with which
he has borne for years the most Oppres-
sive and exasperating system of taxation
that was ever fastened on free people.
Year after year, for a quarter of cen
tury, he has hoped for relief. During
all that period there has never been an
hour when the Democratic party had
control of the three coordinate branches
of the government. During Mr.. Cleve-
lands administration it had the executive
and the lower house of congress, but the
senate remained Republican. Would it
not be wise, in view of the recent cleo
tions, for tho farmers to further trust to
the Democracy? Would it not be wiser
for them to place the Democracy in
power and give it an opportunity to re-
store to the farmers their rights, than to
abandon the party of equal rights for
this measure fraught with so much evil
and so many uncertainties Are the
farmers to remain freemen, retaining
their capacity to take care of themselves,
or are they prepared to surrender all and
throw themselves helpless into the arms
of a paternal government to take care
of them and provide for their wants
What is the sub-treasury scheme but a
prayer to the government to take care Of
the farmers? You have protected the
manufacturer you have taken care of
the rich by relieving the increase of
wealth from taxation; you have provided
for the pensioner; you have distributed
the public lands among pampered cor
porations. Now help us This is the
gist of the sub-treasury scheme, and /
do not hesitate to say that it is obnox-
ious to every tenet in the Democratic
creed. Democrats believe that grew
ances should be redressed by abolishing
them, and not by palliating them by en-
couraging others just as hurtful.
THE farmers of this country are and
always have been our most conservative
citizens, and to them the country looks