Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-08-09

out OF n0x t0f uw OWp voseos o~.-~ 49,
her ASIDE. che can hardly. owing 20 neg
geographical situation, - wen - 70 the
eumities she hes aroused, expect eitnes
mercy or consideration from her ns'en-
bors. -
Tho Sub. Treasury Scheme an OLD One'
The wise man says, a. The thing that has
been 4 the thing that shall be. and thers
Il NO new thing under tho sum-" Even the
sub Treasury scheme OF 1891 has been
traced BY it's opponents back to the days
OF Epxuxp BuRxx. One Of our western
contemporaries finds parallel to 1t IN the
scheme Of JosEPH to warehouse al the
peoples wheat for the benefit OF PHAaAoA
Of old. THIS parallel. however. 10 no pa
rallel ct al.
The proposition which EDxuxD BuHxI
sntagonized . hundred years ago must
have had features closely akin to some OF the
features of the sub Treasury scheme which
have found favor recently in the eyes OF 20
many well-meaning but uniformed per-
sons. The British scheme OF 1875 was .
movement in behalf Of the consumers, and
was intended to protect them against the
rapscity of the men who had control OF
the wheat. In this respect it differs from
the scheme Of to-day, which is intended to
protect the owners OF wheat-the land
owpers-from the consumers. In reading
the following extract from letter OF Ed
xusp Bunxx's the reader cannot but DO
struck with the fact that both schemes-the
British oud ours-are alike Objectionable.
Some of Mr.. BUnxx's arguments may De
urged against the sub-Treasury scheme OF
1888. Mr.. BURKE writes (the Cincinnati
Commercial Gazette furnishes rs with the
letter.:
"The construction Of such eranaries through
out tho kingdom would be an expense beyond
all calculation. Tho keeping thcm up wou'o Io-
quire an army Of agents, storekeepers' cierAs'
and servants The capital 70 DO employed IN
the purchase OF grain would DO enormous. Inc
wastes, decay, and corruption would be oreao'
full drawback ON the whole dealing ana tho as
satisfaction Of the people ct having decayoo'
tainted. or corrupted corn sold 70 them' az taus'
be tho case, would be serious.
"Thc moment that the Government appears AZ
market all tho principles Of market viii DO SUD-
vertcd.
"In the FIRST place the trading Government
will speedily become bankrupt, and the con-
sumer in the end will suffer. -.
IAN the expense is incurred gratis. Bus II
tho object Of this scheme should be what sus-
pect 1t is, TO destroy the dealer, commonly caiieo
the middle-man, and by mourning voluntary
loas. 10 carry the baker to deal with the Govern
ment, am to toll them that they set up anotne.
trade, that OF miller, or meal man. auenoou
By q new train Of expenses and risks. III IN Do'n
these trades they should succeed, 20 q 70 e1-
cIude those who trade on natural ana private
capitals, then they will have monopoly In tnon
hands, which, under tho appearance OF
monopoly Of capital, win, in reality, DO mo
nopoly Of authority, and will rule Whatever II
touches. Tho agriculture ofthe Kingdom cannot
stand before It,"
How many hundreds of thousands OF
pranaries would the people Of the United
States need in case Congress were to pass
the sub Treasury bill9 The expense would
be beyond all calculation" to quote Mr..
BUsxr's words. An army OF agents. clerks,
storekeepers. and other servants com
Gals" we call them in this country would
rule the land with an iron land. The cap
ital to be employed in the purchase OF
wheat would be enormous. And then our
silly American sub-treasuryites and gra-
nary-builders provide that all the incalcu-
liable expense of erecting granaries, keep
ing the wheat. hiring hundreds of thou
sands of government servants" &C., &C.,
shall be met by an issue Of irredeemable
Treasury notes! In other words. If our
outstanding currency now amounts to fif-
teen hundred millions Of dollars the pur-
chasing power of that sum will be reduced
by the operation Of the sub-Treasury
scheme by perhaps more than 90 per cent.
at once, and in the end to the point
reached by the Confederate treasury notes
in the winter of 1884 aud spring OF 1865.
1.-THE moro greenbscks the less they Will
purchase" will be the next cry and the
next fact recognized. Unbribable nature
fixes these matters.
Think of it. The result Of our SUBJ
Treasury experiment would be the pc
cuniary ruin of the country. No good
consequence could possibly follow its
enactment. All the talk about making
creenbacks full legal tender" would
turn out to be worse than mere twaddle.
1t would be just as clearly impossible for
any legislation by Congress to convert fat
greenbacks into " full legal-tender money
as for legislation by that body to convert
paper rags into gold or silver. For We re-
peat the statement once more that in the
sense in which it is used by the ub-treasury-
ties the phrase full legal tender " means
that Congress has tho power to make by
law the purchasing power of irredeemsbls
Treasury notes equal to the purchasing
power of gold and silver coins. What is
tho use Of arguing with men who hold to
such theories?