The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1893-09-08

prosperous Wnen the standard
value is most stable.
What we do really want is a Sta
BILE currency. A dollar that vii
be dollar wherever we may car
ry it whether it be of gold, silver 0
paper. We wish every one TO pa,
their just debts in honest money
We desire to see honesty encour
aged and enforced by law wheneve
necessary.
The extreme depression in bust
ness existing at present will surel,
continue until this silver problem
is satisfactorily solved and the tarii
revised. ALI personal considera
tions should be laid aside and tn
public good alone considered in tn
settlement of both these importan
measures. Our financial system
should be so adjusted as to bes
serve the interests OF all classes o
our people. Our government by itl
system OF finance has never attained
this and in the creation and admin
istration of its banking department
has overlooked, as we think, thu
wants OF the producing class which
while 1t bears an undue share of tax
alton, receives little il any relieI
from banks. Men engaged in spec
ulation, combinations and trusts,
merchants and traders, can avail
themselves of the advantages TO be
derived from discounts of 30, 60 and
80 days, at the legal rate of interest,
but when a failure of the crops or a
misfortune of some kind happens 10
overtake the farmer he finds il i'm.
possible to obtain such assistance
as he may need on any security he
Is able to offer for the reason that
the time of bank discounts is too
short and the security he is prepar-
ed to offer is not acceptable to banks
consisting as il does nearly altogeth-
er of real estate. For his relief,
however, enterprise and cupidity
have formed companies whose allur-
ing and insidious circulars are rem
dered the more seductive by virtue
of the fact that no other possible
means of escape from immediate
bankruptcy presents. The unfor-
tunate victim of circumstances seeks
temporary relief from impending
ruin and from necessity enters the
spiders parlor. A few years in
most cases completes the wreck.
To properly understand what meas
ure of relief is TO be expected from
some of these companies, we will
simply estimate the charges incl
dent to a loan of say 5000 dollars.
The borro ser is required TO pay a
commission TO the attorney OF the
company of 10 per cent on the a.
mount of the loan for his services
in procuring it and must acknowl-
edge him as his attorney. He is
required to pay for an abstract of
title say from 90 to 75 dollars, and
for recording the paper and furnish
ing a transcript of the record 10 dol
lars, aggregating from $50 to 5S5
dollars. He then receives the bal
ance of 5000, or 4415 dollars for
which he has executed his notes
for 5000 dollars bearing 8 or 10 per
cent interest per annum as per a.
greement, and il at any time during
the life of the loan he should hap
pen to be so fortunate as to find ii
TO his interest TO pay up and dis
charge the debt before maturity, he
will be granted the boon on pay
ment of 2 or d per cent as a bonus.
These are the conditions to which
the farmer has to submit, when from
a failure of the crop or other untow-
ard events he finds it necessary to
seek a loan although he not only
bears an undue share of the burden
of taxation for the support Of the
government, but has TO bear the en-
tire loss Of our foreign trade which
for the year past has aggregated the
sum Of 184, 94I ,251 dollars, as the fol-
lowing table from the New York
World shows
The loss in our foreign trade dur
ing the past year has fallen entirely
upon our farmers. How great this
has been is partially shown in the
following table;