St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-08-09

H.
That the question whether Deacon
Abner Griggs is I'm inspired financial
genius or muddled ignoramus contin-
ues to agitate the people Of Squantum
township is shown in the latest issue of
the North Squantum Gazette From
that paper we copy the following ac-
count of a discussion at Hopkins store
at Sduantum Center on last Saturday
evening:
public interest in the interference by
Mrs. Abner Griggs with her husband s
attempt toput his new financial theories
into practice has increased during the
past week. The farmers and villagers
who We're in Hopkins store on Saturday
evening spent most of the tug arguing
for and against the deacon s financial
experiment Among those who favored
the deacon was Silas Upham, who said :
'Pears to me there S a good deal in these
new money schemes, and I'm kinder
sorry Deacon Griggs want let 90 on till
we see how the thing would work.
There's no use talking, we farmers are
i'll bad way. Times is mighty hard,
wheat a-going down, wool lower than
ever, and so many men out Of work i'll
the towns and cities that we can't sell
half the stuff we raise. What we need is
more money. We want free coinage, so
that all the silver in the world can be
used as money. If that wouldn't give us
$50 per capita, the government ought to
print enough greenbacls to make up the
difference. Then we want the Subtreas-
ury system, so as to let us farmers put
our wheat corn, wool or pork in govern
ment warehouses, and get treasury GER
tificates for rs per cent of their value.
And the government ought to lend mon
ey to the farmers at 2 per cent ON the
security Of their land. If all that won't
give us enough money, | don't see why
we mightn't try the deacon's plan and
issue notes on labor products, specially
stones, which won't rust, and which is
abundant round here.
Some of what you say about hard
times may be true, spoke up Squire
Crane, but more money amt going to
help matters. Prices is low, but its be-
cause the cost of producing things has
been lessened Stands to reason that
wheat coming from rich prairie farms,
which cost about $l.25 an acre, would
be cheaper than that grown on our
farms, which cost from $50 to $50 an
acre to clear Wheat grown in India
and Russia completes with ours in the
markets of the world. Then freight rates
has gone down, and that helped lower
prices. Wool comes now from Australia
and the great states out west, where it
can be raised far cheaper than here The
fact is, tisn't lack of money which has
made prices low, but new ways of MAX
ing things, new places to get 'em from
and handler ways of hauling them than
we used to have.
Besides, this things as broad as
it's long Everything we farmers buy
has gone down i'll price, and we can get
far more for ou.' money than we did 20
years ago. So if we do get less money
for our crops, and while some of them
is lower there's a good many which
fetches as much as they ever did, we
can buy more goods of all kinds with
what we sell off our farms.
A nyho,.r ,,,o1-,,,,. ,,,o,,o ,,,o,,o,x o..4
of silver or paper won't help u.s. but
would leave us far worse off This talk
about the need of free coinage is all
humbug, stirred up by the owners of
silver mines and other people in few
states who want to fool the farmers and
the rest of the people into doubling the
price of silver The rag baby plan of
the greenbackers is played out1mg ago
It's the greenbacks we've got now that's
making all the trouble about our gold
reserve If it wasn't for them, we
wouldn't have to borrow hundreds of
millions of gold at per cent, and we
wouldn't be threatened with another
panic.
" The rest Of them cheap money
schemes is all alike They mean trying
to make something out Of nothing And
Deacon Gmggs idea Of getting rich by
basmg money on stones is just as sensi-
Bile or as crazy as the rest of them.
Joe Letert, the old wheelwright,
thought the squire went a little too far
in putting the DpODlp who vented FREQ