The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-01-02

vened Congress in extraordinary ses-
sion after the great panic of 1887. Per
haps better. picture OF the sit
uation than that found in the mes
sage Of either of the Presidents may
be quoted from an article of Mr.. Tai
mage under the caption of "a Silver
ing Christmas" There is something
awfully wrong. as you will sec when
I put two facts parallel. In the far
Western States more wheat than they
know what to do with; in the South
ern States more cotton than they know
what to do with. Plenty of bread,
plenty of clothing, and yetmultitudes
half fed and half sheltered, thou
sands of employed, and to hundreds
and thousands Of people this is a hun
cry and starving and shrivering
Christmas. It is like the depres,
sion of man who has plenty Of money
in the safe and Of a woman who has
plenty of food in the pantry, and they
have lost the keys" The key to the
situation, and the only key that can
unlock to the civilized world the bless
ings of thrift, prosperity and con-
tentment, is q legislative key. But
alas! this key is held by just such
men as DR.. Broch and Mr.. De Roths-
child in Europe, and over here it
hangs high in the four million dollar,
five hundred millionaire club room in
New York. This class Of men has
the ear of the government, and with
some honorable exceptions commands
the press, our legislators acting in
accordance with the suggestion made
by Judge Brawley in his speech on the
repeal Of the purchasing clause of the
Sherman act; that, upon financial
questions advice should be sought
from bankers, as their familiarity with
finance renders them most competent
to instruct; they, usually repair to
New York for information and insEuc-
ton. Ofcourse they receive the advice
of the spider to the fly. walk into
our par1or." There is nothing more
natural than that these gentlemen,
manifesting most earnest soltcitude
for the maintenance of public integ-
rity and nationalhonor, and indnlging
in such clear phrases as sound money.
honest money, having the key placed
in their hands by men who have not
informed themselves upon this sub,
joct, should Immediately proceed to
help themselves and then lock the
store house against the genera. public.
There will be no relief until the
South and West wrest this key from
the hands of those who live by the
profit of capital. Mr.. Calhoun said
(volume II, page 34S, works( There
is dangerous antagonist relation be-
tween those who hold or command the
currency and the rest Of the commu-
nifty" In speaking Of this class in
which he includes the wholesale deal
ers and master manufacturers, Adam
Smith says (see Wealth Of Nations, !"
pages 2o2 and 20S: 'The plans and
projects of the employers Of stock
regulate and direct all the most i'm
portant operations of labor; and profit
Is the end proposed by all those plans
and projects. But the rate OF profit
does not, like. rent and wages, rise
with prosperity and fall with the de
clension of society. - It is always
highest in the countries which are
going fastest to ruin. ++* The pro-
posa1 of any new law or reguls ion OF
commerce, which comes from this Or
der, ought always to be listened TO
with great precaution, and ought
never to be adopted till after having
been long and carefully examined, not
only with the most scrupulous, but
with the most suspicious, attention.
It comes from an order Of men whose
interest is never exactly the same
with that of the public, who have gen-
orally an interest to deceive and even
to oppress the public, and who acord-
ingly have upon many occasions both
deceived and oppressed It." This leg.
islative key in 1851, on the withdraw
al Of the cotton States from the Union,
passed from the agricultural class
into the hands Of the merchant and
manufacturing class Of tho Northeast,
and right we'll have they welded it.
as Adam Smith; asserted, to deceive,
oppress and rob the other sections Of
the Union. By doubling the restrictive
duties they first acquired the war obi
cations Of the nation, and then by f.
nancial legislation doubled, trebled
and nd.quadrupled them in value.
The interest of this section in finance
is almost identical with that Of West
ern Europe to double the value Of the
and money obligations which
they hold, and to depress the price OF
cotton and wheat, which they buy|
from the South and West. TO do that
which was denounced by the prophet
Amos among the corruptions Of Jero-
boam: ITO swallow up the poor byl
the shekel great and the
ephah small" These lords Of finance,
of the loom, the factory and the fur
mace, protecting the banks and the
shops and plundering the fields, have
so depressed and despoiled agriculture
that our great staple products are now
selling below the cost Of production,
as our chief articles of export no long
er maintain the exchanges In our far
vor, and as the treasury reserve is
drained to settle the balance Of trade,
which suicidal legislation has set
against us, this robbery and oppression
is made pretext for further extortion
in the shape of repeated issues Of gold
bonds to furnish investment for
the usurious interest levied up
on the South and West. This
class of men, who live by the
profit of capital, controlling the
Government and hostile to the interest
Of the general public, during the past
thirty years their term OF supremacy
have iegislated into their possession
oil tho railroads telaoraph lines. va