Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-28

the times after the war when on account of the premium on gold the exporters who drew against cotton in gold paid 8 to cents per pound additional for theif cotton on account of this premium. The
 money paid them was the money of their countrywide money that paid their taxes, paid their labor, bought their supplies and paid their debts They argue that if gold was at premium of 40 now, instead Of receiving to 6 cents for cotton they
 would receive to 81a cents, and the diff ference to the planters on this cotton crop would have been $100,0 900 in their fa- vor; that many more dollars would have gone into the southern states, and, though they might not have had equal purchas- ing power with gold, it would have made a marvellous difference in the feelings of the men who toiled and would have saved many man from the sheriff. Even if the silver was like the silver of Mexico, worth only one-half as much as gold the pres ent crop would have sold for $25O 00OO 900 more of these dollars than it has. From the planters standpoint, he would prefer $50 per bale instead of $25 for his cotton, even if the dollars were not quite so good. It is especially so with the poorer classes of cotton producers, who, under the best conditions, have hard life of it. After year of hard work, such IS men in more comfortable positions know very little about, and after selling his cotton for less than 1t costs him to make it, his children barefoot and in need of the actual neces- sities of life, this man would prefer to have double the amount of money he has received, even if the dollars are of less value, and even if, as he is told, the so-
 called honor of the government and the trade relations of our country with other governments were a little strained.
 Searching for Remedy.
 q am not discussing the matter in the abstract. am only talking of the feeling of the planters I meet In every day life. They admit that the gold standard is a very great blessing to the man who has the gold. but to the man the product of whose labor is measured by gold the blessing is not so apparent. On the con- trary, he thinks that the single gold standard is something of a curse, and while he cannot be certain whether a de- based silver currency would make his condition any better, he at least is will ing to try the experiment. It may be that more prosperous times may change the views of these men, but from what I
 know of their feelings on the subject now they are going to act and vote for any party that shows unqualified friendship
 for silver The repeal of the Sherman law
 gave them disappointing results. The
 abortive tariff tinkering has not been as
 beneficial as they had hoped. These
 questions for the time being settled, they
 are going to hunt for still further reme-
 dy for their troubles. I am not discuss
 ing my personal views, but simply give
 you, as far as I can judge, the sentiments
 of the men upon whose prosperity rests
 the south. If have mistaken their feel
 ings time will develop it, but I have kept
 in pretty close contact with the producers
 of what are especially known as the cot
 ton states, and do not think can be mis-
 taken about the almost universal opinion
 at this time."