The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-08-29
SUNDAY. AUGUST. 20 1897.
.,rssoN FOR THE FARMERS.

we published yesterday '"O =.
AZ, ,ba Assistant Secretary OF 'he Ne'
s,,tural Department of the Uhited 9'"',S
N.A 0xnressed the opinion that the Aihei'-
-, farmers would receive In the aGgre-
-. ,roro four TO five hundred millions oil
dollars in excess Of that received last S'"i
for their farm products.
This gentleman is in a position 10 Jus
az nearly as any man may upon ',i'
matter. and we have no DOUBT that lis
o.,,,or ,s not far from being right Ihis
hsinc so. we ask our free silver irisnus u
ponder upon the following sugsesuons'
Tho whole basis Of Mr.. Bryan's appear
40 YOU was that there was not ehouE"
money I'm the country, and that the prices
% everything were low because there was
no money with which to buy commoul-
ties. But there Is no more money IN tne
country than there was year ago "hiie
wheat Is nearly or quite thirty cents
nushol higher. and there is plenty OF
,oo,ev 70 buy every bushel the farmers
raise nj this advanced price. Is IL not
obvious 20 YOU. then, that Mr.. Bryan IS
mistaken I'm his position? DO you not sec
that when there Is a demand Tor your
.,,ho,t i,s prices rise without regard 10
The quantity OF money In the country
md that whatsoever the price II goes u
there Is an abundance Of money 10 puy All
of it7 The man who cannot see these oo-
,sous facts must be blind. indeed. Inls
ease ought to impress upon the FARMERS
., tha country another lesson. The i'm
mense sum that will be scattered proau-
cost amongst them this fall VIII all DC
roma away from them WITHIN 'hiee
months 80 far as that sum CONSISTS Vi
co,n or national currency. Withn three
months n farmer viii find that there -
no money in his neighborhood. and that
~ he happens to get fifty dollar note
ne can't get IT changed without soihs OIL
10 a town that has bank.
This condition will be brought about
thus: Great as the payments 10 inc
farmers will be. very little actual cash VIII
he used in them. Many farmers Will sell
through commission merchants who will
nav by checks and the farmers VIII de-
poslt them I'm bank and have a credit
against which they will draw checks.
There will be no cash at all used In these
cases. Many other small farmers Will
take their wheat TO the nearest town
and sell II for cash. but they Will convert
that cash into home supplies before they
leave the town and the merchants VIII
deposit II in bank next morning, so that
there is nominal use of cash in these
cases which really does not amount TO a
use of II after all.
But many. however. will. OF course,
carry cash money home with them. But
how long will II stay there? They will
not hoard II I'm stocking legs or chests.
They will go with It TO the country stores
and buy what they want or. II they have
any surplus that amounts To anything.
the will send II 70 town and put 1t In a
bank for safekeeping. The country mer-
chant will do the same thing with what
ne collects up from round about in the
ncighborhood. The result will be that
within sixty or ninety days from the time
this cash gets out amongst the farmers
Il will all have got again into the whirl-
pool and. very dollar OF II being good at
par all over the Union. the mails and the
telegraph and the telephone will call for
81 at every point where drafts on that
point have made a subsistence and IL will
40 rushing there 10 restore the surface
level That surface level. however. is
confined 10 commercial points, and IT
knows nothing OF and takes 10 account
OF the vast regions inhabited by agricul-
turists where there are no banks
These facts should make the farmers
take actual conditions into consideration.
They should reflect. and. when they do.
they would see that the volume OF talk
they have heard about quantities OF
money being necessary for the business
OF a country is simple nonsense II they
reflected they would learn that there is
what amounts 20 absolutely no money
used in transacting business between the
several States Of this Union and that
business consists Of sale OF the commodi-
ties which one State produces and pur-
ehases Of the commodities which an
other State produces. But these pur-
chases and sales are not made with
money. The commodity one state sells