The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-12-20
AN OPEN LITTER TO SEC GAGE.


s4NuNtliiptI 10 1919. =
Mister Secretary Gage. I'm in 4 tight
place, and I've been reading about
the gamblers of Wall Street being in 4
tight place. and you offering 10 let them
have 3d.. 100000 to help them cash their
chips so / thought | would lay my
case before you. and maybe you would
help me ont. too Five years ago
bet my muscle and industry against
manifest destiny. that ] could pay
for a 100-acre farm 1T the end Of five
years / pulledu off my coat and. with
the help Of a good wife and pair o.
mules [ went in to win. The first year
I made a good crop Of cotton and enough
hogs and hominv for another years eat
ing My cotton only brought me five
cents a pound. and / was told that
had produced too much: ny muscle
and industry had been too active, ana
where I thought | should reap a re-
ward, / gsrnered disappointment In
stead. and my cotton crop only brought
enough To pay the interest on the price
Of the farm: and buy my wife and
children clothes and shoes for the VIII
Ter. With the budding OF spring and the
rising of the sap. my muscles and my IN
dustry opened the jackpot OF chance,
with new hopes. and. although mani
fest destiny sent the April cold rains
to kill my cotton. and the bud worms
nipped my low-grotnd corn in the bud
] raised the ante, replanfpd my crop
and battled with crabgrass and hos
weeds the summer through, and housed
another good crop. But the gamblers
of Wall Street, and our loving cousins
ut Liverpool were bulling and bearing
the cotton market to such an extern
that my product again emily Melted
enough to pay interest on the debt hang
ing over my little home.
From year to year / have fought the
fight. while I watched my chidrea
growing mp in ignorance and my wife
ageing beneath the cares Of poverty,
and now the five years are otit<and the
dett is due and a panic is threatening
me. / know there are only 4 few hun
dred thousand OF us farmers IN the
same fix, and the fnanciers Of on.
great country must he looked after
first. But, honestly. Mister Secretary.
don't you think that a man who has
a wife and five children to care for.
10 feed and TO clothe, to educate. 50
they may grow into intelligent citizen
ship. is somewhat of a ''financier" If
he does it on an income 81 $500 year.
without cheating a neighbor III horse
swap or leaving his bills unpaid?
i know the treasury reports show
per capita circulation Of so or more.
bur it don't circulate down here 10
that extent, and we have to Dc on
about SIS or IS PER capita. | cant
understand it exactly. bHt II seems 10
me that our constitution meant to guar
sol .;.e All II Iau'f
see why the spectators. the men who
play beyond the limit Of rationalism aud
recompense should seek relief N the
hands Of the government when their
hands are called and ii is found they
were buffing with bobtail husn.
/ notice the banks Of New York for
the week ending November H. hold
NEARLY three million dollars less than
legal requirements Does this mean
that they are that much below the -
per cent. reserve required by law? liz
it does. Mister Secretary don't vou
think somebody has been using some
body's money that they had no right to
use.
| don't exactly understand these things,
hut me and a neighbor was talking
these matters over the other night, and
we came To the conclusion that If YOU
We're going to use the government fumes
to help the Wall Street OK out of thc
Sunday ditch. we as contributors to
that fund. ought 10 know why panic
in Wall Street is any more detrimental
10 the interest Of good citizenship. than
stringency Of money among the pro-
dncers, and how the government has
any more right TO 90 10 the aid Of Wall
Street gamblers, who have no tangible
values ut stake. tlian it has 10 come
10 the aid Of we farmers who are bat
Ting against low prices for The products
Of our Drawn and industry.
I'm in a tight place too. Mister Secre-
tary, and if you help these fellows in