Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-10-23
NO. S5.

South Atlantic, crossing the gulf
| streams and meeting the colder air
currents Of the Appalachian chain,
produces this degree of moisture. The
facts which I have just recited are
proven by century of experiment,
and by scientific research. Between
longitude 100 west, thence eastward
to the Atlantic ocean, is formed by ma
ture, by the combination Of warmth
and moisture, the cotton yielding area
Of the world. Scientists tell us that
the growth Of cotton on a considera-
BILE scale will be restricted to this
area until the Creator has physically
reconstructed this planet. So skillful
have become the manipulations Of
this wonderfully plastic and versatile
fibre that 1t has we'll nigh put the
silk worm out of business, and has be-
come a substitute for the sheep. Once
blended and woven nothing but the
chemical test can detect 1t In the fin
est wooden garment. 1t has become in
surgery second only to the knife. So
universal is its consumption that In
strange lands among strange tongues
where your government bonds would
not be collateral for a breakfast, this
white fibre Of the cotton fields. is
sought and bought, and woven and
worn. Had the monopoly Of this
product been placed by nature a few
degrees further north I am profound
ly confident that the law Of self-pres-
ervation, which inspired the tariff and
the trans-continental railway subsi-
dies, would have found means by
large degree named the price at which
the Old World might obtain the raw
material for it's clothing. Financiers
would have found 1t abundantly safe
mutual prejudice the habitat Of cotton
was to them deemed kind Of wood
en- limb, lifeless appendage to the
body polite, through which neither
blood nor money needed TO circulate.
That era, thank God. is ended. Now
let us meet on the level and part on
the square.
Cotton as a Basis For Currency.
Under reasonably good storage baled
cotton will preserve unimpaired more
than ten years. Instances have been
known where. after being stored in
farmers barn fifteen years, 1t brought
the current market price. Gold from
Copenhagen to Valparaiso goes In
search Of 1t as earnestly as the Me-
diaeval knight errant went in search OF
the Holy Grail. Again and again our
government, through the sub-treas-
ury, has hastened to the aid OF the
New York banks amidst the giddy
whirl of a stock gambling panic. Is
Americas foremost gold yielding crop
less sacred to the public veal
than the paper properties Of Wall
street? There has never been an hour
for forty years that 1t could not be in
stantly reduced to cash. Is any prom
ise to pay better security than the es-
sence Of wealth? Five hundred million
dollars Is required in the south every
year within a period Of about three
months to handle this crop. Our bank
ing capital Is inadequate. Why should
we need to send out money to eastern
banks nine months In the year to gain
their good will that they may lend 1t
back to us in the harvest season to
handle a crop for which the gold Of
the earth beckons? We feel kindly to
New York that city has been our
friend at a remunerative interest rate.
But we want the fullest measure Of in
dependence that conditions justify. Is
It prudent or Just that any one city
or section should, by approval OF the
government, financially dominate all
other cities and sections? Shall the
United States sublet, even In part, Its
prerogative that the regulation OF mon
ey shall be by congress as provided by
Art. /, section s, paragraph OF the
constitution? Can this great American
allow the first fruits Of its soil to be
exposed to the foreign bear, or leave
It's protection to the mercy or caprice
of the banks Of any city, or to the
agony Of an always possible BLACK
Friday? I have no specific plan to
propose. l am neither a banker nor
the son Of a banker The questions
propounded are for you to answer. The
plan Of your committee on legislation
is in my opinion, an adequate answer
Danger of Banking Monopoly.
The city Of Venice, under the despot-
ism Of the Doges, used the Bank OF
Venice as its chief tool Of tyranny.
Credit on the books Of this bank was
the then sole universal currency. 1t
drove ships out Of their normal path
way: 1t wasted the energies Of men, 1t
throttled trade; it destroyed the free
dom of commerce and blighted the
hopes of less powerful competitors. The
lands Of the Mediterranean paid trib-
ute to the one clearing house. Ancient
Hebrew rabbis taught that whenever
a people used in their current life the
coin of a monarch they thereby admit
ted him as their temporal lord. 1t Is
only the duty Of our government to
put the banks Of all sections on COM
mon footing in so far as the welfare OF
the whole people will permit. The
Canadian government has wisely pro-
vided that all the banks under Its do
main from ocean to ocean shall deal
directly with it's treasury department,
and issue their notes with Government
authority and protection. Once every
year our southern banks are so drained
Of money by the movement OF cotton
that in self defence they withdraw their
money from other channels of trade.
They are forced to initiate the wisdom
Of the spider, who, feeling the chill
air. tightens his cords against the COM
ing storm. Why should we not call up
on the government for aid, as do the
gambling stricken banks when pressed
by frenzied speculation? The banks
south and west help those directly en-
gagged in the gainful pursuits, their
borrowers produce the merchandise