Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-01-03

.-'WnaL DO you "dHl ID Ttpedl llhS
law for and what are you going TO sub
stitute for 1t as a basis OF credit for
the poor man? I have studied this
question and studied 1t and for the life
OF me | can't find a satisfactory an
swer
IF you will look back to the original
agitation Of the question Of repeal,
along in 1882, you will find that the
matter was brought up in the legisla-
ture In the form Of a petition from the
state Grange. 1t was represented that
the people, wanted 1t changed and the
fight was made along that line for four
years. Now we are up against the
same thing originating in the Farmers
Union somewhere, goodness knows
where, and again we are told that the
people, want the law repealed. What
people? Who? I would like to know.
Surely it cannot be the small farm
er who Is making this demand. Why,
the small farmer Is a creature OF the
lien law. The lien law made him, and
he made the present prosperity Of the
country. He's the man who Is respon-
sible for the increased value Of farm
lands. He Is the man who Is making
this old county blossom. He Is the
backbone Of the whole business. And
If you kill the lien law you will Kill
the small farmer. Where he Is estab-
lished he may be able to stay; but
there will be no chance for his increase.
Here mans.you are not as old as l
am: but surely you can remember the
conditions that existed in this country
for fifteen or twenty years after the
war. There were lots Of people who
had big tracts of land but no money
to work them. II the land owners had
had plenty Of money then, instead of
what we have now, there would have
grown up q wage system that would
have had the whole country working
for q few big land owners. There
would not be anybody here much out
side Of the towns except white and
black laborers and overseers. All the
whites who had an ambition to be
something other than somebody's hired
man would have gone to the west, as
so many Of them used to do before the
war. But because the big land owners
did not have this money, 1t was neces-
sary to adopt this lien system, and as
the result Of this lien system, thou
sands Of ambitious young men have
been able to become independent, small
farmers. That Is why York county is
today making as much cotton and corn
to the acre as any county in this I'm
ion. That is why there Is q school
house and a church in every neighbor-
hood. That Is why we have so many
prosperous stores, banks, newspapers,
and everything. That Is where the
cotton mills came from. The lien law
made the small farmer and the small
farmer Is the backbone Of the whole
business.
THE only reason l have ever heard
anybody give as to why the lien law
should be repealed was that 1t would
facilitate the control Of labor. Now
let us consider that little. How will
1t control labor and whose labor will 1t
control? do not want to be personal;
but / will take for an illustration my
own case, which Is like that Of thou
sands Of others. Two Of my sons and
myself are still running the old home
place. Each Of us makes hand. Then
also on the place we have negro crop
per who works for a share Of what he
makes. Now, we do not have to give
any lien. AS to the cropper, 1t Is all
the same whether we run him or turn
him over to the merchant. That Is not
the question. We are all getting what
we consider very good pay for our la
bor Suppose you repeal the lien law.
1t will cheaper labor. Yes, there Is no
doubt Of that. Hundreds Of people, ne
groes and whites, who are now operat-
ing on a comparatively independent
basis on liens, will have to become la
borers. Unless these people leave the
country the labor market will become
glutted, and the price will be reduced
to something like the old standard OF
So or $40 a month. Maybe that will
look good to some, but who will get
that cheap labor? Did 1t ever occur
to you what a large percentage Of the
lands Of this county Is owned by peo-
pie who live in the towns Of Rock Hill,
Yorkville, Clover and Fort Mill, and
whose principal income Is from sources
other than farming? These are the
people who will get most Of that cheap
labor, and the principal effect Of the
change on the small white farmer will
be to reduce the value Of his own Ia
Dor to an So or $40 a month basis.
Under the lien law the small farm
er can go into the labor market and
get help on perfect equality with the
man Of larger means. Suppose you
have nothing but fairly good credit and
want to buy a hundred acre farm. Un-
der conditions as they now stand. II
is an easy matter to get some good
farmer, white or black, to agree to pay
you 1000 pounds Of lint for part OF
the place. You have no risk in the
matter. The merchant to whom your
renter gives his lien takes the risk. II
you had to take 1t you would go pretty
slow. If the renter pays 1t Is all right;
but If he fails to pay you are hurt
You might not be able to carry him
over, and he will leave you. The mer-
chant frequently carries him over, and
continues to run him even after he mas
moved to another p ace. But without
the lien law, you could not get any such
help as this. You would have to dig II
out yourself, and you would be very
cautious about making the effort.
IF you do away with the lien law, l
see no basis Of credit other than per-
sonal security, and that Is out Of the
question. Everybody knows that every
body else Is reluctant about this per-
sonal security business, and no man
likes to ask another to go his security.
Fact Is this Is impracticable. 1t just
won't do.
Then again, hear people argue
that the lien law ought to be repealed
because it Is so generally abused by
the merchants. Now let us examine
this a little. The observation and ex-
perience of a good many years have
taught me that the merchant class OF
this country Is about as high class
as we have. It Is a fact that mer-
chants sometimes abuse their opportu-
mites; but this Is an exception rather
than the rule. Would the farmers as
class be any more generous, liberal or
honest? 1 am not prepared to say that
they would. But after all, why should
an occasional abuse Of a good law be
made q pretext for its repeal? l do not
see the sense of that. The law puts the
whole matter between the man who
gets the goods and the man who ex-
poets to get the profit, and l can't see
that anybody else has reason to be
concerned. There Is plenty Of compe-
tition. If man finds one year that he
Is not being treated fairly there is
nothing to prevent him from going
somewhere else the next year. There
Is no law to make man give a lien,
and none to make merchant take a
lien. OF course, the lien law pulls the
small farmer pretty heavy; but as to
how he is to get credit without 1t, Is a
question that has not yet been an
swered.
And again, people have argued that
the repeal of the lien law Is necessitat-
ed by Judge Brawley's recent decision
knocking out the contract labor law. 1t
does not seem to me that this should
follow at ALL About all there was to
1t L., fhnf