Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-10-25
Bennettsville, S. c.
Oct. 7th, 1921.


Oct. 7th, l92l.
Hon. VIM. Lemke, Atty. Gen.
Bismarck, North Dakota.
Ny Dear Sir:
1t is a source Of sincere regret that
| am unable to accept (at this time)
your invitation to deliver a series of
speeches in North Dakota. l recall
most pleasantly the many delightful
acuuaintances | made on a former oc-
casion.
The radical action of the Federal
Reserve board in 1920, brought ruin TO
every agricultural section in the Unit
ed States. South Carolina Is suffering
just as you are and from the same
cause.
In broad sense this country is in
the throes of a revolution, but as yet
we have not fully realized 1t. The
present civilization reached its climax
on the day the armistice was signed
and mighty changes are before us.
am no sensationalist and l am too
old to enjoy the sound of an alarm
bell, but | do feel sure, that unless
present tendencies are checked ana
conditions changed, speedily changed,
distress and violence in this country,
within ten years, will work a ruin to
which the loss and damage of the great
war will seem puny by comparison.
have just read a thoughtful address
delivered by Hon. Jas. NJ. Beck, Solic-
itor General, to the Bar Association in
Cincinnati. It's subject is Our Law
less Age" Mr. Beck refers to the un-
precedented challenge the world over
Ito all constituted authority, reaching
the great primitive institutions of
mankind, like the family, the church
and the state 1t is a powerful ad-
dress, but / think Mr.. Beck is wrong
in that he attributes this condition en-
tirely to moral or spiritual causes. He
does refer to the aversion to work so
prevalent everywhere; and this is the
ing that it is fundamentally a rebellion
against an industrial system, which
denies to the creators of all wealth a
fair share of the product Of their toi'.
He says that the individual is no
longer the unit of society, which is
absolutely true. The class or combi-
nation has superseded individualism-a
logical sequence Of this age of trusts.
These have taught us the lesson of
accumulation through cooperation.
Association in the future will be the
dominating principle of human civii-
zation. The genesis of what we call
"a lawless age" is. that under our pres
cnt system, there is association only
for the favored classes therefore all
property naturally gravitates toward
the already rich, and opportunity each
day becomes smaller for the outsider.
If Mr.. Beck had come into contact
with the mudsills, (as / have for %
| years., he would see that the agita-
| ton and discomfort of one generation
with it's propaganda, is now finding
| expression in deeds rather than words,
and that moral and spiritual manifes-
tations are merely the reflex Of ma
terial conditions. The subtle unseen
and unconscious working of the masses
for the enforcement in government Of
! the principle of association for all
mankind instead of favored classes.
This makes it an iconoclastic age.
The unceasing brooding over wrong
has ever been the tremendous lever by
, which from age to age mankind has
been lifted from one epoch into
/ another A mighty evolutionary force
is now at work, and the rebellion
against all constituted authority" with
the moral and spiritual conclusions
which excite the attention of scholars
| like Mr. Beck are only the tremors
which precede the earthquake shock
and the final settling down.
| believe in an over-ruling God. We
are wandering in the wilderness now,
but when we are prepared through
trial, suffering and self denial, we will
pass the Jordan into the promised
land where men shall know each
other as brothers.
Take your financial troubles in North
Dakota-thcy are of Il kind which are
occurring in every agricultural sec
tion. They are directly attributable
to the administration of the Federal
Reserve banking system, which was
prostitutcd to the interest of small