THE SUB-TREASURY PLAN. 353 



The carrying out of this demand will confer as many and as rich ben- 

 efits to every one engaged in any legitimate calling as it does to the 

 farmers. All who are well posted know that more merchants have been 

 ruined by speculating in produce than by anything else. The mercantile 

 business in the agricultural towns has drifted into this unnatural and 

 ruinous attitude by the credit system, this system becoming an imperative 

 necessity by reason of the contraction of the currency. Our system 

 relieves the merchant of this, his worst enemy, by saving $220,978,900 

 to his customers annually, which would soon enable them to pay cash. 



The manufacturers under the present system are forced to enter the 

 market and purchase within three months sufficient material to run their 

 machinery the entire year, to prevent speculators from cornering the 

 supply. To be able to purchase such large supplies at one time, they 

 are compelled to apply for loans, mortgage their property, pay exorbitant 

 interest, which must be added to the manufactured article. This must, 

 of course, augment the price, which in turn forces under-consumption, 

 which in the end can only enrich the usurer and involve producer, man- 

 ufacturer, and consumer in one common ruin. 



This system will relieve the manufacturer of this as well as other use- 

 less expenses. Our unexcelled facilities for rapid transportation and 

 instantaneous transmission of intelligence conspire to make the carrying 

 out of this plan the more easy. The manufacturers will not be com- 

 pelled to buy more than one month's supply ahead, knowing that a suffi- 

 cient supply can be had at any time. They will not be compelled to 

 borrow large sums of money at exorbitant interest, for the manufacturers 

 will find out at once that the crop will not be sold to speculators, but 

 held for consumption. The eliminating of speculation will enable pro- 

 ducers to carry more from the manufacturer; hence self-interest, if 

 nothing more, will make the producer, manufacturer, and consumer 

 co-operate in supporting this demand. 



It is a well-known fact that the railroads are blocked with freight 

 for about three months during the year, by the haste now practised in 

 marketing the crops. Railroads are compelled, in order to hold their 

 trade, to buy large additions to their rolling stock, to stand idle upon 

 the sidings for nine months in the year. This necessitates a large out- 

 lay of capital, which of course is added to the freights, and in the end 

 is always charged to the producer. This system will distribute the ship- 

 ments through the entire year, and enable the railroads to give their 

 employees regular employment ; hence it is to the interest of railroads 

 that our system should be put in operation. 



This system will enable the millions of farmers of the West to pur- 



