The Rodney telegraph. (Rodney, Miss.) 1838-1840, 1839-07-18
CIRCULAR.

NEw ORLEANS, 25th May, 1889.
HrAFTER the exposition made by us
on the LIST July, 1887, Of the princles upon
which we had determined to conduct our bu-
siness, you will doubtless be as much sur
prised to be made aware Of our suspension,
as we are mortified to be obliged to confess
it. We think il is due to you, as friendly
to our firm, and to our own character for in
tegrity and good faith, to make such expla-
nations, as will convince you that our en-
barrassments originate from no other causes
than those, which, situated as we were, must
necessarily have actuated us; motives, 10
have yielded to which, may give cause to
impeach our Judgment, but which should af-
feet US in no other light. For the confidence
reposed in us from the origin ofour firm, we
have to tender our warmest acknowledge
ments: it has more than fulfilled our antici-
pations, and to be insensible to it, we should
be indeed ungrateful; nor do we for one mo-
ment permit the belief, that you will think
us Sour business has been of the safest
character, and we question very much if we
shall eventually sui ethe loss of one single
dollar by it. The leading, and indeed, we
ttioy SAy TIC OUty CduSC Vi OuI CtUUdEIdSS-
ments, may be found in the fact, that impeI-
led by feeling Of sympa by for our senior
partners and their endorsers, and unwilling
to see them constantly annoyed and harras-
sed by the unsettled business of our prede
cessors, (the late firms Of BULLlTT, Ship g.
Co., in this place, and Of SHIP, FERRIDAY
& Co., inyNatchez,) we have imprudently
yielded to the suggestions of impulse; and
have advanced to these firms more largely
than we should have done. The amount
which we have thus locked up, and entirely
unavailable until the coming season, is but
little short of $500 900, which is about equal
to our Capital paid in and our pro6ts.-When
we take into consideration, the fact that our
profits have never been extracted from our
business, further than was necessary for our
personal charges, we can safely assert, that
the return of one half ofthe loan would have
placed us beyond the reach of accident.
During the seasons of 1888, and 1899, BUL-
LIT, SHIP g. Co., have had agents con-
stantly employed in endeayoring to collect
the accounts outstanding in the upper coun-
ties of Mississippi: and of the very large a.
mount due there, it certainly was not un.
reasonable to suppose, that sufficiency
would have been obtained to enable them te
reimburse us in the amount necessary to oul
preservation. We have, however, found i
| impossible 10 replace any portion ofthe large
amount thus loaned, without struggles ant
sacrifices, which, perhaps, might have car
ried US through, but which would certainly
in the other event, have detracted from oul
ability to meet our own engagements. Tn
der these circumstances we have adopted the
alternative, which seemed to us most likely
to accomplish the end we had in view, tina
of paying every one Of our creditors in full
I've do not entertain doubt but that tn,
coming season will enable us to hquidat,
satisfactorily and completely every deman'
against us.-We have been thus candid ant
. explicit, because conscious Of no wrong in
/ tent, we have nothing which we could de
sire to conceal. Looked upon in strict:
mercantile point of view, we know that w
, are liable to blame; but the error has ariseI
, from an oversanguine expectation of reapin
, sufficient from the means of the old firms t
repay us. The people of Mississippi hav
been SO much pressed by the coercion Of tn
law in favor of creditors, who were unw
ling or unable to defer their collections, tina
they have not had it in their power to pa
! those who have been less peremptory in the
demands.-We cannot conclude this circulu
without repeating that we feelindebted to OF
friends for the entire confidence which the
have evinced in US, and that we shall settl
our liabilities as quickly as possible; at tn
!. same time remarking, that all the avenues
3 negotiation being closed to us at present, W
5 beg our creditors to wait until the new Gro
begins to come into market.
We are, respectfully,
your obedient servants,
BENNETT, FERRlDAYS g. co,
w. s. r. FERRIDAY g. CO., Natches.
u June 20, 1889. Tiff
}. JOHN PORT Err F0IElD