Woodville Republican. [volume] (Woodville, Miss.) 1833-1844, 1841-06-05
CREDIT SYSTEM IS. PLANTERS.


Of fertile soils and genial climate have been T
blasted by the mistaken pol cy of which am
speaking; and that whole communities which I
industry and prudence would have caused TO I
flourish almost beyond example, exhibit one I
general scene of pecuniary embarrassment. /
bankruptcy and ruin. The experiences and /
observation of every planter will sustain me
in the assertion, that we pay for credit. in |
ihe mode in which it is usually obtained in |
the purchase of prnperty, from Toto so per
cent. interest. livery one who is accustom-
ed to attend administrators and other public |
sales, must have been struck by the exiraya>
giant prices men are tempted 10 give by
year's cedit; and not less by the fact that such
men perpetaaliy Involved in pecuniafy
embauassments, and that the very efforts
they thus imprudently make 10 get forwardin
the world faster than their neighbors. keep
them always in the rear. In fact, il may be |
truly affirmed as general truth, that planters
who are largely in debt. are, to that extent,
the mere stewards oftheir creditors. Life is
with them an anxious and slapish struggle IN
pursuit of an object which always eludes their
grasp. But there is another form of credit,
fortunately not SO prevalent in South Caro-
lima as in other States. ofywhich planters are
but too ready 10 avail themselves, which is
equally at war with sound economy and sound
currency. alude, of course, 10 bank dis
counts. II has been so fashionable of late,
TO pronounce exiravagant eulogies on what is
miscalled the credit system, that it will pros
baby be deemed quito heretical to say that
credit, in any form. is a public and private
evil. is, nevertheless, my deliberate and
well considered opinion. that one OF the great
est nuisances that could afflict an agricultural
community would be the establishment Of a.
gricultural banks. 50 Ioeaied as 10 enable ev-
cry planter to obtain credit to the amount of
une third part Of the value of his estate. The
fatal experience of other States has. conclu-
sively proved thai such establishments have
been the invariahe cause of embarrassment
and ruin. Owing to the periodical huctua-
lions iHseparable from such system. il has
generally happened that credit obtained by
a planter, to the amount of one third Of his
estate, in period of expansion. has required
the whole estate to redeem it in period of
contraction. And we have been but too inn
presslvely admonished that ii is the very gen.
! JUS and instinct of those institutions, to grant
credits in periods of Expansion, and exact pay
menfs 10 periods OF contraciion
| cannot, therefore, recommend more Inn
poftant reform TO our planting community,
taan 10 get out of debt with all possible des>
patch, il already involved in il, and resolve
for the future never TO be involved 10 it again.
Such aresnlutlon, generally adopted and firm
] ly maintained, would do more to promote the
independence and substantial prosperity Of an
agricultural state, than all the quackeries of
Legislation united. Imagine for one moment
The great moral and political change which
would be produced, if Il could be truly an
nounced At this moment. that every cuitivator
of the SOIL within The wide limits OF South
Carolina was entirely free from The shackles
Of debt. 1t would be glorious day of jnbi.
| lee. The fatal spell of pecuniary influence
j would be dissolved at once, the shackies of
/ dependence would fall from the aims Of the
indebted. and every citizen would walk a.
broad inthe majesty of genuine Independence
| ind freedom.
1 But lei US consider tho effect which this
i general s. habitual freedom from debt, would
produce upon the progress of individuals ia
Iaccumulaiing wealth, and upon the aggregate
prosperity Of the whole class of planters.
Taking experience for our guide. it can
scarcely be doubted, that those who have u,
Uniformly kept out of debt. and have never
purchased property till they had the money in
hand to pay for il, have generally accumuia-
ted fortunes more rapidly and much more
s certainly than those who have pursued The op>
posile poiicy. Every step they take is so
much permanently gained. They are expos
ed TO no backsets they are effected by no
vicissitudes in trade, and stand firm and un-
moved amidst those great, and now frequent
and periodical commissions, by which those
who are in debt are always shaken, and often
: overwhelmed.
Instances will no doubt occur TO every one
who hears me. of men who have habitually
: made smaller crops than their neighbors, and
: who have yet, in a series of years grown
I wealthy much faster. by this very simple
!. rule, which once heard laid down by a friend
He never made large cotton crops, and was
: regarded as a bad planter. And when asked
n how he got rich SO much faster than his more
!. energetic neighbors, he replied: . III neigh
bors begin at the wrong end of the year. TheJ
y make their purchases at The beginning Of Il
9 on credit; make mine at the end OF il, am
: pay down the cash. And here am re-
! minded Of saying of the late j Ohm Randolph
{ Of Virginia; man not more remarkable 70
!. his genius and eccentricity, than for the pro
q found philosophical truths which sometime
n escaped him like The responses Of an inspire,
= oracle. In the midst Of one of his splend
81 rhapsodies in the Senate the United States
= he suddenly paused, and fixing his eye npo
g the presiding officer, exclaimed: Mr.. Pre-
sident, have discovered the philosopher
stone. Il consist ii th-se four plain mono
!. syIubles: PAY AS rou On. Now, III
q venture to say, that this IS much nearer ap
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