Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-06-20
From the Southern Farmer.
A CONTR A ST

states, observes, on returning homeward, fact Y
that stdrtles him, in the difference presented to the
secs an appearance of comfort; men Of very mod
crate means live in neat houses those Of greater
wealth in splendid ones; there seems to be place
for every thing and every thing in its place Here,
the picture is altogether different; people seem to
regard their places OF abode necessary evils, and
pay little attention 10 making them either neat or
comfortable possible. They seem to esteem
house and its fixtures like as an Arabian does his
tent, as something that is to be occupied for only
a brief moment, and any pains and expense in a
dapting it TO comfortable living, as necessary |
waste of time and money. AS to ornamenting the
ground around it with trees and shrubbery such an
idea does not seem to have occurred to the occu-
pant.
There, If you have occasion TO stop at a house in
the country. you find at the table food prepared
properly; and butter, milk, and sessonable vegeta-
bes are set before you. Here, you have that eter-
nal dish, fried bacon pork if it is in winter,
swimming in greese, Sand nothing else" except
long coIordS" and bread. The owner must have
his princpa wealth in cattle, 10 the amount Of ma
ny hundred as is the case in some places, and if it
is winter or spring, he has not an ounce Of butter
to offer you are rarely even milk enough to put in
your coffee
Inquire the price of building q house there, and
the amount is small. Here the cost is so great, as
to deter any one from building good one, any
where else than in large town. 1t would be
thought extravaganza to entertain the idea in the
country.
There is a cause for this disparity in the cond-
ton and appearance of these two sections of the
country. What is that cause? This question has
been often asked in our presence, and the answer
has always involved some abstrucity wholly irrele.
want TO the subject, in our view of the case. Are
we less intelligent than our neighbors? Has
genial sun rendered us less capable of the use Of
our mental faculties than they? This will hardly
be admitted The real cause, from its very obvi-
ousness seems to have been overlooked, in search
| ing after remote ones. IL IS because then produce
bread and meat in abundance, and ace do not That
there other auxiliary causes, in the way of I'M
equal revenue laws, &c. which tend to raise one
section and depress another, we doubtNot; but
the radical cause is the one we have stated, we
believe.
In order to see its effect readily, let us suppose
you have house TO build. You must have lum-
Der, brick and lime; carpenter is to be employed
to build the house, bricklayer to make tie chin
neys and plaster the walls The sawyer asks you
a price for the lumber that appears high, when ia
ken in connection with the plenty and cheapness
of water power and pine timber, but he solves the
difficulty very soon by telling you the price he has
to pay for corn, to subsist himself, his hands and
his mules, which haul the stocks to the mill and
the lumber away fron it. Each mule, purchased
from Kenuckian, costs hin. $75 or $50, and the
corn to feed them costs him. TO assume the current
rates in Macon at this date, rs cents per bushel.-
1t is easy to see the effect of this on lumber The
same reasons apply with the brick-maker and lime
burner, precisely. Then go to the carpenter and
brckl0yer and tell them the price OF building a
louise and chimney and of pastering at the North
and ask them why they cannot afford to work at
the same rates. They will tell you that living Is
cheap at the North; it is dear here And you
have solution of the whole mystery, and bullG
your house at twice the cost which would be ne
n IINnl mir horn
were plenty and cheap.
But here the farmer turns upon us, and asks
What is to become of me, if can get but % cents
for corn? We answer, that with an abundance o.
corn at that price, and every thing else at proper
tionate rate, you will live more pentifully, more
comfortably and independently in every respect
YOURSELF and the whole face of the country and III
population, from the pettifogger to the pig, inclu
sivey will be better off and happier. What is The
difference to the farmer in dollars and cents, If hi
gets S25 cents for his corn, and can build hous,
for S4O0 or if he gets IS CENTS and the house cost
him $1,000? 1t is as broad as it is long, SO far al
cost Is concerned. But as to his comfort and tht
general prosperity of the country, there is a grea
difference.
There is this essential difference in the habits o
Northern ard Southern man. The one, wheth
or in Connecticut or in Georgia. if he removes herr
permanently, thinks in the first place OF maxim!
HIMSELF as Balle Nico Jarvie says, "what h
CdllS COHIOrtuDle. j ne1l he LOOKS out as Reen
as other men for the ways and means of gettin
rich but he must be comfortable while he is doin
, it. Every thing must be neat and tidy. The oihe
without any systematic economy is Indifferent
bout the present., and lives altogether in the HOP
? of realizing fortune in the future, when he e,
poets to live as he pleases. And when that tin
arrives, habit has grown to the second nature, ar
as to the enjoymeDts of life he is no better off tina
:, when he began" Always to be, but blest
u Frequently careless in his personal attire, and a
. ways soveny IN the arrangement of his hous
I gates, fences and grounds.
!: With every element OF prosperity COUNT
u could ask, we Of the Southern States are the mo
dependent on others, of any people within OF
n nowledge and the face of the land presents to
= stranger the most poverty stricken aspect of al
: that meets his eye any where. This is humili
- ting confession from son of the SOIL one to Il
manor born" but however dsagreeable, it is a tru
that must be known and felt by all before the e,
can be obvated. We scourge. our lands by co
linuous crops of cotton without year of rest
e rotatiou,and buy every thing; while others impro
X their lands and make every thing at home they ca
lie Not to speak of wearing apparel, and other like
IS tcles of necessary USE every one OF which,
s. and fine, is made elsewhere, and source of dra
a. to the industry of this section. But look on 70
s. tables and see if your meat does not come irr
Tennessee; look at your plows and see that eve
or mule that draws them Is not bought of Kentuck
$, even the horses That draw your carriages COZ
oil from there.
he Many pursue line of policy on this subject, t
very reverse of their own interest," from mistak
"a idea of what their true interest is; others do
10 from sheer nertness and want of reflection; soI
err from being deluded by maxims applicable to pr
= ticuar situations and necessities, and not capal
So of general application: Inc Island OF Malta i
W ports all its bread stuiis, and why? Because ii
IN rock, and incapable from its want of SOIL as W
s. as size, to raise lheT Is that the case here ?
r. England imports bread stufis, and yet prosper
n' and what is the reason? By her gigantic pow
nd having, through credit system of her own ma
he herself the heart of the monetory world, she C
ne disnlay mn 0puearance of prosperity, In despl
d. and moi by reason of that deficiency in the capa
d. " of the realm, to produce provisions suiiicie
NV for its accumulated population. Some of the W.
, India Islands, and some plantations on the Miss