The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1850-02-21

as Gen. Jackson said, "to the policy Of
British merchants" to take their places
by the side Of each other-as in Vir-
ginia. South Carolina, Mexico, Spain,
Portugal, Sicily, Egypt India. India
abounds in rich lands that she cannot
cultivate. So do Mexico, Sicily, Egypt.
and all the rest because the .labour Of
clearing and draining the rich, lands is
greater than can sbe borne when the
cultivators are compelled to depend ON
distant markeis, as they mnst in that
case raise wheat, or cotton, or some
other article hat will bear keeping,
and of which the earth yields pounds
or bushels Instead of tons, and will
therefore better bear distant transporta-
ton. Hence friend at Montgomery,
Albania, told me that he had in vain
offered $50 an acre to get 200 acres
roughly cleared for the plough! Give
to the owners of such lands consuming
population, near at hand, to diminish
the cost of transportation, and they may
raise turnips and carrots, of which the
earth yields by hundreds of bushels, and
then they'andtheir lands will grow rich
together.
pray you to bear in mind that the first
thing that is to be paid by land is trans
portation. If that be so great that it
will not leave enough to pay the wages
of cultivation, the land will remain un-
cultivated.
The second thing that is to be paid is
wages. If transportation and wages
eat up the whole product, the land may
be cultivated, but it will pay no rent; !;
and as the price of land is determined
by the amount of its rent. or surplus
product il can then have no market
value
The third thing that is paid by land
is rent; and that is the surplus that re-
mains, after the payment of transporta-
ton and labor.
II will be obvious to all Of you, that
the man who cultiyates land mus; ie-
rive from it food. and clothing, and
shelter for himself and his family-that
is. he must have wages for his time, and
if he cannot have that, he will remove
to some other place where he can have
them. That is. then, a constant guam
tity. The variable quantities are trans
portation and rent and the farmer is al
ways the first to be paid. Whatever is
deducted from the expense of transpor-
tation is added to the rent, and what
ever is added to the expense of trans
portation is deducted from the rent and
it is because railroads usually diminish
the cost of transportation that land rises
in value. Railroads help to build facto-
ries, and factories help to build railroads.
and all such establishments conspire to
insure profits to the cul;ivators of the
soil.
The railroad enables the farmer to
save a part of the cost of .ransporta-
ton, of which cost time makes part,
and his lands accordingly improve in
value Next the furnace, the coal-mine,
the rolling-mill, and the cloth factory
bring the market near his door, and now
his lands double in value, because he
saves all the cost of transportation, and
all the manure, and the land and its
owner become rich together. This,
however, is but a small portion of the
gain of the farmer, in consequence Of
the diversihcation Of pursuits. resulting
from bringing the loom and the anvil,
the furnace and the factory, to take their
places near to the plough and the har-
row. The coal-miner makes a market
for prop-timber to be used in the mines,
and for rails and sleepers to be used for
the making Of roads, and for lumber to
be used in the construction of houses,
and the farmer is thus enabled to clear
his land with large profit, whereas,
without such demand, his best lands
might and would have remained en-
numbered with timber, because, as in
the case Of my friend in Alabama, the
cost of clearing it would be more than
it was worth when cleared. The spare
labour of his sons and himself, and Of
his horses, that must be fed whether
employed or not is employed in hauling
the timber to market. His straw, hith-
erto almost valueless, sells for almost
as much as before he could get for his
grain. His daughters find demand for
their services; and thus the presence
of = consuming population enables him
to obtain his cloth, and his iron, and his
fuel, in payment more or less directly,
for timber and labor that before were
wasted, and nearly the whole is profit
while his land goes up doubling, ire
bling, and quadrupling in value.
The advantages which agriculture
derives from thrifty consuming popu-
lation are forcibly illustrated in the fol-
towing paragraphs. The importance
Of protecting home industry, when that
industry fails to compete with that Of
the pauper labor Of Europe, is presented
with truthfulness that carries with it
the strongest conviction Of the correct.
ness Of the position assumed. Here Is
what is said upon the matter:
Ifyou desire evidence of the effects
resulting from bringing the consumer
to take his place BY the side Of the pro-
ducer, pay ! visit to Schnylkill county;
but go NOT now: it is almost in state
Of desolation: two years since it was
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