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

county possesses the labor-power and
the machine-power requisite for send
ing to market So, 900 tons of coal, worth
$3.50, 900 per week, or Sl3,OO0,0 900 pei
annum, all of which would be given in
exchange for food, or for clothes, which
represent food or wool-the products Of
agriculture-or in exchange for iron,
which again represents food and CLOTH
ing-or for the use of horses, or rail-
roads and canals, which also represent
food and clothing: and thus the whole
Of these 10000, 900 would go ultimately
into the pockets of the farmer and the
planter; and hence it is that I am in
culcating, with all my mind and with
all my heart the propriety of drawing
the loom and the anvil, close to the side
of the plough and the harrow, as the
indispensable beginning. and sure foun-
dation, for all certain and reliable i'm
provement in agriculture. Schuylkill
county will this year send little more
than 10000 worth, and yet the cost
to the community is precisely the same
as if the whole l3, 600, 900 worth of coal
had been produced. The labor is there,
and must be maintained. The steam
engines are there, and must be kept in
order. The houses are there, and must
be kept in order. The railroads and the
canal are there-the laborers are there,
and must be supported. Every thing is
there except the demand for labor, and
for want Of that the valley of the
Schuylkill suffers a loss in coal alone
to the extent of SS,OO0,OOO in this sim
gle year, almost every dollar of which
would be expended for food and clothing
the products of the land. That, how
ever. is but one part of the loss. The
valley is becoming studded with idle
furnaces, and idle furnace-men and idle
laborers, who should be getting out ore,
and assisting to convert ore and coal
into iron, and here we have further
loss of millions of dollars worth of la
Dor. all of which falls at last upon the
planters and farmers of the Union, for
all would be absorbed in the purchase
of that which the land produces; and
thus, my friends, do you not see how the
men who follow the plough and who
WELD the scythe are benefited by. nay
how indispensable to them, is the pros
perity of diversified and prosperous pur-
suits in their immediate vicinity2 1t
is probable that few of you may have
leisure to go so far to see these things;
nor is it necessary, for they, alas! are
to be seen in every part of the Union.
OF the numerous furnaces at Danville,
but one, l believe, is now in blast. Of
all the rolling-mills in the Union, for
railroad iron, not one, believe, is now
at work. One of them is close at hand
across the Delaware, and if yUu Ios;.c
to understand the working of the free
trade system, would recommend you
to pay a visit to the fine establishment
of Mr.. Peter Cooper, at Trenton, that
so recently gave employment to hun
dreds of working men. On arriving at
his factory, you will find it closed, and
if you ask for his lately prosperous la
of food-you will
find them unemployed and unab'e to
make wages by aid of which to pur-
chase food and clothes: for, as l have
told you, as all other pursuits depend
for employment directly or indirectly
on the land and what it supplies, chiefly
by cultivation, so do the wages of Ia
Dor, in all other pursuits, go ultimately
back to pay for the products of the land.
When next you go to Trenton, you will
find that most of these discharged la
borers have sought the West, there to |
become the producers Of food, and that
from being your customers they have
become converted into your rivals and
here, my friends, you will find the |
cause of the slow progress, if not the
stationary or retrograde condition of ag-
riculture and value of land, notwith. |
standing all the associations that have
been formed, and all the volumes that
have been written, and all the silver
cups and spoons, and Transactions |
and paper "dipl6mas," that have been
distributed for their advancement, for |
the last fifty years.
The great importance of railroads to |
those engaged in agriculture is clearly
shown by the following forcible re-
marks. Our sugar planters should re-
member them:
Land, at the distance Of few miles
from New York, in West Chester county, |
is selling at several hundred dollars an |
acre, because the railroad has dimin.
ished the expenditure between the con-
sumner and the producer, and yet that
land is not now worth as much as would |
be that Of Bucks county, if you had, as |
you should have, consumers among
yourselves. Look what railroads have
done in England, and remember that |
the road only enables the farmer to go |
to market, while the mill brings the |
market to his door.
An English writer says that between
Croydon and London his attention was
continually attracted by the high order
and beautiful appearance Of the mar
ket gardens through which the railway |
runs This land seven years ago was |
occupied rs grass land, for ordinary pur-
poses. Its gross produce was under
$40 an acre, and the rents paid not more |
than $l2 or SIS. Now that it has been |
converted into market gardens, well |
u u