Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1856-04-11
Worse than Debt,

| lSbHic Oh our TtdutIs udsc, uouptAcss
seen Mr. Beecher's description of the
spell under which the debtor lies, and his
caution to farB.ers to avoid the fearful di
lemma into which So many business men
are driven. To correct the very erroneous
position, that no farmer can afford to pay
interest on borrowed capital, we give place
to the following EDITORIAL from one OF our
best agricultural journals The Homestead,
of Hartford, COnnectIcut.-H. 5. o. WOr-
king Farmer.
"Therc is no crop that can afford TO pay in
terest money for a farm."-H. W. B.eeher.
From MIR. Beecher's pithy description
of interest, from which the above senti-
ment is an extract, one might conclude
that debt was the sum Of all calsmities,
and that a tiler of the soil might as well
cut his throat as incur pecuniary Indebted
ness, and the poor wretch who has already
incurred this obi cation might as we'll give
up in despair. Biisters, teeth, spiders,
avis, .bayonets, thistles, are the same en-
blems that shadow forth this conception,
but far more poetry. The sentiment at
the head of this article is, We believe, at
variance with facts in the history Of hus-
bandry. We know of farmers who have
purchased farms upon credit, for the whole
or q part of their purchase money,
and yet have gradually paid up, aud are
now the owners of unincumbered property.
Their gains have been slow but sure
They have supported their families in COM
fort, have educated their children, and CIV
en- them positions of wealth and influence,
and now in mature life, with the prospect
of twenty years before them, are in po-
sition of pecuniary independence, that
multitudes who have emigrated to the
city might envy. They have homes of
their own, pleasant social relations, good
religious privileges, and the means of ed
ucation for their children and children's
children This independence has been
achieved by not remarkably skilful use
of borrowed capital and their own indus
try. We have rarely known Connecticut
farmer of good habits to come to actual
bankruptcy, while nine out Of every ten
who use capital in other pursuits in our
cities fail in business The facts in the
case are, that all the ordinary crops of the
farm do pay interest money upon the soil
they grow on, and not only that, but pay
the principal too If We had the facts of
the case before us We believe it would ap-
pear that more than one-half of the owners
of the farms in this commonwealth have
come into their possession by incurring
debt, which has been discharged or is now
in process of liquidation. Many Of these
owners are the heirs of a portion Of the
old homestead, and have bought out the
other heirs, and paid up by the yearly
profits of the farm. The ordinary crops
have carried the burden of subsisting, and
the family and the additional
burden of large debt.
The idea that it is not as safe to use
borrowed capital in husbandry as in other
callings is not borne out by the facts. We
believe it to be far safer, and where it is
unsafe it is owing to something worse than
debt. A farmer can generally raise what
capital be needs for six per cent, and on
time to suit his convenience. He is not
put on nettles to meet payment at the
end of thirty days, and Obliged to pay the
brokers of Wall street eighteen per cent. |
for a sum to carry him over the crisis
He knows nothing of those convulsions
that make men look so horribly blue in
our commercial metropolis. We are in-
clined to think the poetical description Of
debt which We have quoted would be &C.
,epted as literal fact by many gentle
man of fine brOadcloth and fast living in
The city. But We manage these things
better in the country, where Sbylocks are
rare.
A debt will prove curse or blessing,
to the character Of the debtor.