The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-11-13
souTHFRN pdnIIIlcAr1oNs.

The Rev. ". X. Marshall. OF MISSISSIPPI,
in q letter to the New Orleans Picayune,
reviews the resources Of the South and con-
cludes that If the South would act upon
her arithmetic, she would no: stay in the
present Union three months. We extract
from his letter some suggestions regarding
the establishment Of publishing houses at
the South:
The great question to be solved .is, how
can we induce "the establishment of large
publishing houses amongst us2"
NV plan may not he the best, but shall
continue to suggest il now and then, till
something better is offered. 1t is for our
Legislatures to place at the disposal of their
Governors from $1,000 to $4,000, to lie
used in the encouragement of tho produc-
ton of home school and text books. Let
it he provided that any number y. States
shall cooperate together by raising COM
mittees to act rs umpires, to ho nominated
by the Governors Of such States. Suppose
ten States to adopt the plan. Each State
has committee of say seven; out of that
number they elect two to act on a joint
committee formed Of two of each State
committee Of the ten States. Then we
have twenty scholarly educated, cnlightcncd
gentlemen composing committee who
shall offer premiums for such works rs they
want. For instance, they offer $4,000 for
the best work on moral philosophy, adapted
to our schools. 1t would not 10 many
months till such works, perhaps from y
dozen pens, would 10 found competing for
the prize.
The day Of adjudication M;;res. All tho
State committees have examined the several
yynr-c nd 4 i,
is known. The announcement is made
public. From that day on. not IN order
would be sent, or tho abolition text books,
now used, to the Northern publishers
Any printer in New Or!eans-the smallest
job ollice, the owner OF which owns moth
ing else, and "pove,ty hourly staring" cat,
easily afford to pay the successful author,
(on time, and not very long time) $4,000
for his manuscripts.
So the author has made s2O, 900 to start
with. And the struggling jobLcr might
safely esteem himself in safe condition, if
prudent and persevcring. For orders for
the book would come E,stcr than lie could
possibly supply them, though he might set
number of Hoes steam presses at work.
Such book might not DC as good, after
all, as the committee desired, but it being
free from lies. pcrversons, anti-scriptlral
dogmas, sopl'istrics, and withal, highly re-
spectablc, it might DO esteemed not only
safe, but an advancement. And they
would see that, the ball once in motion,
and a, .hors offered remuneration, and the
South bent on having her own books, their
services as arbiters would not long be re-
quired. The thing would work its own
way.
Suppose now, the same truo of primers,
spelling books, readers, biographies, histo-
ries, arithmetics, works on mathematics,
languages, &C., DC, and the joint commit.
tee pronounces in favor Of each, as they
are deemed worthy. Why, sir, within a
year or two your city would concentrate an
interest or ownership in some four, five or
six such premium works, and you would
see one or two publishing houses of the
largest magnitude, and noblest enterprise
engaged in such publications, to be found
in America.
The fact is we must 10 something to give
a popular guarantee Of the patronage and
sale of our books before we can ask au
thors and publishers to hazard tho labor.
Of a life time from mere patriotic or piou:
philanthropy in their production.
Does not the French Academy Of Science.
pursue similar plan Were not the Bridge
water Treatises, and many other most valu
able works produced by some such arrange
ment?
But, some one will ask, why not let ALL
thors publish their books and lay them be
fore the people, and leave it to their goot
sense to judge Of their merits and adop
them without prizes and the intervention o.
committees 2 For obvious reasons; to moi
many of which can we now refer. But, in
tho first place. several authors have tried il
and failed. have numerous letters from
such writers end know their difficulties
Teachers generally want the books for thci,
schools, out of which they thenselvcs
learned, and sncer at all othcrs-not unlr.
quently. Then the Bookseller has :. run
ming account at a Northern or Eastern pub
lisher's, and buys on perhaps twelve
months time, and between tho two, the
new book is kept entirely out of any towr
or neighborllood where it might, under
other auspices, find a ready sale and yalua
bic use.
Besides, an author cannot nova. .adavs
afford to wait the old, tedious, tortoise -pacet
r. ~ '>s''"S5 s took creep INTO notice
and uso for the benefit Of his grand. children
He must be paid for his labor. Northern
authors grow iniependent-rich, indeed, b,
getting tlIeir books at once mo thousand;
Of schools.
Now, can Southern book, printed ana
published at home, hope, unai.led by some
efficient method Of popuIarizing it, to ee
into so general a use as to indemnify iht
author and publisher in a reasonable ienptl
Of time for their toil9 1 think not. III,
stone to balance the grist is not only fount
9n.the back OF the mill-boy's pony, but il
the pulpit, the marts of trade, and III,
sehoel.housc. The despotism of habi
drives the teacher to prefer the books O
his .boyhood to all others, for boyhood viii
books" l would heap such books. will
some som abatement, in general pile. and pra,
for Omar with his torch, and if he cam,
not at the call, I would fire the mass nv