New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-10-17
SOUTHERN TRADR-FIRE-EATENG.

sOVTuERN TRADR-FIRE-EATs
The dry goods lobbng house of Lane, Bcyce "
Co., which recently suspended payment, have
asked and obtained from their creditors an extern
sion or postpone nent of their liabilities Tor terms
Of six, twelve, snd eighteen months. Their bal
apce.sheet. az submitted to their creditors, stood
Assets. re-. so, $50 900 Liabilities. 81 80 600.
Apparent surplus. .....--..--. .s'oS oVo.
Assuming those assets TO be toerably good,
it seems clear that the house ought not 10 nave
failed at all, in times of general prosperity and
monftsry abundance like these. AS their liabilities
Of ccurse fol- due from time to time, while their
assets must consist mainly OF retailers notes not
vet due, and which ought to be available ut mode
rate sacrifice they ought not to have been obliged
to asS forbearancc at a Surprising them to aive
- 900 900 In current mercantile paper, falling due
from thirty days to six or eight months hence that
paper ought 70 be negotiable average OF temper
cent of, so.thtt they could pay every faFttng they
owe. leaving them S55S, 900 in goods, slow notes,
&c., as clear surplus. And, in country where
business is conducted sobery and nationally, such
would be the result.
But Messrs. Lane, Boyce & Co. have been doiog
a heavy eouthtIn trade, and that trade is usually
conducted on principles which SIT prudence aud
even commtn sense at dtfaCce. 1t is a common
practice TO eel heavy bills of goods to Southern
houses of no kt own capital nOminaly on twelve
months time but really on fourteen or fifteen
months, as the goods are sold and delivered in
February and the notes at twelve months dated
the LET of April ensuing. In other words, the
colt nplanteIs have generally years credit with
their merchants ard factors for their food, cloth
lug, implements, &C.. &C., and sometimes for a
part Of their negroes also. Obviously if in-
sects or frost, or droutb, OF foods cut short the
crop, the planter cannot pay if the crop
is superabundant, the price is apt to DO
low, and he is bOth slack and short;
if his crop is ample and the price fair be is doing
50 well thet he wants TO do better 50 he pays his
merchant IN part-the least that viii answer--and
invests the balance in more land and more negroes.
OF course, there must be frequent and heavy losses
under this system, aside from the permanent alb
sorption Of One Hundred Millions of Northern
capital 10 Southern industry-in Itself, TO orr mind,
Il damage to both sections. There have been few
determinations mere absurd than that Of Gov.
Seward last Winter, when he characterized the
Southern as Capital in contradistinction TO
the "Labol" or Free States. Calling dream
Bottoms, "becaufo il hath no bottom was
hardly more preposerous.
The South is generally represented as prodigal
and eItraraganti we know rot that she is more so
than the North; but we know that this system of
loose and exaggerated credit tends to make her 80.
1t is the inevitable tendency Of a system under
which mere youth, who has set up to be plant
er, may run himself over head and ears into debt
in total gr ORANGE of a the canons of successful
business. We do not consider the South so much
to blame for this peryerse and reckless abuse of
credit as the North the platter as the merchant
but we know that it should somehow be stopped.
It is a curse to the whole country. Credit rs a
casual and temporary mitigation of some great
public calamity lie very well; but credit as natu
raj ard chronic relation between section and
section is not we'll There is no more solid
reason Why the South should owe New-Yotk
cotton.crop than that we should owe her the
price Of one. She ought to buy next years goods
with tLis years crop; it would be- better for ali
parties if she did so. Yet she insists on keeping
q year behind and goiug deeper and yet deeper ia
debt; and in our last commercial article we read
as follows:
"Co X. Stevenson has accepted the Presidency Of the
Sophn Pacific Railroad 0nd gone Europe Ia connection
with peItsnng The Interests ths road The Nah
e Baaa0 leans that tie New York agent OF French aad
Conan house has siguaed TO Col Stevenson THAI biz principals
viii contract to b1i the ,rre road taking oaee e ~
Ia e t1L u tie road r.hG E0ysogc us laads u us Com
P0Hy a. sccshH"
That is TO say: if the company wilt furnish
money enough or what viii bring money, TO build
the road the French and German house" will
oversee tie job, and only ask half the road, when
completed, Tor their trouble Aud that is the WY
our poorer roads-not oil of them Southern, BIS any
means--arc apt TO be built.
Our peopls are not all satisfied 10 have matters
90 on in this slpstcd smble down the road to ruin.
Tie 81. LoRis NerS, with reference 10 the attempt
TO make Missouri great Iron-producing stats,
with an immense rOliog- nil at her commercial
capital says:
eve hope the Missouri Lesltere pm. an end 70 the
syits # buy ing rsil long credit ~ IA, roads iao.
por-d "a tl ste Tho system impoeodh.s u.s. sud ..e
dependent foniin capitalists Opr oign ab.y.. are
cuih,d and i ea or u ne Safs BBe h.ary frIes cau,db
toy0ld dcbt-f1sef ei-i 20 o. 5pg5, ne Is,y,,s Az n
nae. ehd 'cRHgaW Of Ea9'ind H'' 6are made ne lp1Ig
css Tffl0.
Tle ,uppoSj neee,sies Of road, o. mps tAeui 10 bu,
The good ftfr rail- J,r5u.o trey can ue bond, or
ircies Of cd'' 10 h.r parcbsse b., Oh srci debt.
have TO te io6 ~ ne ed aat e ro lr,. 20. ,ho ess
e2hsals scnuI-iy ia o they he'd It oacs heu,,-lgs
snd paid tie Whole dotl'
III. ir'o tho po.t We elrr,s.ly dos % tl.af
flo TacGc Btmad ialI b. commenced fcrtbv 10