Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1865-09-23
Our Commercial Condition.


cial prostration of South Carolina during the
war: G
1t will not be surprising to our readers, in
and out of this State, to lcarn that we have
suffered greatly from the recent war. Of
S15,000,000 in bank stock all is lost. Of
$4,000, 900 bills in circulation the market val
uc is not more than twenty per cent. Of
three insurance companies neither can contins,
nc business. Of $20,O00,000 in railroads no
dividends can be expected Of five thousand
houses in Charleston fifteen hundred have
been burned, and others almost irrcparably
damaged. Of estates of deccdents and MI
nors, and Of property in litigation, four-ffths,
are represented by Confederate securities,
and arc therefore valueless Of our many
merchants, lately Of large capital and unblem-
ished credit, few have assets to pay the small
debts against them at the beginning of the
war. OF the many large and valuable estates
in Beaufort district and the adjacent islaads,
all have been abandoned, and many have been
sold for taxes. Of the large cotton estates
still further from the seaboard Nmany have
been desolatcd. Of the cotton on hand at the
beginning, and raised during the war (amount-
ing in value to at least s20,000,QO0,) the,
larger portion has been taken or destroyed -
OF the stock, horses, hogs, cattle, farming i'm
plemcnts, utensils and furniture and silver
ware, all but an inconsiderable amount have
been consumed, destroyed or taken. OF the
money in the hands of our citizens at the oom-
mcncement of the war, or accruing from the
sale of property, or the practice of professions,
or tho payment Of debts, all has been invested
in securities, of which nine -tcnths have mo
possible value. OF the debts uncolectcd, few
arc expected to be paid Of the funds Of
churches, colleges, charitable institutions and
societies, all also, or ncnlly all, have been
sunk. OF the lands Of the State not held
by the government, little has any market val
uc. Into this awful gulf Of ruin has also been
swept the value Of. four hundred thousand
slaves, estimated few years since at 50, ,000,-
900. And thus, therefore, of the s4O0 ,OOO,-
900 worth of property in the State in 1860,
but little more than S50,000,O 900 now remains.
1t must be confessed that, although consid-
able activity is manifested, and many of the
old cltizcns have returned and rc-opcncd their
former places of business, long time must
clapse before the city can be placed, in bus
incss. point Of view, where it was before the
war. The emancipation act not only destroyed
the immense capital invested in slaves, but
seriously damaged all branches Of business by
'destroyingthe security of ncarly.every form Of
Investment; bonds, mortgages, bank stock, in
dividual notcs-all were dependent, more or
less, upon the cotton and rice crops of the
planters and the z" inevitable niggcr." The
sudden emancipation of the latter set all the
rest tumbling like bricks in a row. The
State, indeed, resembles vast wreck. Some
thing valuable may possibly be saved by time
and labor; but, at present, it is a mere mass
Of broken spars and shattered timbers. When
the debris is cleared of, and the killed and
wounded disposed of, something may be done.
at present, even the extent Of the destruction
is hardly realized.
FIGHT1NG.-The war between Brazil ana
Paraguay continues, with much hard fighting
mostly to the dctriment IF the Parag
H'1,n J(r,n L.,