Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-07-18
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T.. kLa Adyarf;oar
onformity to the concluding paragraph of

suggestions in regard to the difficulties between
Dsbto.:jiind Creditor, consequent upon the abnor-
NAL alconiiton ofthe country.
sWe dGsnot intend to thrust upon ths community
the crude notions Of an inexperienced intellect,
but only to refer to such measures as have bcenie
sorted toby Greit Nations under similar cireum-
stances. Long before the day of Patrick IIenry,a
celebrated Roman Orator had contendcd that tEthe
best way Of judging the frture is by the past-and
the experience of ages has taught us the truth of
the maxim. We shall therefore adhere to it.
In the year A. D. 259, the Roman people
with debt, andsgroaning beneath oppressive taxa
tion. The arguments then used by Creditor and
Debtor, (ns related by Dyonisius Of Iali;arnasus)
are so exactly analogous to those Of the citizens
of EdgeGeld District to-day, as to be worthy OF
notice. !" 0none hand the Plebeiuns pretended
not 70 boin = condition to ,ay their debts; they
complained that during so51nany years Of war
their lands had produced nothing, their cattle had
pershed, their slarcs had escaped or been carried
away" &C., On the other hand "the Creditors
body; that. they had suffered no less than their
Debtors; that they could not afford to lose what
thcyhad lent to INDECENT pcrsons>during the war,
in addition. to what had been taken by. the
enemy" &c.
An olat warrior in. those days proclaimed
through che mouth of Se.tilius, that he was born
free, had served in all the campaigns, had been in
twenty-esght battles, and had often gained the
prize o. ralour; but that since the Republic had
been rodlced to tho last. extremity, he had been
forced to borrow money wherewitll to pay taxes
-oand net being able to discharge his indebted
ness, had been reduced to slavery by q merciless
Creditor.
How strikingly analogous to the condition o.
our country at the present moment. The Repub
lie then, as now, had been "reduced to the las
extremity the "cattlon Of soldiers absent in The
army had. died, their slaves" (mark the analogy
even here) had ad4cscapod-th were loaded with
debt, &c. The v-ry argument. and complaints
uttered over sixteen hundred years ago irttht
ria Latino and along the ria sacrd, from the
from the Salpda to the Savannah.
What then was ,donc. to relieve the exigencie
Of the times7 After tho passage of ce:tain laws
Agra1ian in their tendency, aftera an extinction o
the iuterestduc upon debts and after the abolition
of the debt itself thereby producing still
greater reign of anarchy and bloodshed, the sys
tenn of payment by instalmcnts was adopted, ant
the people ultimately relieved. q
The plan was, in substance, as follows: Th'
interest previously paid was deducted from th'
principal of the debt, and The principal itself re
paid by equal portions during an interval %
three years. The Debtor was forced to give th'
Creditor lien upon hisjvisiblc estate, 50 as Il
prevent the fraudulent transfer thereof; and thu
Creditor on the other hand, was prevented from
lcvying upon the property Of Debtor who ha'
complied with the Act, until such Debtor hae
fri!ed to make the payment of each instalnent a
it fell duc--and then only for that particula
instalment.
After the American Revolution of 1776,. OH
ancestors found themselves embarrassed with
|
tors were clamorous for The payment of their de
mand; Debtors were utterly unably to meet thei
liabilities; and the glorious soldiers, who hat
humblcd the Mistress Of the Seas" goaded b,
the spur Of Federal taxation and individual in
debtedness, were upon the very threshold Of civi
war. The intellectual giants Of those days cam
to their rescue, and in 17S7 p.Instalment Ac
for the relief of the country was'passed by tn
Legislature Of South Carolina, so very like tn
ecnatus consul.um of the Romans above alluded
to, rs to leave little doub. of the fact that tn
accomplished statesmen Of that day had befor
their eyes the page of the historian recording
the. decree of law and that the Act of lISI "
Vol: Statutes at large) is based thereupOn. Thi
Act has been called to ourattention by Genl. N
C. BUTLER, who, in reply his constituents, ha
alluded to it particularly; otherwise we would b.
| moro minute in regard thereto. Thus We se
history repeating itself, and great men proftinl
by the lessons of the past.
we will suggest another and entirely difercn
example in history. The Free Town of Frankfort
in its earlier days, was almost entirely consume.
by fire. It's inhabitants were too poor to rebuilt
it; their purses were depleted; their credit hat
vanished. The deity Corporation, ufter divers
unsuccessful schemes for the purpose of borrow
ing money, found relief in the following expe
lient: The Corporate Authority was authorized
and empowered to take from the citizens mort
cages Of their real estate, and to issue to them
respectively stocks for the same, benring intercs
at per ccntum per annum. By eans.whereo
the proprietors were enabled to rebuild theil
houses and resuscitnte the City.
In 18-(we forget the date) Charleston, having
undergone like conaagration, contracted q 4" fire
loan on almost exactly tho aamc principles, and
Mr.. McDurrrE was the agont for the contracting
and maturing of the loan.
Why cannot tho State adopt similar course in
the present emergency .. She wouldno be forced
to borrow. single dollar, and experience teaches
US tho proprie,y and policy of such proceeding.
You will perceive, Mr.: EDiroR, that the forego.
ing suggestions are not the promptings of mex
perionce or the result of undigcstcd sclfopinion,
but the teachings of history, venerable because
of age, and worthy because of experience:
+ When Dean Swift visited the Academy of La
doga; he vas much diverted, with the ingenuity
of one of the Professors, who'explained to him
the modus' operandi Of machine which he had
invented for the manufacture of ready intellect.
The Professor boasted, among other thing7, that
be could turn out from his machine my number,
per day, of gigantic gsniuass-Philosorhcrs, Poeis,
.crc.ors, Statesmen, Politicians, Lawyers, Doctors,
t&c;-and verify, Mr.. EDITOR, judging from the
numerous opinions audarticlOs, showerd upon you,
we ars forced to. believe that the right to the
patont for such machine has been purchased for
Edgefcld District-and tho ,patentees arc en-
gagged with commondable energy and dispatch, in
the exclusive manufacture of Politicians and FL
.no,o;aro ,aody IN colva eocb in his ,niouc wnv