The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-02-09
Divide and Prosper.


plantation States Of the South:
The South must divide to prosper,
Wherever practicable, plantations
must be divided into farms of small
area SO that every acre of the soil
may be cultivated. Every man in
the South must be encouraged to
spend his money in Tho South Di-
creased population must be sought
steadily and patiently: and fnll pres
perity will, in time, return.
Slavery, with all It's advantages, al
ways tended to keep the wealth on
the country in few hands The for
tunes OF the South were possessed by
small number of persons. These
persons made good use OF their am
pie means, and knew how to enjoy
the intellectual and social advantages
which spring from wealth we'll en-
ployed. Those who held the property
spent the money; and the vast ma
jority of that money went TO the
North-to build up Northern manu-
facturos, Northern trade, and North
ern fortunes. The most tritiing arti-
Gle required, rs well rs the greatest,
WIS purchased IN the North; and the
Northern States were the great reci-
pients Of threc-fouths Of the annual
income OF the South
Now.that we have ended an uns,lc-
cessful war, and that the slaves are
emnncipated, the whole condition of
things is changed. Oar planters have
not one-tcnth OF the ready money
that they lad before The war. They
are unable to travel and spend freely,
bat there is this advantage" Shat me
ty cents out of every dollar that they
receive is spent ut home in the South.
The negroes may gain but very little
from their lahors. Their careless and
improvilent habits are notorious, and
it is those who learned to be saving
and careful, when they were slaves,
that arc saving and careful now that
they are free Still, whatever they
may earn and spend, will be spent in
the Sonth, and will also assist IN en-
couraging our general trade
One great result. then, of the pre-
sent condition of affairs, is that,
however the total income Of the
South may have been diminished,
more money is really spent in the
South now than was spent by South
erners, in the South, before the war.
The question for us to consider, then,
is how shall we derive themost bene-
fit from the money that is spent
amongst us. At this time, the profit
that our merchants and business men
make is that upon goods which are
imported into, or manufactured in,
the North and consumed here This
is a natural operation of trade, but
we have It In our power to gain more
than this.
AS long SIS New England exercises
as potent an influence at Washington
rs she now does, it is useless to ex-
pect that we shall have anything APP
proaching to free trade The power
of New England, in this matter, is
great, and it is rs well to treat the
subject as though protective tariffs
We're to be q permanent feature of
American policy. II manufactures
are to be protected, let us ut least
have our manufactures in the South
to manufacture Southern produce
They will pay well; they Will aid in
| developing our resources, and the
money paid the artisans, as we'll as
the profit realized by the proprietors.
will return to the South, from which
it came. In addition to this. W.
must encourage direct trade. We
must import direct. and strive in
every way to retain for ourselves that
profit which is now pocketed by the
Northern merchants who handle and
control the foreign trade.
In every possible way must we aim
at economy, and at making the most
Of every dollar that we possess.
When we spend money, let it be
spent in the South; when we make
purchases, let them be made, as far
us practicable, in the South. A little
discussion will soon give further i'm
petus to our manufacturing interests,
and our home manufactures must be
patronized and supported Direct
trade Will also come to our assistance,
and we must try, in addition, to raise
sufficient brcadstulfs to support our
people without being compelled to
make purchases of food from the
North and North west.
The tendency of slavery was to
give excessive Importance to the
country districts; the tendency of
the present condition of n fr,iro will