The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-12-04
For the anderson mtelliymcer.
ono CAPITAL"

The Universal cry, Messrs. Editors, from the
mountainssto the coast-No capital! No money!
do not mean to trouble you with an essay on
political economy, endeavor to illustrate (what
no intelligent man doubts,) the essential and mu-
tual relations of capital and labor. do wish.
however, 10 say word, feeble it may be, to the
planters of the State
.'No capital!" How dare you say go, when thou
sands, aye hundreds of thousands of fertile acres
nre either lying idle or cultivated most unprofta-
bly, alike to owner and laborer. Is there rene
dy? Must others, aliens perhaps, reap our fields
and gather what might be our crops, and all this
without honest, practical effort part to avert
so great misfortune and disgrace! do not mean
the isolated, spasmodic efforts of individuals, but
the.conccntrated, intelligent efforts of communi-
ties. While slavery existed, the plarter owned all
his capital, labor and land; and each wns to q
great extent, petty autocrat, independent of all
others. Not so now. Labor is uncertain, plant
ing of doubtful profit, and misfortune is at last
teaching us the necessity of concert of action, to
meet the new order of things. Alas for many
venerable pTejudices; alas for many sacred associ
utions, either to be voluntarily relinquished now,
or ruihlcsyly destroyed hereafter. The days Oft
southern Patriarchs' are past. The acres which,
for generations (of slaves as we'll as owners have
been handed from sire to son, must be given up;
the haunts of our boyhood will never echo to the
voices of our children; sold things have passed
away, all things are become new" How many
sad heart rcsponds-Too true too true! But tits
said, ..we know all this. and we have made up our
minds to sell out" You never can with that dole
full tragic air. Have you any faith in the capacity
of your land to remunerate active, intelligent la
bor? Prove it! Not by selling out your land,
but by investing it, and living, if not on it, from
it. "Co-operation among large landowners" is
the one thing needful. Don't put the whole re-
sponsibility on the capitalist with money!" Do
you the ..capitnlist with nnd," make him your
partner, and share with him the risk and the
profits. My remarks are specially directed to the
owners of large estates in the lower country which
do not admit of division into small farms but the
principle can be applied in Abbeville District as
we'll ms in Georgetown, and in every locality where
good land may be had. Ny figures only ap-
proximate, of course, and my whole effort is to
invite attention and speedy action. will illus
trate: Ten planters, or rather owners of land,
finding their land yielding nothing, but only q
source of expense, agree 10 put it oil into COM
mon stock, (after having it valued Mt q low market
rate amounting in all to suy 0,OOO,) and then
invite others to subscribe like amount in money,
making in all, in land and money, capital of
$500, 900, divided into 5000 shares of SlOO dol
lars each, or 10000 of $50 EACH The planter no
longer owns all his land, but he has claim to one
half its vnluc and on the money subscribed to the
other half; and the money subscriber becomes in
the same way, to the extent of half his subscrip-
ton, landowner. Go to work-pay the best
planters, and pay high wages to laborers, introduce
labor-saving machines and bring scientific engi-
neering into play, and offer inducements, such as
the purchase of small homesteads on detached
pieces of land, and you will in few years crente
o landed interest in every class and color in the
State. To our late slaves, now fellow-ciszens, I
con foresee incalculable blessings in the inaugura
ton of system of organized and well paid labor,