The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-10-09

reward OF ihcir diligence. Others may say |
that they made no greater %cllurta before The
war to secure tho trade Of outlying sections |
than they do now, yet in those days ALWAYS
did a good business. Now this plea would
be valid, if during the past seven years the
world outside had stood still, or moved only at |
the snairs pace, which circumstances forced |
upon our unfortunate Southern country. So
FAR from this being the case, however,, we find
upon looking abroad, That commerce. has moved
ON in accelerated strides: lines of transpcrta-
ton have multiplied in every direction, and
turn where we will, we find competition meet
ing us on a Scale immeasurably greater than
was the case before the war, and unless these
efforts arc met by q corresponding expenditure
of force and effort, we must reconcile our
selves to see Charleston reduced from its form
er rank as n great emporium to q mere en-
trspot-a sort of wayside station.
We must be up and doing. 1t will not do to
jog along at our present pace. Each of us
must put forth his own best endeavor, and in
addition, we must seek to remove and counter
act untoward influences by acting in concert.
There should be no dead lock in the wheels Of
" " cAoTUlthut THllFCuu OF SIeam-
boat charges, or for want of harmonious CO.
operation between connecting lines of rail
roads. Our merchants should make every cf-
fort possible to remove such obstacles, for all
this is possible. And there is the more reason
for doing all that can be done, inasmuch as
there will still remain a great deal that para
lyZes our trade, which is entirely beyond our
influence.
Another topic we would refer to, though we
approach it with the hesitation corresponding
to its delioacy. It. is the nefarious practice Of
doing business almost exclusively on a credit
basis. We can all see the impolicy Of credit
ing the freedman laboring on the plantations.
Why? Because he is improvident, and has
not a proper sense Of the obligation he in
ours. lie spends his money before he makes
it and what is true in his case, is true in
nearly every sphere Of society. People do
not like to pay hard cash when they are not
to receive an equivalent. It is vain to say
that the value was received. That is quite
another matter. If you have the bacon and
the corn, especially if you have already con-
sumed them, why work hard in order to pay
for them? Doubt like this indicates bad NOR
ais, but it certainly belongs to human nature.
When a man can buy on credit, it matters
little whether he is o laborer, an artisan, a
farmer or a merchant, the tendency is he will
allow himself to be persuaded 10 purchase
more than he would do, if he had the money
in his pocket to pay for them. He buys be-
You'd his needs, and not unfrequently beyond
his ability to pay for what he buys. The
credit system is entirely at variance
therefore with the first principles OF
economy. OF course there are exceptions to
this rule, there are men who have sufficient
character and prudence, not to be tempted
either into dishonesty or extravaganza; but If
they extend the same indulgence Of credit to
their customers, which they receive from their
own creditors, they are exposed to the risk
of loss, which may al any time sweep away
large sums Of imaginary wealth.
As long as n mans wealth consists in large
amounts due him for store accounts, be they
few or many, from planters or from merchants,
he cannot be said to be opulent, for in a mo-
ment his riches may take wings unto them.
selves and fly away. Look at the several com
mercial panics and crises, through which the
country has passed, during the last thirty years
Thousands and tens of thousands Of houses
were dragged down by the vast net work Of
credit, which caught in its meshes the million
aire of the metropolis, no less than the small
ness upon q cash basis, this need not he, and
would not be the case.
We were in hopes at the close of the wa,
that hereafter there would be q radical reform
in this respect. Merchants had a good oppor-
tunity to enforce the cash system; purchasers
would soon have become accustomed to it, and
thought it no hardship. It is much to he re-
GREETED that this laudahle purpose was not
adhered to. Much of our present commercial
and financial difficulty, in our estimation, is to
be ascribed to the disregard of this rule.