The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-01-02
Southern Relic,
from Ihe Now York Trhunll

The South is to-day rich in land nd poor In
almost everything else. Part other soil ia
badly cultivated, the larger porloI unproduo-
tive, while her mines are unopend, and her
water-power runs to waste, becaus she has nc
capital wherew1th to develop ed improve
them. :.
The very best thing that men x means can
now do for the South and for tbmselves is to
invest Hberslly in tn, PURCHASE of her lands.
less than one-quarter Of tier itnnsic value.
yet offered in vain. Money sherATith to buy
them Is not found at the Sou& the few wuo
possess it have too much lnnd Sa,ady. Fami-
lies which hold thousand aces OF mainly
good soil, but generally in bad Ondition, are
absolutely harassed by debts Of few hundred
dollars, and know not how y meet them.
They try to borrow but no one nshes to lend
them: the security is good, butrepayment Ia
slow-.those who made advance to Southern
planters in 1885, expecting payment from that
years crop, are often awaitiufit yet, with
cloudier prospect than that Of 70 years ago.
1t is not possible to obtain oans In such
amount as will afford ssnsibE relief to the
south out real estate is now soow there that
money con be invested to grat advantage,
even though the land were to iddle and taxes
be paid on 1t tor the next two oGhree years.
There is no question OF willingness to sell !;
the owners must sell, or the heriff will save
them tho trouble. At least uarter Of the
soil Of the rmer slave States J in the market
at low prices today. Some Of r. is as rich land
as the sun evor warmed ; far rore has never
vet been ploughed to depth oslx inches, and
though worn and exhausted onthe surface, 10
deep and strong below. Therare thousands
OF acres OF choice timber in nirket for sums
which 8 quarter Of their trees properly dealt
With, would pay leaving the ssidue aud the
IL ava Foto ~
great prospective value which re not counted
at all in the prices asked for th estates which
include them. Beds Of ore au mines OF coal
that will soon be worth lens thousands OF
dollars are included in tractsof mainly tim
bered land that are offered fcre20 per acre or
less while plantations Of one two thousand
acres seek purchasers for less nan the cost OF
their buildings. Laboregs in abndanee cling to
or surround those plantaioI anxious to be
hired for $40 per month and aons that would
cost less than s5 more. As goo labor as theirs
cannot be hred this way for les thaa $50 per
month (iucluding board), ant the blacks ex-
pect to work long and hard in ne crop-makiIg
season. The pea:h, the grap, the strawber-
~ may be grown lu1urlantly almost every
where; 80 may early vegetables along tie
coast: tea and silk will yet be Suthern staples.
Lands that were worth $40 peacre for cotton
growing, but would rarely command that sum,
Will 10 obS6EiJ OOuHnt 1OA 0u unASo sASS
price when covered, as they VII be. with orch
ards and vineyards and accupmed to more
varied and thorough culture than the Jude
husbandry Of the planter, wb will learn no "
to make better living from, hundred acre
than he ever did from a thousnd.
Every dollar invested by atnngers or imml-
grants in Southern lands dos good 10 every,
interest and section. There re thousands OF
extensive landholdsrs now doging the sheriff,
unable to hire and pay labor untitled by en-
barrassment for any earnest, iersistent effort,
who, If they could sell half tleir land even at
a sacrifice, would be once mre on their feet.
They could pay their debts; they could buy
seed, implements and fertilizers, they could
hire feed and pay lsboers; and they
would thus produce far more On the residue Of
their estates than they nowlo on the whole
And the purchsse-money, afsr paying acores
OF debts, would return to tie North IN sstls'
faction Of debts or in psynent for new pur'
chases, and would thus do more good here
than though it had never leftus.
Men VINO would gladly reive the tagging
energies Of the South, ighen her miserles
and restore her to vigor and prosperity take
or send down your money nd buy Southern
lands