The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-04-23

has been SO memorable that no one who lia
lived through it will ever forget it, True
,1you are not now as you were once; never
theless, beyond all other Interests, yours i
this section since the war has been exceed
lngly prosperous. Your prices have bee
very remuneratiye; while, your crops i
proportion to the laborers, have bee
abundant; and under the stimulus of th
prosperity, say what you may, your pre-
paratlons for the present crop are unusuall
largo. In one respect, to illustrate what W
mean, the amount of fertilizers ordered fa
exceed any quantity ordered before, even i
the brightest and palmiest days of slavery
what this year may bring forth is in TIL
womb OF time. God knows, we do not. /
is left to you to do your duty. and trust il
Him. It is cheering thought that this i
not fatherless world. If left to yourselves
well might you be Respondent. How Otter
has 1t been the case, in this worlds history
when confusion has reigned when societ,
has been broken up from its deep founda
tions, when the wild, bad passions of mer
were let loose without restraint, that an un
erring hand, clearly visible in its results, a.
by the untangling of skein, has caused
chaos to yield to order, conflicting clement.
to hafmonize, and frantic passions to sub
nat to the requirements of wholesome
law. The same wise Providence yet lives tc
rule and over-rule tho affairs of mon for
their good and His own great glory In
this, if in nothing else, there is hope fol-
the future.
But while you place your trust in Provi-
dence, You must also learn the lesson of the
hour Adversely has its own uses; it is sell
dom alone direct and extraneous inflic-
ton; 1t is rarely wholly from without; it is
not often uncompounded; it springs from
both interior and exterior agencies. When
you can separate them, and of the adversity
which besets you you can say ''this portion
is mine-I did it, and not another: then,
instead Of whining over it and deploring
your unhappy fate, it il your part as men
to lay hold of the offending cause, and if it
struggle or resist, to throttle, to strangle
and to destroy it.
Your peril is greater by far from within
than without Ii you have erred, err no
longer Learn to plant what you need.
The interests at hazard are the interests of
yourselves Let the past learn you expe-
s..
You labor under greater deficiency than
the want of more gold-it is the want of
grain to make your bread. The County of
Newberry has not to-day grain enough
within its limits to feed its population until
the gathering of the next crop.
This may be partly owing to the drouth
OF last summer; but it is still more owing to
your defective system Of agriculture, the
education of earlier days. When will you
learn to be wise? AS an illustration, thou
sands and tens of thousands of dollars
worth of provisions were brought here last
year, and continues to be brought up to
the present. The deficiency, then, is the
natural result OF bad system of agricul-
ture. You are presenting now, as has
always been the case, the anomalous spec
tacle OF a people having upwards of 81 ,2OO,-
600 worth of the earth's products for sale
yet requiring large proportion of the re-
suits OF sale to buy the common necessaries
of life.
It has been the Southern planters rule to
make all the cotton he could, and as much
provisions as was not inconsistent with the
very largest possible cotton crop. This was
the rule laid down, and it has almost be-
come law. This passed muster under the
old regime, but the present position of
things must teach you better; that you must
make enough of bread and meat, and after
wards, if you please. as much cotton rs
possible. You will then be independent in
prices. The fluctuations of the market will
affect you very slightly. If drouth or dis
aster come, you will still be surrounded by
plenty: And beyond this, by this system,
instead Of exhausting your capital the
source OF your wealth and subsistence, the
soil, will be adding hourly and daily to its
power OF remunerating returns.
We entreat yon. farmers and planters, if
you have not begun it, to turn over new
leaf; abandon the extravagant notions of the
past. See to it that every element of in
creased fertility is carefully husbanded.