American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-02-20
A Warning to Gotten Planters.

The extract which we make below
is from letter from N. Y. to the
Macon GA Telegraph. 1t makes
suggestions, tSays the Columbus
Sun, J and predictions which our peo-
pie ought to take int consideration
before veRturing largely into the
cultivation of cotton this year.
That a financial crisis, and perhaps
such collapse as often sHcceeds an
undue initiation of a paper currency,
may reasonably be expected before
this year is out, is apparent. 4f'oar
Southern people could meet it with
out any obligations that would CON-
pei them to dispose quickly of this
years crop, our section would in
deed be the richest portion of the
Continent. But there is every reason
to fear that a majority of the plant
ers are preparing to go so extensive
ly into the cultivation of cotton this
year as to necessitate the contraction
of debts for which much of the crop
will be pledged. Tire proportion
thus mortgaged will depend upon
the amount of credit obtained and
the extent of the crop planted.
Those who raise the most of every
thing else, and only give the extra
labor and expenditure to cotton, will
have the least indebtedness to meet,
and will be best able to encounter
any kind of revulsiOn that may come.
while those who owe much and HAY e
nothing but cotton to pay with will
be in bad plight.
Here is the extract from the letter,
which we commend to careful consid
Grafton:
The South is to-day the richest
portion Of this continent, and if the
people are wise may remain so.
The present price of cotton is not
the result of the present wants OF
trade, nor Of its future prospects,
bat the result of the plethora OF
oney and the want of secure invest.
ments. Capitalists are the most
timid of all men, and are the first to
draw in their heads like the terIapins
when they see or think they see
danger, aud keep them drawn in the
longest but they are the most rest
less of all men when their money
does not yield a profit, and they get
after awhile where they will incur
almost any risk of the principal and
} all risk of principle, for the prospect
of large interest,
: AS cotton is nearer gold than any
!. thing else, and often promises a
large profit, the idle capital of Eng
, land and this country has gone into
it and produced speculative de
, tmaDd and price. How fur it will &C
there is no telling-probably to
! thirty-fve cents; but no matter
where it goes, or where it stops, it il
/, merely speculation which must o
i necessity come to an end very sud
0 denly, and with ruinOus results tt
J., all holders, when it does come; ant
r then its tendency will be downward
S for years to come. 1t may not come
. until May, but believe and hope i
! will come by the middle of February
h that the people of the South ma,
/ not be seduced by the high price int,
:, the neglect of provisions and hug
3, cotton paintings.
z That the enhancement of price is no
e due to the state OF trade is evident
= from the fact that merchants an,
n manufacturers are everywhere ovel
,r stocked with goods viii III they can
It not sell, because the people have nc
the means to buy, or rather to pay
that even present prices cannot col
tinue is clear, from the fact that a
the goods in the hands of merchant
- and manufacturers, and all the stoc
> of old cotton on hand must take til
Ne benefit of the rise before it can reac
T. the present crop. Merchants an
m manufacturers will not sell wha
a they have on hand at old price
o knowing that they must pay fC
new supplies more than they g
% for what they now have. Merchant
70 here are already advancing the
= prices.
= The people of the South are tt
~ only people of this country who al
De able to pay. Their policy now is
u, economic, even to penuriousness.
>" to sell their cotton and put it in
o. gold. By holding on to their cote
~ they may get more than to sell
nd present but the danger is that til,
t., may hold on until the trouble come
or when they will be sure to get less
tie currency, which will be worth mu,
H., less than it is now. BY selling nc
- and putting their currency into gol
~ they will be certain in the end
III much more than any price in cure
Ter cy will yield them. The adoption
% the policy here indicate will ma
en the South at the end of this We;
raj and before the end of it, the richt
emit people on this continent.
The Savannah Republican, in co
" menting on the above letter, says
10 We cordially concur with 1
mt writer that the Southern planter, |
nv der no circumstances, should all
himself to be seduced by the hi
Die prices of cotton into the folly of n
IN, Letting the production of an abb
lat, dant supply of provisions But
ole- think that he is unfortunate
is ascribing the present high price
but the staple to "a moneyed plethor
M and to mere speculative deman
ucb at the North.
os 1t is a notorious fact that moi
ool, has been tight throughout the cot
y season thus far, and that cotton
NC gone up IN spite of it. 1t is unnee
D III sary to look elsewhere for a cause
appreciation when increased C
en- SUMPTION, the present reduced sto'
less in Liverpool and the United Stat
ion with pretty reliable evidence t
,ro the crop of 1868 will prove sh
as one, are ready data to account fol-
de. Nor is it very clear, as cotton is p
for in greenhacks, how it is to
nm down in the face of their depre'
- ton, so confidently predicted by
te' writer.
'ne Our own opinion is, that, with
~. serious political or financial distu
ance, American cotton is bound
the maintain a good price for some Ii
9th. to cone Owing to the scarcity {