The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-12-23

The season for the usual annual calis ioi
advances, is now at hand, and a few sugees
tons upon the subject may not be oul "
place. The very material changes OF DUST
ness brought about by the results OF the war
may well engage the attention ofour think
ers, that we may be able to Judge as 10 inc
necessity Of a remOdeling of the plans upon
which we have heretofore worked. Oid
habits and modes Of business are hard 10
shake off. and it is true that we often prac-
tice them long after the necessity from
which they sprung has ceased to exist.
The old habit of advancing to planters
grew out of the fact that the money Of the
country was held almost exclusively In the
sea-board and exporting cities. As fast as
property of any description was converted
into money the money found its way to the
cities (if the conversion secured in the
country, or if in the cities, it remained there)
in payment of debts or for safe keeping I'M
til an investment was determined on. Com
paratively speaking there was no money in
the country, 1t was all in the cities. Out OF
this course of business grew the ability as
well as the habit of making advances upon
crops to be grown. Is such the course OF
business at present? and If not, does the
necessity or ability, either, to pursue the old
plan exist? Manifestly not, so far as the
necessity is concerned; it may be a question
as to ability. Possibly the inflow of capital
from foreign points may be as great as the
outflow to domestic ones, but it is not proba-
BILE.
The course of business at present takeA
the money from the cities to the interior
There are, compared with former times, but
few debts to be met in the cities. and there
are no attractive investments in them, to
our agricultural people. Besides distrust OF
merchants and banks is very general i'm the
country--certainly much more general than
of planters with the merchants and bankers.
Again. in former times, every planter was
DESTROYS of making himself strong with
some good commission house that he might
use it in the purchase of negroes; hence If
he had money he left it with his house. At
present this incentive does not exist.
1t is well known TO those who are con-
versant with business, that the proceeds OF
sales of cotton are going rapidly TO the
country. There is no other reasonable mode
of accounting for the long continued strin-
gency of the money market.
Tie MTlltT DtllSNCS tudL uO HcCeSSlil NA-
lists for advances next year; and that there
is plenty of money in the country to carry
on its planting operations. 1t may not be
as generally distributed as the improyident
and idle or grasping would wish, but there
is no question as to its existence. And all of
the money in the country will be employed
in planting, provided commission merchants
do not, by their advances get up an unheal-
thy and damaging competition for labor,
which would render the business unremu-
lucrative. If it be true that the country is
in this respect self-sustaining, nothing but
harm can flow from a course which increas-
es competition for labor without a CORES
ponding increase of production; and it is
well understood that the tendency OF such
competition is to decrease production.
Thesupply of labor in the Southlis limit
ed and cannot be increased by competition
for it. AS much, if not more, will result
from it without such competition, than with
it, and the merchant who aids IN stimula-
ting it is only increasing his risk. The
merchant who would confine his advances
to those who propose to introduce near labor
into the country would be public benefac-
tor and would besides make new source Of
profit to himself.
The young men of the country-those
reared upon farms-are not at work as a
rule. There are honorable exceptions
There is no reason why they should not
work. lcith their olon hands, at their calling,
as do other young men at their avocations.
Making advances to them, by which they are
able to control few hands, fosters idleness
and gives them the opportunity to spend too
much time at cross-road and way-side gro
ceries; damaging their morals and lessen
ing the productive capacity of the country.
If they are capable and worthy of assist
ance and need il, they are sure of finding a
helping hand at home, where their abilities
and worth are known.
Finally, may it not become necessity of
trade and commerce that the money now
known to be in the country should be made
to perform its legitimate funetions-become
an actiue agent in the business of the coun-
try. and not remain an lille one. May not
this be necessary TO restoration and adjust
ment of balances at the commercial centres
and, can a better mode to accomplish the
end be suggested than that indicated in this
article. f.