The weekly clarion., 1871-02-02
A Practical Essay ON the State Of
the Country, and n SWggestipn
10 L<gfslatOrs-
Mr.. EDITOR

been cas- with heavy balances against ue
| latter in avor of the former. The supDlyof
corn will hardly last through the winter,
| and the poceed<-of the cotton crop will not
paw for tie cost of its production. The land
has been injured, the fences have decaytd,
the stock has deprecated. and both labor
/ and capinl are discouraged. The low price
| of our chef staple has made the operations
| OF the year disastrous to all parties.
| The pas is irrevocable, but its teachings
| may be made profitable. Shall we suffer
| the revolutions of another year 70 carry US
| through ne usual routine OF farm Werk
without fdethought, system and co-ope-a-
| tion? Ha physical subjugatiOn bowed and
| broken our once proud spirits? Has she
| loss of property paralyzed our energlts
Our old system of labor having been distr-
| ganized. hive we not sufficient skill TO foIm
another? Because the "1rrepressiole cen-
| fiict'' has precipitated US from SamD's
brawny shoulders, shall we continue 10
lie 7upineE on our backs and eat dit?
Shall we spend our time in listlessness, dlssl-
patton. or crOakings, while Ignorant IaoG-
ers ruin the soil by imperfect tillage and
i'm ported politicians legislate for their own
dominion and tax us TO fill their empty
pockets and replete their carpet-oaSs for
their next exodus? Can We, 1.-The natives OF
the SOIL" do nothing bnt submit TO rule ana
ruin? Is all manhood gone! Is all shame
ed their role, and are now numbered
among the things that were :"
The situation is deplorable but not hope
less The capital and intelhgence-the moral
and religious forces of the country must all
combine to effect a reformation. Let Us
aroLse ourselves from our lethargy and re
solve to do or die. Let every man, woman
and child resolve on certain course OF at
ton and pursue it with a will that shall
overcome all obstacles.
kI,o bOld Ofo
year, now is the time to determine what We
will do, and how we will do it. Have tie
operations of the past year left you without
means to buy supplies for the current year!
Resolve to live on bread and water, ana tie
products of YOUR poultry-yardS and kitchO
gardens. to dispense with all luxuries )f
eating and drinking, and all supernulClesO IL
of apparel. rather than pu chase them at
the exorbitant credit prices Are you IN
able to employ laborers? work on smdl
scale in an improved way with your own
hands. Instead of degrading yourself ly
making an honest living with your own h
Dor, you will soon find yourself rising a
your own estimation, and in that of evey
sensible man and woman too. Have y'u
lard to rent or work on shares? Bind yolr
laborers to work under your supervision,
and to buy all Indispensable articles throuh
your endorsement. Beware that old JUDI
mentS and merchants liens DO not come
at the end of the year and dSfraud you Il
your rentals and compensation for your n
CT ssary outlays of money.
Your contracts having been carefully
and legally made, signed, sealed, stampd
and recorded, the first object of your attel-
ton should be to surround your neldS win
reliable fences. Why do you falter? Is
there herculean task before Yen? Ya,
one that can be performed only by had
hands, strong arms and years of patient tol.
As you ride around your fields, you vii
find your dnte-belluna rails all decaying and
burrying themselves in orlar-hedges. VIII
you attempt to patch them with poles and
cover them with brush, and thus lose
large portion of your crop as you have done
every season since the surrender? Is thee
no other resort? Have you timber to male
new rails? If you have, can you persuade,
hire or force yeur laborers TO split them? A
good Old-fashioned fence of new, heavy
rails around any considerable body of land
would be work of curiosity rarely to be
seen in this age of universal liberty and
franchise. The experience of the last few
years proves that freedmen will haul old
rails from place to place to make sham
| fences, but they will not endure the long
continued fatigue necessary to build such
fences as will secure their crops against the
depredations of stock. In fact. by the tine
they have gathered and prepared for mar
ket their small crops, the blowing seasn is
upon them. and they have no time for fece-
making. To Fuild new fences with our
present amOunt of capital and system OF la
| Dor is utterly impracticable. What the is
| to be done? Shall we try to hedge mr-
selves around with rotten rails, green Piles
and leafy brush another year? Nay, ray, |
| all are tired of that experiment. Would it
| not be better to let our fences stand or lie,
as the case may be, in Stdtu gao and shot
and pay tor our neighbOrS' stock wheneer
! they presume to encroach upon our fene-
| less territory? Would not the proceeds of
| that portion of the crop that is destroyed0y
stock every year pay for all the beasts "tlat
| go about seeking whom they may cevou,"
| or rather, by whom they may be devOurd.
Under our present system of fencing md
stock raising We lose a large portion of
every crop and ali the stock that run 1T
| large.
| Let me ask any practical farmer a few
| plain questions which he can easily a-
| swer.
| lst. Is the gr en- grass which your wor
ing stock eat on leisure days, during te
| blowing season, a source of nOurishment %
them? Every one will say it is rather N
| injury, as It induces a condition of healh
which weakens instead of Strengthening
them. Then we need no extensive pasturs
for the working stock in the plowing se-
son.
2nd. What proportion of the hogs that
you partially raise do you butcher? Not
more than one-half is the general responR.
Some are killed by the Iaborers while depH-
dating upon their crops, others are eaten ~
| idle vagabOnds who will not work beca1e
| they can live on fat wandering pOrkes.
| Under the prevailing moral system of he
country, hog raising is not only bad n
| vestment to the one who attempts it, butts
grett source of encouragement to idlenes
and stealing. Hunger would soon drfe
| many of our vagrants to regular, honeE,
daily toll, if they could not so easily shou-
der an old army gun, go into the woods aid
return home laden with spoil sufficient %
| subsist them for several days.
Sd. If meat is worth 121a cents per Id. n
| localities where corn is worth 80 cents DIR
bushel, what is meat worth in places where
corn is worth one dollar per bu>hel? Aid
| If our meat would cost us 25 cents per b.
| if we could butcher all we raise, what Will
il cost us if we lose one-half that we st
tempt to raise? To answer this last Qu.s-
ton would give the death-blow to the ew
poor, rapidly diminishing porkers that form
the forlorn hope of our increasing vagrahts-
4th. Neighbor, how many of the calves
that are born uAto your COWS live to matu-
rity? About one-third; the others die of
cold and starvation during the next winter.
How many mich cows do you keep on your
place? Ten or twelve. How much milk
and butter do they furnish your family
No more than one fine -blooded, well fed
COW would yield.
The above questiors and answers we hear
almost every day. Every one is convinced
that our system of fencing and stock-rais-
| ing is all a farce, and ought to cease, but
who will attempt to effect so great refor-
nation among people whose views and in-
| terests are so diverse? The freedman must
have his half-starved hogs, if they do eat up
his crop of corn, and his neighbors' too
The poor of our villages, towns and cities
declare they have net the means to enclose
and feed their cows, they must have the
privilege of turning them out to Craze upon
the lands of others. Thousands Of acres of
land must be kept under fence for the spe-
cial accommodation of a score of lean, worth
| less kline. Is there any economy in such an
arrangement? Would it not be cheaper to
furnish the poor with bread and butter
gratis, than afford so costly pasturage TO
unremunerative cattle? To furnish bread