The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-01-11

supplies he 30. only cha, ges, in TIC
first place, Il round profit on his goods
say SO per nt.--but in addition
to this, bloeds tic planter on the
amount charged to his account in the
way Of interest. to the tune Of not less
tn n 3, ott.,imes 5, per cent. rcr
mouth. a, the credit stands for, sa y
o. much Of the amount, ton in'ntls,
thc planter is this seen to pay tn .
large proportion Of his supplies the
sum Of 50 per cent on the amount Of
tho original purchase. Add this to
the 30 per cent pioHt on the goods,
and it l., seen TIA, by the credit sys.
tenn in vogue the planter il mulct in
the sum Of fully rs per cent. over
and above what VIC would pay for the
goods wcrehc 'leEorc-han'l" sufficient
Iy to purchase the same supplies at
wholesale for cash. Now, Incredible
IS it may seem to tho outside world,
thisaSs but fair showing of the credit
system upon which the cotton planter
makes his crop. Nor is this, by any
means, tho whole Of the difficulties
under which he labors.
Leaving out few Isolated sections
where some little effort IS made in the
say ola better order Of things, and
tho planter Absolutely purchases his
entire supplies from abroad. With
perhaps Us rich Land as any in the
world, lie yet raises, o.t-tinles, not u
single bushel Of corn, and in almost
amy ease not y tithc Of the corn, bacon
or other supplies lie must have.
Somehow, his idea Of farming never
goes beyond cotton, and in the raising
Of this study Of cconomy is no part
of the programme. The main thing
is to raise us much rs possible, with
out thought of the consequences Of
such course of action. That sue
cess can possibly attend n people
under such Il system of agriculture
long at time. is mortally impossible.
Contrary to the general idea, it never
did attend them in the past. AS [
have said before, the records of the
bankrupt court show the majority to
have been bankrupt before the var,
and can show, beyond ali cavil, that
with nearly all Of the most successful,
the profits came almost solely from
the increase Of the negroes instead Of
the planting proper.
This year the crop Of cotton is, save
it be that Of 1860, undoubtedly as
large u one ~ any ever raised. In
fact, it ia generally admitted by the
planters that, wero it all picked out,
it would fully equal that of 1860.
Probably fully half of that raised has
been upon the share system, The
planters, negroes, and all, have run
in debt, and The merchants have trus-
tcl all with a rrodigal hand. All
this has been done in expectation of a
good price for cotton. 1t turns out
to be very lew as compared to that
calculated upon. Taking the whole
of the South. west, it may safely be
said that nearly, if not quite as much
has been advanced upon the crop, in
t'e way ofsupplies, as can be rcaliz-
cd thereon. The consequences may
readily hc imagined. The planter,
finding himsclfno better, even worse,
of than a year ago, and reckless
thereby, is too apt to ignore his credia
tors and give them the slip, by scnG-
ing his cotton c!sewhefo for sale.
The black seeing no reason why he
should do better than the white,
Auding his share will bring him
barely enough to leave him where he
started, perhaps leaves it unpickod
and his creditors to whistle, while he
picks out tho crop Of ncighbor for
pay Nor is it, indeed, the crop of the
blacks alone that 10 left unpicked.
On the contrary, as have it from the
merchants, the blacks as rule, pick
out and bring III their cotton far more
promptly than the whites them
selves.
Between tho two howcverj from
reasons reasons like these, and the fact otthc
crop being a vWy large one, thoro is
DGrnaDS. twenty Der cent, OF the COT