Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1871-04-01
FOLLY WILL BEAR IT'S FRUITS.

Mt the low price of cotton and, we
suspect there u no little pecuniary
embarrassment resulting therefrom.
1t IL no easy matter to sympathizc
with q people who sin against light
and knowledge, who repent, annu-
ally, ay,i annually repeat the onense,
and whose motto seems to be, all, or
nothing on cotton. The policy they
pursue has cut the throat Of their
commercial prosperity and they are
griev ed and surprised that their life
blood is ebbing through the wound.
Would they know why they are
embarrassed In spite of n large cot
ton crop, let them set down and cal
c%ulate, rs nearly rs possible, the mil
lions ofdollars they send North, every
year, to pay for meat and bread and
the clothes they wear; the millions
paid to the same section, for agricul-
tural implements and the teams to
work them, and the millions eXpend-
cd in the purchase Of insurance poll
cies. When they have done this,
they will cease to wonder that they
nre poor and learn, perhaps, that no
amount of cotton they II raise will
ever Offset these OUTLAWS and leave u
balance in their favor.
We have heard them argue that
they buy meat and bread cheaper
than they can raise them. If this be
80, why does the purchase of these,
and other things they could raise,
keep them poor and in debt? II they
had not those things to buy would
not their cotton crop he a clear gain
This is undeniable, yet it will be met
with the silly assertion, that if they
raise everything at home, which they
purchase abroad, they ear raise very
little cotton, and they seem not to
comprehend when told that such a
course will make them Independent
and comfortable, and the small crops
with high prices being clear gain
will make them rich, but that the
opposite policy has kept them poor,
and will keep them so to the end OF
the chapter.
With regard to agricultural nipple
ments, they say they must buy them
of northern make, because there is
no manufactures of them in the
South. And why is there none p
Because every attempt to establish
such manufacture has failed because
Southerners had rather p%atronizr
their Northern enemies than thei,
Southern friends. But, it Is answer
ell, the attempts which have been
made were on II small scale and the
prices higher than we pay ut the
North. Did they ever try the effect
of n liberal patronage upon the en-
largemcnt of those establishments
and the consequent reduction of pri-
ccs? No they ncver tried that cX-
pertinent; yet in ignorance of Their
own interests and of the Gland they
love-" they take it for granted that
one or two skilled mechanics can
combine their humble means and
erect II large establishment with the
necessary steam power and all tn,
labor-saving c%ontrivances in use al
the North, and thus spring into ac
tive and ~s';,3cessful competition with
MI the world. Humble means can
not do this, and capital and skill ART
too prudent to attempt it in the face
of the never varying experience, that
southern enterprises have never re-
ceived the cordial and generous pat
ronage so lavishly bestowed upon
those which are carried on by the
men who vote Tor additional insult
and wrong upon their foolish south
crn patrons, whose indurated habit
of sycophaucy to their wealthy OPP
prcssors can stand any amount of ty-
rauny ut their hands, without Il dim
mutton of their annual income from
their southern scrrs.
Insurance Companies stand upon
the same footing with other southern
enterprises, though they have proven
~ reliable and safe rs any at the
North, with an approximate amount
of capital, 1t is objected as to them,
that they are an experiment, rs yet
not sufficiently tried To test their re,
liability. Vet that was once the ease
with the most responsible at til,
North but patronage made them
strong and good management mad,
them reliable. Will not the sam,
Clu,r produce the same effect here
II not-why? Their ability mus
keep even pace with the responsible,
lies they assume. If they issue few
policies their liahilitics are proportion
ally small, il they issue thousands
the prices paid for them, make then
amply competent To cover the occas
ional losses incurred, even supposins
them to have commenced husines,
with a very small capital. The qucs
ton OF their s~nlvcncy, then, turn
upon the integrity OF their manage
mcnt rather than the amount of cap
ital, or the number of years the,
have been in operation, There hay,
been swiudling Insurance Companie
~ well as in all other enterprises
and, ~ a general rule, the danger {,
policy holders, from such swiudlcr
is in proportion to their distance from
che office, and its managers. Hon,
institutions are safest for this reason