Wilmington journal., 1871-08-11
From the Richmond Il surance Advoca.o
OUR WELLINGTON LETTER
WILMINGTON. JuIv Of 10

From the Richmond Il suranee Advocate
OUR "1LMIHGTON LETTER.
WILMINGTON, July 25, 1871.
Editors Insurance Ado0cate
It Is 1act, almost universally recoo
nized throughout the Southern Statas
aud undoubtedly true in this. the az
North State, that since the close of tha
war. we are steadily, year by wear. he
coming more and more impecnni,,ns
When at Appomattox Court House 70
surrendered our hopes of future inde
pendence, we, at the same time. fonnd
ourselves despoiled by one fell swoo, ~
all our slaves, in which 50 large O. part of
the wealth of the South at that time Gov
sisted, and we realized the fact too. that
State stocks and Bank stocks had ceased
to have any marketable value.
Then, though still owning our Iands va
thought ourselves poor indeed. Yet now
after the lapse of five years-haying in the
meantime too, realized fairly remunerative
crops-we are still poorer than we were
when first emerging from q fierce and dis
astrous war.
To what is this continued and snnpolIv
increasing impoverishment attributable :?
It is true we have been cursed with
plague similar to that inflicted upon tba
ancient Egyptians when "the locusts went
up all over the land of Egypt and rested in
all the coasts of Egypt" refer to the
influx of carpet-baggers. VERY grieyous
were they" They stole and DESTROYED
the greater part OF that which escaped the
war, and which remained to US, and like
the locusts they covered the face of the
South, SO that indeed the land was dark
ened.
But by tie results of our late elections
in Virginia and North Carolina, We are
rapidly r;dding ourselves or the carpet
baggers 'The Lord then turned Nigh
ty strong west wind, which took away
the locusts and cast them into the Red
sea" Yet we do not recover from the
grinding poverty in which the war and
the Yankee locusts plunged Us.
What Is the cause OF our failure 10 &c
cuperate The answer is clear to my
mind. 1t is our commercial vassalage 10
the North, or eagerness to make ali our
purchases there, even when We could buy
} as favorably or more so of home, and in our
readiness think indifferenHy of or own
financial institutions and give our in
fluence and patronage to those of tho
North.
Thus we ALLEVIATE capital from ourselves
and build up and foster foreign enterprises
: at the expense of our own.
This which was felt to be evil of no
} inconsiderable magnitude before the war,
has been intensified since.
Prior to the war we were comparatively
} rich, and were content to cultivate
: our cotton and tobacco, and allow
, the North to be our Banker and supply us
with everything we ate and wore. All
manufacturers were despised by us, and
t farming only was respectable. This was a
r consequence perhaps Of our system Of
labor and the presence of an inferior race,
t sipgularly vel suited for the drudgery of
farming operations, but incapable of being
t taught the higher branches of mechanics
= We thus gradually became tributary to the
e North for all the luxuries, aud, almost in
= deed, all the necessaries OF life The
t North, by the operation of this unequal
= arrangement. became pethoric with wealth,
7 while we, with surprising advantages OF
r soil, and a white population far superior
= in intelligence, either stood still or reccde d
8 in material prosperity.
] At length this numerical vassalage be-
g came so calling that rupture was ine-
= vitable and war Between the sections en-.
e sued.
s That such was really the producing cause
= of the late war between the States, and
). not the question of the abolition or con-
Is tinuance of slavery in the South, was most
q clearly demonstrated by Commodore
e Maury in a singularly interesting and able
f Litter written by him in 1864, while in
F.. England.
s With this experience before Us, is it not
Z
D astrous to our prosperity; policy which
{ inevitably impovershes 1a, aud fattens
our felow-citizens on the other side of
b Mason and Dixon's line, causing them to
;, flourish like green bay tree.
D Let us illustrate-er unO, disco. onania.
In the State of North Carolina, of all com
r modities, perhaps money is the scarcest,
t and yet we pay out from four to five hun
J. dred Thousand dollars per annum to New
Is York and Hartford Life Insurance Com
d panies, instead of keeping all that money
g at home, by insuring in our own compa
@ MES.
Il At least TWO MILLIONS of dollars have
y thus, since the war, been lost. principal
d and interest, forever to the finances oi
this State.
Had we to-day, the amount thus forever
y allenated, in circulation in North Caro-
lima. 1t would make a most sensible diff
ference in the state of our finances, ard in
i, the rates of interest. And this system OF
annual depletion not only continues bUt
year by year the amount thus allenated
steadily increases, as the business accord
, ed foreign Lie companies grows larger
and larger.
Nov, am 50 strong an advocate TO,
t Lie Insurance, believing it to be the re-
hgiouS duty of eeery man, who has a fami
q y dependent upon him, thus to
make the surest provision for
them possible, in the event Ct bis
t death, that / should regard it highly prop
er to pay out to foreign companies these
enormous premiums. even with all the at
tendant evils of depicting the State cf 60
much capital, had we no companies of our
own, equally reliable, willing and anxious
to perform the same service for us. Ba.
; we have such companies, by supportip &
which we foster oil the material interests
Of our State, and bring back prosperity to
our own land. Yet, to our shame be it
eaid, many of these companies, we'll and
faithfully managed, lsnguisb, while the
Northern companies are reapipg harvest
, of wealth in our roidst.
In this State we have a Life Insurance
company-"The Wilmington, N. g. Life
Insurance Co. which is ably managed by
a Directory composed OF gentlemen well
kno wn throughout the State as most reliable
and intelligent men. The company has an
am T1In orua S4aI ito