The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-07-04
Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle and Sentinel.
The Augusta Exchanges.

Prior to the war the prosperity of the South
was proverbial. The earth bountifully yield
ed her increase, the whole world stood ready
to bid for II, and the gains of the Southern
country were prOportiOnately large. These
gains were invested in negroes and by this
accession of labor the productive capacity of
the country was year by year increased. La
Dor produced capital, and capital increased
labor, each augmentIng In turn the other, and
both combined heaping up an enormous ag-
gregation of wealth. Since the war this has
been changed. Labor still produces capital,
but capital can no longer find an investment in
labor new outlet for Southern surplus is
necessary, and as each recurring season dem
onstrates more and more clearly that the an
cient prosperity of the South is reviving, the
need of some such outlet becomes more appa-
rent. What shall that outlet be? We answer
that Southern capital must henceforth seek in
vestment in Southern securities Railroads
are needed, and the bonds of those roads must
be at once profitable and safe Cotton manu-
featuring is extending itself, and factory
shares must present desirable openings. Mu-
inequalities are growing, and on the credit of
thriving towns and cities well founded re-
lance may be placed. State after State is re
verting from alien hands to the control of its
own people, and in such change guarantee
of future honesty and caution appears. Take
the South over, and the opportunities of in
vestment are commensurate with the general
demand.
To be safe and TO be profitable are the prime
requisites of an investment, and Southern
capital can find these requisites better at home
than abroad. Take for instance the of
some Northern railroad. What can any South
ern stakeholder know of the real condition of
that road? Its distance fOrbids any personal
observation. He knows neither the value of
the property nor the reliability of its mana
gers, save from hearsay, and Is thus compelled
to RELY exclusively upon others for the safety
and increase of its capital. From the neces-
sity of the case, the Southern holder of North
ern securities is where the English owners of
Erie were lately disclosed to be. His money
is locked up by strangers who manage it at
their own sweet will, and resent impu-
dent intrusion any effort on his part to know
the condition and prospects of his prop
erty How different where the Southerner has
his capital in Southern securities. The prop
erty is, as it were, in the hollow of his own
hand. 1t lies at his very door, and the slight
est circumstance affecting its value is appa-
rent to him at once. He gees for himself, and
is not obliged TO rely implicitly on the obser-
walton of others. On the score of safety there
is everything to recommend n Southern over a
Northern security, and just in proportion as
an investment is safe ust in that proportion
is it really profitable.
But to facilitate the investment of Southern
cauifal in Southern securities market Is ne
cessary, and Augusta is beyond question that
mart 1t is pFe-eminently a solid place. It's
reputation now and before the war is without
n stain In the days of the old State banks
Augusta money had the public confidence from
Virginia to Texas, and in the sale of the ante
bellum railroad bonds of Mississippi, Tonnes
see and Alabama, possessed a virtual monop-
cial character has not been lost. As shown by
the tax returns there are more than double the
amount of securities held in Augusta than in
any other city in Georgia, and unless New
Orleans be an exception, and this is doubtful,
Augusta is the largest market for Southern
securities in the Southern States. 1t is more
over the largest cotton manufacturing centre
in the South, and possesses a railroad interest
of the soundest and most promising impor-
lance. Further still, it is one of the largest
intsrior cotton markets in the South, and since
the establishment of the Exchange its facili-
ties for the manag cement of cotton, both for i'm
mediate and future delivery, have greatly in
creased With these attributes it is marked
gu. as beyond all question the great financial
market of the South, aud in the Augusta Ex
change appears the instrumentality for the
accomplishment of its manifest destiny. Al
ready though the institution is but in its in
fancy its operations have that sOlidity which
peculiarly distinguishes Augusta, and already
an influx of capital seeking investment
through its agency indicates at once how great
is the need of such a market and how fully
the Exchange is recognized meeting that
requirement. The excellence of the guaran-
tee given the Exchange by the reputation Of
the business men composing 1t we need not
enlarge on. To commercial phrase, the
advertisement is made by the signatures ap-
| pended to it the shiniest kind of gilt edged
paper