The farmers' vindicator., 1874-08-14

0 lock was not an enemy to his victim
| but he would, nevertheless, exact hi
: pound of flesh. 1t is said that thu
! vampire bat, as it sucks the life bloot
: of its victim, gently fans him to sleeI
with its wings, and we know that tht
} affectionate little musquito calls us
cousin while it cozens us toIthe extent
: of its supper. Oh, no, the merchant,
are not our enemies, but we have a
right to complain of state Of affairs,
under which one class of society makes
more in five years than we can hope q
get ON the same investment in a life
time.
He seems to look back With pleasure
to the time when our credit was good,
and to look forward with hope to the
time when it shall be good again. |
suppose he means our credit as indi-
viduals, for our State credit, until very
recently, would not "hold shucks,
since the days of Reputation, and
great is the pity that it did not remain
so. Where live, the credit Of success
ful farmers is good yet, and great
many have good credit who dp not sue
ceed to the extent Of accumulation of
property. Credit, like many other
good things, to last well shoA Id not be
too often called into ase, >fa<ner
|7shouiii use his CREDIT as IA does his
Sunday coat, only o6 irhporkant and
necessary occasions. A grdet strain
on either might cause an irreparable
rent; but his religion and his industry
he may wear all the week; like the
machinery of a good watc6, they are
best preserved by being kept in action.
Agricultural liens have Been author
lied by legislative enactsssnt, thereby
inaugurating one of the most extern
sive systems of credit perhaps ever
known for people who have nothing to
pledge as security for credit. This
Legislation was intended, | suppose, for
the benefit of the mega population.
The result is, the ruin Of great many
white people, and l may say the ruin
of nearly all of the blacks. Is any
one SO blind as not to see the enormous
premium our people are paying for
credit, when they pay thirty dollars
for barrel of pork, on four months
credit, which they could buy for about
twenty dollars cash. Credit is the
bane Of our country. 1t is fraught
with ruin, both to him who credits,
and him who is credited. This has
been the rule in the st; but now the
merchants have eveB thing in their
own hands, and need lose nothing, if
they have only common sense. Credit
is the mother of extravaganza. 1t is
degrading in its influences, as it de-
stroys our independence as a class. 1t
works ruin to ~ the trades, ex.
cept that of the5 erchant, as our
people have no MONEY to pay for i'm.
provements at such times as might be
convenient to improTe. Credit prices
have the effect of keeping no cash
prices, your merch9Pt being ashamed
to have good credit customer see SO
great margin between cash and credit
prices. There ara many credit Gus
toners whom their merchants prefer to
have remain so, rather than have them
pay cash for their,;0ods.
The author of Depression seems to
look upon the freedmen as burden to
us. While | adEit that they have
done some bad voting, l must say that
as a proprietor Of land | have found
no one to take thtir place in its culti-
vation.
A general hegke of this class, fear,
would be ATTENDED with ruin 10 this
leponent, and, wethink, would benefit
nobody, financially. He deplOres such
/ calamity as the bss of our merchants,
,ut we think We could exchange half /
If them for abldbodied farm hands, {
With great advantage to the country.