The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-02-26
Good Advice, to the South.

Il
At weekly meeEng of the national
| grange, recently held at st. Louis, a
memorial TO the Patrons of Husbandry
| in the cotton states was presented and
unanimously adopted. 1t is an argu-
ment In favor of mixed husbandry in
the south, instead of expending the en-
ergies Of the people IN raising single
| crop. 1t says:
''During the past seven years our cot
| ton fields have added to the wealth of
t the world two thousand millions of dol
lars anC caused prosperity to smile upon
every one who has handled our crops
save those who struggle for its produc-
ton annually. The energies of the
| cotton planters have been exhausted in
| Attempting to produce a maximum crop
of a single staple whilst quite as fre-
| quently he has reduced his means in
| supplying his necessary wants. A sys-
TEN based upon such policy and pro-
| ducing such results must be radically
wrong, and if persisted in will lead to
bankruptcy and ruin. No people can
ever become prosperous who are not
self-sustaining. Our exhaustless min
| eral wealth, abundant water power, and
! generally salubrious climate, avails us
nothing, if annually we expend millions
for subsistence. It is generally conce-
de I that home grown bread is cheaper
than purchased supplies, and the OBJ
| servation Of every planter is, that the
southern farmers who live within them
/ selves are more independent and less
encumbered with debs than those who
have relied solely upon their cotton
! crop. We're it otherwise, it is hazard
Gus for American people to rely upon
others for a supply of those articles
which are necessary for their daily con-
sumption"
It then refers to the famine which
has occurred more than once in India,
owing to the attempts of the people to
/ grow cotton to the exclusion of bread
stuffs, and adds:
6 During the past year portions of
Iowa, Minnesota and Dakota have been
| invaded by grasshoppers, and they des-
! troyed every vestige of vegetation. I'M
| agine your condition, should a similar
invasion become general in the north
west. Couple with this idea the total
! failure of a cotton crop, either from
| the worm, drouth or any other unavoid-
! able cause. Improbable as such vista
| tions may appear, have we the power
! to avert them, and is it wise to subject
| ourselves to the possibility of becom-
! ing victims of such calamities Our
wisest and safest policy is, as far as
| practicable, to produce at home our nee
essary supplies. Is there farm IN the
| south upon which this cannot be done,
and at the same time produce an aver
| age cotton crop as the net result of the
| farmers, annual labor? We believe there
| is not. Annually four millions bales of
cotton are produced upon southern soil,
but what proportion of this vast amount
I i
| One-half of it is expended for neces-
sary supplies, whilst the remainder is
divided between labor and taxes. Hence
the cost of production has exceeded the
value of the article produced. Shall
this policy continue? Extensive cotton
crops have Cvinced cur unity f pur-
pose and entailed poverty upon Us. An
equally unfair adhesion to mixed hus-
bandry would secure our recuperation
! Cotton is a necessity, and the extent of
the necessity can be calculated with ex-
actness. If 100000 bales are grown,
they will be consumed before another
can be gathered, and a remunerative
market price will be sustained by the
consequent demands. If 5, 500, 600 bales
are grown, the large Z arginal excess will
control and depress the market. The
alternatives for success are numerous,
but we need TO rely upon the single one
of co operating in the determination TO
subsist at home. With this end attained,
there is no reason why we should not
be the happiest, most Independent and
prosperous people on eartb.".
The memorial is signed by the mas
ters of the state oranges of South and
North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi,
Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia
aV,1 rHonY,accao or,I mo s,Ct r-1ry
lily approved by the committee on reso-
lutions, but indorsed by every member
of the national grange.