The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1876-07-19

~ r Ansterd9m, LImberg an
Lower Holland to call to your minds th
Netherlands? But for what great pr,
duct IS Mexico noted? Ouly for ID
\ unwraught gold which she picks up i
= hTr boundless mines, and tropical fruit:
: which grow uncultured in her primevs
!, forests From the ponderous locomoiv
= 10 the finest piece of cutlery. tn
: toughest wooden blanket to the most finish
Ell broad cloth, the best and cheap-.
! cotton goods, the perfection Of every art
from an ocean steamship TO Il bottle q
: catsup-what land produces these? Shal
: mention the Clyde, Worcester, Manche-
ter, Leeds, London and Liverpool. +
! oring your attention to England? Blu
: Tor what great product is Ireland noted
! only for her enormous crops of potatoes
ana these grow there like they do every
where, almost without the application .
, labor. l know not for what nationa
product Poland claims pre-eminence
But the finest watches, richest embroi
derry, exquisitely wrought ewelry, Longest
sighted telescopes and dearest sighted
spectacles-are these not made in Berne,
Neautchatel, Lausanne and Geneva.
cities of Switzerland
the earth, you will find the wealth OF
each bears direct ratio to the amount,
variety and skill of its productive labor.
Ii the earth Is the source of wealth, labor
Is Its cause. Things as they exist in ma
ture, capable of becoming useful, are not
so as yet. They only become so by the
labor, small or great, simple or compli-
Gated, which we bestow upon them.
Other things being equal, this may be
accepted as general rule, the nation
| VIII be richest whose people are engaged
| IN the greatest number and variety of
productive industries.
| The laws which govern the progress of
national wealth are uniform and univer-
SAL But each country, from its peculi-
arities of soil, climate, government,
institutions and population, presents a
| distinct pr blen for the application of
those laws. Mississippi presents the
not uncommon phenomenon of Il country
with vast powers Of production, compare
lively poor. The causes of her poverty
are not difficult to discern.
No spot on earth excels Mississippi in
its gentlemen Of elegant leisure. Scarce
y village in the State boasts less than
score of Macaubers, who parade its
streets waiting for something to turn up.
Non producers, they are the worst class
of consumers. Like Japonicas, these
products of our country, though beautiful
to gaze on, are practically useless.
We have not large working popula-
ton but it is crowded into few unre-
munerative pursuits, If man would
be useful here, he is cotton planter,
at,r1 {, 4
Each of these is oyerdone. 1t has be-
come a maxim that we get no more for
large cotton crop than a small one. The
only effect of increasing the product is
10 diminish the price. The supply is
fully up to the demand. We find q re-
tail merchant at every cross road.
These gentlemen are crowding each
other out of existence. One tenth of
their number might we'll do the business
As to professional men-if anybody has
an extra smart boy, they make him a
lawyer, doctor or politician. Latterly,
the crops of smart boys have been so lux
uriant in Mississippi, the State is groan-
ing with them.
One would naturally suppose the ratio
of agricultors to those in other pursuits
much less on the rich, new lands of Mis-
sissippi than on the old worn soils Of Eu-
rope. Yet the reverse is Erue. The ra-
ito is in England two to three, in France
and Holland five to three, in the other
rich countries of Europe seven to three,
and in Mississippi twenty-seven to three.
This alone will account for the compar-
alive poverty of our State. Nine tenths
of her people engaged in the production
of single commodity and it is
shipped to other countries to be manu-
featured. What would England be
come if she sent to Holland her un-
wrought wool and iron ore to be fashion
ed into useful form? What would be
come of France if she shipped her floss
and grapes to Belgium to be made into
wine and silk? GA small quantity fof
manufactured produce" says Adam
Smith, twill purchase a large quantity Of
rude produce" And hence a country
engaged in trade and manufactures, be-
ing able with a small quantity of its pro-
ducts to purchase great quantity of the
products of other nations will always be
comparatively rich While a country
engaged in agriculture alone, having
with great quantity of its products to
purchase a small quantity of the pro-
ducts of other nations, will be always
comparatively poor" And DIR. List
says, ga nation will always be richer
the more it exports manufactured arti-
cles"
Everything, in Mississippi, is done on
credit The merchant buys his goods on
credit The planter gets his supplies on
credit. fhe professional man practices
on credit / knew one who borrowed
ten thousand dollars to begin merchan-
dizIg at per cent. a month interest.
To pay the interest he charged double
profits on all his sales. At the end Of
two years he had accomplished the fl
nancial ruin of himself and all his Gus
toners. That man was a type of the
mass Of our people, who in one form or
another are eating up their substance by
payments for the use Of moReE.
we purchase from commercial aliens,
every article which We use. From the
/ toughest garment or coarsest article of
food to the most costly carriage or elabo-
rate brocade, all are imported. The
sum annually expended for things abso-
Iutely necessary, exceeds the amount re-
allzed from the sale Of 81 the surplus
products OF our soil.
There is cure for these accumulated
! public evils. 1t must be apparent to
any rejecting mind that new productive
| industries, if introduced into oEr State,
would remove those causes OF poverty,
and become means of producing wealth.
A new industry would put life into es-
tablished pursuits. Taking number of
persons from one or more of the old in
dustries, and putting them in the new
pursuit it would decrease competition in
] these old industries and give better