Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1878-12-12

MIN, as long as lie was lorGlleC oe
hind a growing crop and Fa
"squaring up" He simply ordere
what be wanted, his correspondence
with mis- factor was a communicate
of demaud on his part and suppl
on the other. He never examined hi
account until settlement day arrived
and then he generally accepted an'
settled on faith. Az instance of thi
carelessness was shown in one of tn
large houses where, at the close of
days business, a clerk reported t
his employer that saddle hal beel
disposed of without being charged
nor could the purchaser be identiGe'!
The proprietor instructed his clerl
to charge the saddle against every
customer Of that day, who obviousI i?
would have purchased such an arsi
Gle, and so when settlement day came
the rarty who had obtained it woulc
pay, while the others would reject
this item. The saddle was accord.
ingly charged against eleven custo
mers, and when settlement time ar
lived, without dissenting voice OF
even question asked, the eleven
men came up and paid for the saddle
At the close OF his season, if The
planter happened to fall behind, he
could easily recuperate by the sale
of slave or some surplus land, but
even if he utterly failed his lands
would pass into other hands, who
would continue to utilize them, and
so the pro rata of production in COM
munities would continue uniform and
steady. The factor who acted as the
planters merchant, banker, friend
and trustee, who met him with such
open arms and welcome, met him al
so with compoundin dinterestan charges
Ii he bound on the good natured
producer burdens grievous to be borne
he did it in an affable business man
ner, and with the belief that his in
dolent country cousin had nothing 10
do but bask in sunshine amid seed
time and harvest, while the crop
-F.zHg Alter aR Ehss snfa fad3G} dR3sG3aghs l4 forth:
charges for advancing, interest, sto-
rage and commission, he delivered
King Cotton to the seller, who again,
after deducting commissions, deliv-
cred it to the buyer, who, after his
commissions, either consigned it to
some exporter or else shipped it him
self, but meanwhile it had been fur
ther clipped by samplers, draymen;
shippers and transportcrs, each and
every one taking his bite from the
rustic's apple and illustrating Solo,
mon proverb that the king himself
is served by the field.
This is the faithful picture of the
old arte bellum system, those easy
days of jogging country wagons, and
once a year settlements. A system
so slipshod that it shuliled in easy
routines without even the knowledge
of running down or cut-throat com
petition. This former system OF har
nonious fleeing perished in its midst
under the iron chariot of war, and
since the revival of peace this star o.
Southern prosperity has faded anC
waned away in the glaring sunlight
of direct and international transpor
tahon.
This old timed class were succeed
ed by series Of intermediate factors
who sprang up, and who like theiI
predecessors advanced heavily fol
high interest and large comm rs
They credited rp handsome fclst, ltI
profits until the day of reekon:n
came, and then, formed long p:o
cession to the court Of bankruptcy.
Meanwhile the planter who ha(
received his supplies honorable ap.
with good intentions, found i4
amidst dissolving prospects. A ie
ranged labor system an1 false i,iea 4
retaining former proportions, sho.f-
him beginning his planting can'pai5i
with large ideas and forces scatterf.
over larger area, and endin nsiti
scarcely any ideas at all, some e,rag
Cling and uncertain freedmen nllC
portions Of his undertaken crop i
serting ard blistering amid wei
and sunshine.
Now consider the pres mt stafes .
cotton factors, the Southern Antoa.o:
since the spirit of innovation On
competition has arisen. Conmlsai2
were cut down a quarter, a half, tho
nominally. Foreign importers ceas
to employ and utilize interme3lat
agencies and sellers, and retaine
special buyers, thus excluding men
bers of the old regime from furthe
benefit and revenue.
And now even special local buyer
are largely discarded, importiI
houses sending their agents dlrectl.
who proceed not to the central ma
ket, where one or more commission
: have already been sliced, but to il
! village or even the field Of the pr
ducer, and there paying his stlpcn,
} thus excluding the extra informed
: ate forces we have described, and y
| not beneftt.ng the grower as Il
buyer has figured his quotations dow
to the lowest fraction. And evt
s where the intermediate forces ST
e exist. competition has shorn their b
siness of all its former dimensions
profit, the strain extending down
: the very draymen whose earnings a
: reduced two. thirds, and the salarl
: skilled forces who were gradual
undermined by the wedging In Of la
adventurous experlmentists. Wh
e we find in production and the lab
e system 80 complete revolution, ne
h we account farther for stagna ION
A the fields from overreaching, or
:. nrassion in the cities, from the lar