The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-10

body polite. Our labor was tEe most
stable and reliable the world ever saw:
Asa consequence of the war all these
necessary ingredients for q prosperous
I state we're completely overturned, and
our people left to the mercies Of the pitt
less storm, without rudder or compass to
4Iide them. With . bad government,
! shishtaxes, high rates of interest and a
4 ltotalIy deg ofslized labor, no wonder that
3 to-day the Farmers, thousands of them,
s3laborers and employ find themselves
enguifed in the maelstrom OF debt, una
blsto meet their obligations. These, in
7 ltAeir train, have involved hundreds of
our most liberal aud patriotic merchants
I'm the same unfortunate predicament
with themselves. and unless Ne arewise
Betimes utter financial ruin must over
mhelm US asa people.
We wish calmly to discuss the debt
question, without turning, aside for q
moment to indulge in elimination ORE
criminatio Indeed, me hare nocensure
forany class Of sour people in this unfor-
tunate condition Of affairs. None what
ever. While there may be an isolated
few in every community who care for
nobody but themse elyes and care not who
sink 90 they swim, yet the gteatlbody Of
B our people, and especially alLthe leading.
business classes sincerely desire the entire
prosIpsearait prosperity " Of our State; and. are willing
Is make great sacrifices ito attain this
{ end. Creditor and debtor alike viii
strive thereto. The Legislature has
done all that it can do, BY giving us q
Wholesome usnry law, such an one as
stood on our statute books during all the
years Of our formeE prosperity Our
representatives have .shoHn, also, 50 de-
terminstion to cut down expenses to the
lowest possible minimum in amount, so
as to tighten the burden of taxation as
much as possible. BY carrying out this
programme even to the verge Of stingi-
ness is what they ought to do, and is
what the people expect them to do. But
still there is q field of operations, the
most important Of all, which the legisla-
tor dare not enter, sacred only to the
cultivation of creditor and debtor. If
there ever: was time when compromise.
and forbea1ance between these parties
was necessary to enable our State safely
TO pass the breakers ahead, that time is
the present. With the enliyening pros.
pect of 8 good government, with our;
labor system gradually becoming more
and more systematized and productive
it does seem that we have. arrived at an;
era in our financial history when it
would be well to take soundings and as,
{ certain our exact condition financially.
In other words, let past Indebtedness be,
50 adjusted between creditor and debtor.
that each may take courage, reasonably,
assured ON the one hand that past in
debtedness will be gradually but certain.
" liquidated, and on the other that the
debtor win not be driven to the wall in
this his hour OF extremity. Such q
csurse generally adopted, will ensure the
old ship Of State safe passage through
tie perilssof the storm. This done, and
g very few years will tell the old, old
Bible truth, that the road to prosperity;
for States as we'll as individuals, lies
through much tribulation. As an illus;
tration of the practical meaning Of this
article, permit us to recite the terms of
q settlement agreed upon at Anderson
recently in case; Of debt involving
thousands Of ollafs-probably huni
dred thousand on the creditor side, and
{ but two solvent debtors .cn the other.
These gentlemen proposed through their
attorney to pay twenty five cents on the
dollar. Of past Indebtedness, aud with q
representation of s3s, 600 on the creditor
side, all present promptly decided TO
accept the offer. One ofthese creditor
gentlemen, a farmer, told me that wbeB
the proposition was made he reasoned
thus with himself: Give these debtors q
living chance; bear ye one anothef's
burtheus, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Take another. An old and highly te-
spectacle merchant of this County-long
since dead-in his earlier commercial
history, fell IN possession Of tract after
tract of land from his neighbors, who
thoughtlessly involved themselves 80 as
to force them to give up even their
homesteads and migrate to frontier re-
4 gions. After an experiences of nearly
four score years, this gentleman declared
that.it would have been better for him
to have. compromised with them: and
permitted them to remain in possession
Of their homssteads, to still further con-
tribute to ohis success as s.a merchant, and
to building up the country
Of course, every cave Of indeb tedness