American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1880-03-13
CANTON'S COMMERCIAL DANGER.

~
J. NJ" is quite uneasy about Can-
toms commercial danger. He seeIas
to fear the little Pearl, and we'll
may the merchants of Cant on, as
well rs many others engaged in that
pwrsait on the railroad at various
points, E;sr its rivalry. am Il far
mer, and, as p matter of course, feel
some interest in my market. That
Canton has beer bsiIrg her trade
for tho last few years. none can
doubt, and now the prospect is fair
Tor a much greater loss. If Pearl
river is made navigable, Canton will
lose all the trade from Leake corr-
ty, which, we must admit, is no
small item. A few years back, Can
ton received a fair trade from At
tala county, which has been turned
to Yazoo City, and many OF the
planters in the northeastern portion
of this county are talking Of turning
their trade i'm that direction. We
have two old substantial merchants
in Camden, (what / mean by sub
stantial is that they handle their
own cash, none other), Capt. j. 81.
Evans and Mr.. ID. Hamblen, who sell
many things far cheaper here than
they can be bought in Canton, nOt>
outstanding they have to pay fifty
cents per hund, ell for hauling fl ON
the railroad. / was in Caution re-
Gently and a merchant told me that
ho wOuli sell me Pearl River plOws
as cheap as l could buy them in
Jackson. asked the price, and he
said S4.2j. 1 eau buy the same in
Camden for 1925. Some days be-
fore this l bought one dozen pillow
points in Canton, ;payi ing thirty cents
apiece tor them, and as came
through Camden l asked how they
sold there, and was told twenty-five
cents apiece, by retail. Last year
L bought bacon at Camden, on cred
it, for nine cents, only buying IS or
40 pounds, until l could send to the
railroad to lay in my supply. sent
for my meat and with it camo the
bill, and to my surprise was charged
eleven cents-the meat being far
inferior to that purchased at home.
I lost two days with my team, and
something over eli in my purchase.
A friend Of mine bought q quarter
gross of m stches, on the railroad, for
el.50, and In going home passed one
Of our little country stores, kept by
Mr.. J. Shrock and enquired how he
sold them, and WAS told 80 cents.
A widow lady living near here has
been dealing IN Canton several years
and has had to pay as high as Is
cents for meat, when at the same
time she could have bought it in
Camden for nine cents, with the
same sureties. Aud when she failed
to pay her merchant in full she had
to pay IS per cent. interest on bal
ance due. Many of the colored peO-
pie who trade in Canton have to
pay from Is to IS cents for meat
and 81 80 for brogan shoes, and
every thing else they buy is proper
tionately dear.
Now, why do the merchants of
Canton charge such enormous prices
as these, when they almost hands
cuff "a farmer and place a sentinel
over him before they sell him dol
lars worth on credit A merchant
who would stop to question if Cans
ton is really I'm danger of losing her
commerce would wonder if the
SOdOmites were destroyed to keep
them from entering Heaven en- masse.
have one more item to give you
SO that you may see more clearly
why your merchants should stand
and tremble: A gentleman of my
acquaintance a few years ago did
his trading in Canton and one year
it took all of his crop to pay his in
debtedness, therefore he had to buy
some things on time. He wanted
TO know how they were selling mos
lasses, and was told 80 cents. He
told them he wanted a half barrel
and had it put on his wagon, and
as the day was pretty we'll advanced
he was in a hurry to got off for
home, and never noticed the bill
until he had gotten some four or five
miles from town, when lie found that
he had been charged $1.25 for it.
He thought that there was some
mistake in the bill, and as soon as
he got home wrote to his merchant
concerning the matter, and the mer-
chants reply was, "tEat is our way
of doing business" l am of Opin-
ION that great many of your mer-
chants have the same way Of "doiDg
business"
Canton might be a good market
until the millennium If the merchants
and property holders are willing to
have it so. They think the farmer
a lazy. incident, good-for-nothing
kind of person, simply because he
cannot give a mortgage and pay
200 or 800 per cent. interest. Change
your sway of doing business" or
no! fOr-n0t Kansas Pearl
river. ID. u. TRUST.
Camden, Miss, March Q. 1880.