The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1882-03-02
agricultural.
A CONTRAST.

snr;ng until the ripe fields OF gram
oleam in the summer sun ana nou
their golden heads in early fall. lie
almost universally owns the lands be
plows. and it is seldom they are in
numbered by mortgage or lien be
raises all that be can use, and hnds
a ready market for all bis surplus
crops !: and it is bis pround boast
that he is not only dependent upon
no man for living, but that the
merchant. the mechanic, the lawyer,
the doctor, ell are dependent upon
him for support, and all owe to hi
success their prosperity. Year BY
wear bis condition becomes better and
better; the country farm bouse
equals the city dwelling IN size,
beacty and convenience; bis sons
go off to college, and his daughters
have q fine piano and learn all the
elegant accomplishments of their city
sisters. besides the more homely aud
enduring duties of household work
on the farm One machine raves
enough labor to buy another, until
the old man fiads that he can spend
his declining years in luxurious ease,
while his sons raise larger crops With
one fifth the labor he spent when ne
was young. He is the prince of the
soil. and has natural pride IN sus
tanning position.
The average Southern planter oc-
cupies widely different plane
With a sunny cline in which he can
work out doors all the year around.
a soil and latitude naturally adapted
to raising crops of all kinds, many
of them much more profitable than
those of his Northern brethren, he
vet has reversed the true order CT
things, and become the client OF the
country merchant. Instead of sup
porting others he is obliged to beg
for suppOrt--and he is generally
compelled to pay two or three prices
for it. His plantation is mortgsged,
his clad note must be twice en-
dorsed. and everything he possesses
is weighed down with attachments
and membranes. He comes to
town to Big for credit to buy meat,
aud flour, and meal, and everything
that his family consumes, besides
corn for the lean mule that will never
grow any fatter with the lien hang
ing over it. Season after season
passes and finds him more deeply
involved, and growing weaker In the
hopeless task to better his condition.
He sees his children growing up
around him in ignorance and power
ty: while the sunset of his life is
darkeued by the sorrow of knowing
that the estate handed down by his
fathers has steadily decreased aud
must soon pass out OF the family
leaving bis fatherless and homeless
children to seek refuge in strange
lands. 1t is a sad prospect for 8
youth starting out 10 life, terrible
one for an old man going down to BIZ
grave. i
The contrast is sharply drawn, BAL
not more sharply than the facts jus
tify and the truth compelS. The
strongly opposite conditions of the
same class in the two sections is uni
versalIy true, although there are 10
dividual exceptions. There is a
reason for all this, and in the reason
fortunately, lies the remedy for the
deplorable condition of the South-a
remedy which only needs immediate
application to bring complete and
speedy relief. This panacea is not
a patent mediciue--it is free to all,
and is being offered by the press and
other welI-wishers of the South, with
out price. 1t is revolt from the
iron rule of King Cotton and a di>
versity of crops.
The independence of the North~
ern farmer results from the fact, al
ready mentioned, that he raises
everything or nearly everything, he
wants for his own use. Having for
a few dollars purchased substantial
clothing for himself and family, he
can remain for year at time on
his farm, with an occasional trip to
a neighbo'ing mill to get his grain
ground in -four and meal-payiug
for the grinding in a percentage of
grain to the miller and rare jour.
ney to town for little sugar and cofo
fee; living we'll, 10 other things off
the abundance of his own farm. -
For meat be patronizes neither
butcher nor grocer, but slsughters
his own fat beeves, hogs and sheep,
and if he so chooses, be has fresh
meat all the year round. Thus,
barring the expense of additional
labor during the harvest ard a few
incidentals, everything that be sells
is a clear profit it is impossible
that be should get deeply in debt,
and it is inevitable that he should
become we'll 10 do if not wealthy.
Let the Southern planter pursue the
same policy, and can any one deny
that the result would be the same :?
j would be worthy of trial, if only
as an experiment that could not
worse matters. But it is not an ex-
periment--;t has been tried and
proved successful in the South, and
there is no reason why it should not
be universally SO successful.
This wide difference between the
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