The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-10-18
SoUTHERN AGRICULTuRE.

necessity Of = diversified agriculture in
order to give to the planter that indepcn-
dencc and profit which can be derived
from well conducted farm. Oar people
have seen by experience that the planter
who raises his own supplies prospcrs
most, and yet the o!d fashioned craze for
tho broad acres OF cotton keeps posses
sion Of ninc.tcnths of our farmers, and
the consequence is that the South has
made small financial progress compared
to what she might have made By = COM
mon sense system Of agriculture. We
have seen many articles on this subject,
but none have stated i. more clearly and
more terscIy than Mcssrs. Latham, Alex.
andcr & Go. do in heir circular prcinciug
their late book upon Cotton Movement
and Fluctuations from lSIG-loS3."
These gentlemen are prominent bankers
and Gotten Commission Merchants in
the city of New York, who have rs in
governing the production and value Of
cotton as any authority in America or
Europe. Their circular which prefaccs
their valuable book concludes ~ follows:
"At the close Of the season there is
mitch 10 snCurrag2 confidence in better
prices for cotton. Securities Of all kir ;
are Oil 9 far safer basis than for some
time past. All the staple products Of
the country are lower in price than they
n all
has declined most, and is relatively the
cheapest il is now 2 cents q pound
cheaper than ut this time last year.
Although, rs before mentioned, the
crop of the past year Lad been made at
exceptionally large yield that eventually
made it profitable to planters. Under
the present system of devoting so much
land to cotton there is danger of over
production, and bountiful crops may
thus be made source Of misfortune
rather than Of benefit.
'On the other hand, if planters would
raise less cotton and would make at home
the grain, corn and provisions they now
buy, their cotton would bring a better
price, and the money received for il
would remain in the South. The South
would soon become the richest country
in the world, for tho sums received for
the cotton crop arc vast almost beyond
comprehension, as may be seen by n
glance Mt the table headed Money Value
Of the Cotton Crops, in another part OF
this book. Year after year the crop sells
for hundreds Of millions of dollars, aud
yet year after year planters remain bor-
rowers of money at high rates Of inter
eat, owing TO their present system of
making cotton almost exclusively not
even corn enough for their absolute needs
being made in the South. Yet the crop
they produce has for years determined
the financial policy Of the government.
Without the immense sums received from
abroad for the single article of cotton,
resumption of specie payments would
have had to be indefinitely postponed.
"The table mentioned shows that in
thirteen years $2,6lS, 1906 1873 were re-
ceived from abroad for cotton exported.
Without the cotton crop the present
wealth and prosperity of the United
States would have been impossible. But
cotton provides each year IL sure source
of revenue from abroad. The export of
other staple products, such rs wheat or
corn, depends upon the state of crops in
Europe; but that of cotton is steady and
uninterrupted. The aggregate value Of
the cotton raised in this country in the
past thirteen years was 1896, ,798,G7O
dollars the South by becoming sell lfsus-
tanning could keep absolute control over
this great article that the world must
buy"
The views expressed above ought to
carry conviction to our people and in
duce change of the all cotton produc-
tion. The South is wasting her oppor.
tunities. She is voluntarily remaining
in n position of sectional dependence
where it would be easier, more pleasant
and more profitable to be independent
A.. Messrs. Latham, Alexander 4 Co
express it, tho very bountifulness of our
crops injure our people, for the over pro-
duc,ion depresses the value of cotton,
and rs it is practically the only Southern
crop our planters must sell, oven IL the
staple brings less than the actual cost of
production. Then when bad crop year
overtakes the South, great financial
stringency, and in many cases actual
privation results. The large surplus
which always remains on hand, and the
assurance that the planter is obliged to
sell his cotton practically rs soon as it is
prepared for market, keeps the price
down, and the short crop is sold at prices
as low or lower than those which pre-
vail in flush years. The planter sees n
practical illustration of this fact in the
prices of this year as compared with the
last year. The crop Of last year was
probably 1900, 900 bales in excess Of the
crop this year, and yet the fact that the
cotton planter is obliged to sell, let the
price be what it may, keeps the prices
this year ns low ae CT lower than they
were las. year. This ought to carry con.
viction to the Southern farmer. If in.
stead of all cotton, our people would
raise their own corn, wheat, oats, meat
and vegetables, they could afford to hold
their cotton crop which would then be.
come practically surplus crop until
they were offered remunerative price
for it, and even if they preferred to sell
at q low price, they would still have a
competence to live on at home instead
of going in debt as many, if not most
of th EN-, do for the very bread they live
on during the next year. The South
cannot prosper in any marked degree as
lono- as this system prevails. The rule