The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-07-10
The Farm VS.. Wall Street.

The recent financial disasters which
have Overtaken strong establishments
and individuals, particularly in the
East, but involving to some degree
Western interests also, must make the
reflective farmer more than ever salts
fed with the modest but safe character
of his business These banks and
brokers and ''speculatOrs" were all re-
puted to be making large profits, com
pared with which the moderate returns
yielded by capital invested in the farm
seemed insignificant But they had to
take large chances also, and now where
are they? Money gone, credit gone, in
many instances their good names gone,
and involved in debts and losses from
which nothing but commercial miracles
can ever enable any one of them to
emerge! There comes to the farmer no
grand and sudden fortune; but neither
does there come to him those swift and
complete financial wrecks which seem
sooner or later to Overtake nearly every
individual who embarks his fortunes
and energies in these deceptive and I'M
certain kinds of business. From the le-
Ultimate products of his labor, and
from the gradual increase of his capt.
tai, employed mainly in his own bust.
ness, the farmers fortune is built up
little by little, with knowledge of the
value of every dollar and a conscious
conviction that it has been honestly
earned. 1t is employed as it is earned
in such a manner and invested in such
a way that no panics can sweep it away.
No exposure of ''stupendous dishon-
esty," in any quarter, involves the
| safety of his capital, and he loses no
| sleep from fear of broken banks, mis-
| placed condolences, bankrupt corpora
! tons, or worthless or shrinking stocks
| or bonds.
1t seems sometimes, perhaps, as ii
! the moderate returns from agricultural
| operations were too small but after ALL
| considering their security, there are no
| investments that in the end yield so
| well. Merchants and manufacturers
may make money, for time, faster than
| the farmer, but sooner or later they are
| caught too widely extended in some pc
| Rod of stagnatiOn in trade or over pro-
| ductiOn, and old houses-the pillars of
! the trade-sink into oblivion their
| quickly-acquired fortunes disappearing
| even more rapidly than they were accu-
| mulated, and leaving behind nothing
| beyond harvest of bitter memories
and blasted hopes. The capitalist seems
| to do better than the farmer, lending
! his money at good rates of interest and
! there comes to him time when he finds
| his securities have lost much of their
| value, or that he has Overstepped the
| bounds of safety and embarked in
! something which turns his dollars into
! ashes. On every side men are engaged
| in ventures and enterprises which bring
! them a world of care and anxiety
which excite high hopes and are for a
! time seemingly prosperous but in turn
| they all 90 to the wall. 1t seems only
| a question of time.
The farmer alone seems to have Sc
curity. His gains are small, but they
| are sure The viciSsitudes of the sea-
| sons and the fluctuations of the mar
| kets, prosperous times and poor times,
| speculative periods and periods of de-
| preston, may come and go. they can
! only exert a temporary influence in in
| creasing or diminishing immediate
| profits; but with prudence and economy
| these things never attack or destroy the
| capital which he has invested in his
| land and its equipment. Times like
| these should serve to cure the discon-
| tent with which farmers sometimes re-
| gard their occupation, and admon sh
| them of the advantage of investing and
using the accommodating capital on their
| own farms and in their own business,
| instead OF interesting bucnSeIF6S IN
outside operations, as many are tempted
to do, lending money, getting an inter
| est in trade OF one sort or another, or
| Welding to the delusive promises of
| speculation. Be content with the farm
| and its legitimate business, for there is
no other industry which viii bring, and
deserve, so much contentment and hap
| piness, and no other avenue in which
| the farmer or his sons can hope, in the
| long run, to do so well. Broad acres
! and good live stock are banks whose
shares never depreciate or fail to pay a
| dividend Nobody's account is over
drawn, and nObody's confidence is mis-
| placed or abused. The shareholder in
such a bank can pass through life as
free from care as falls to the lot of any
human being; and, no matter who he
meets, need never have occasion to
pull down the rim Of his hat to conceal
the record on his forehead. Breeders
GG-ette,