The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-01-15
Mortgaglng Hade Easy.

If there Is one thing that a Southern
farmer had rather do than raise all cottor
and no grain, 1t is to give q mortgage
The borrowing mania has been fatally
prevalent since the war, and the only
thing saved from the remorseess line o
liens Ia the land which the banks are for
hidden by charter from accepting as
security.
The mortgage, however, has recently
been made easy by the establishment o
large loan agencies, most Of them ol
foreign management and foreign capital
which have come into our midst full.
handed and rapacious. They are lending
money right and left, upon planting
lands, at rae. ruinous to the borrower
who realizes only proportion of the
facs value of his note and who il pledg
ed to pay heavy interest upon fcti,
cious amount. Fifteen or twenty per
ennt. fer I've years will eogsunss aus
business in the world, and the day OF
reckoning will find thousands of acres
passing beyond control Of their presen,
owners.
The Chronicle would not keep capital
from the limits of the State, nor would il
cut of from the planter any form OF
salutary or legitimate relief. This capi.
tai, however, does not come for invest.
ment or for development. It is surround.
ed by plausible conditions, but brislles
with usurping menace. Such schemes are
invitations to the planter to realize, at q
great sacrifice, q little money for his i'm
mediate wants. and are temptations for
him to get rid of his estate in most
inaidious and inevitable way.
The history of the West, with It's enor.
NOUS land nonopolies. and the warnings
of the old country, with its landlord
abuses, may present aome admonitions as
&c 5she aoaisiu tAess loan agencies will
certainly poasess, and tue power they
may eventually WELD. Thetieie has coms
when, with the improved systems Of
agriculture, it's Implements aud stimu.
lants. the planter of the South might be.
gin to realize from his unimproved acres
or uncleared lands. New methods are
beipg adopted and younger men are
coming Into possession of the soil which
they will Hnd hopelessly encountered.
: There 10 general undeTvaluation of
land by Southern farmers. Many of
these have been surprised at the liberal
schedules which these loan agencies have
placed upon them. That Ia just where
the money lender knows more of our
possessions that We do ourselves. He
knows that the bald hills need little
fertili2iug, aud the washed valleys d
slight amount Of ditching. He knows
that the pine groves will be worth their
weight almost In yellow metal before
many years, and that our strsams aud
mineral veins will yield, when properly
developed, unlimited returns. All these
things he recognizes. and puts value on
Geld and forest sat which the owner stands
astonished. 9 -: a;p,xe, IEsf
The truth Is that they are stitl below
their feal value. What Southern soil is
capable Of creatipg under Southern sun,
many Of our people fail TO appreciate.
In skillful hands and under improved
methods, which we must learn to secure
and employ, our broad oases and waste
places may be easily reclaimed. Their
capacity, 1t cultivated faithfully, Is sur.
pflsing, their resources almost boundless.
81 Tho practice, then, Of parceiliug these
places OFF BY mortgages which the con.
sumetcan LJver hope 10 meet, because
Imposed atrates which. he cannos begin
to carry, II most alarming. Tho South.
efn farmer can remedy all ,this and cave
htmsalf. ths aeceasity Of anch a policy by
reising shpae supplies for which be is
now botfosinG money 10 Epays land BY
dividing up into snall farms, among his
children OF tenants, hfs uuimproyed or.
tnoeslpied ptsiniseo. The. future Of the
Southern; fafms$ id full Gfr danger, ard
the mostgaSa facility 10 sTobb bbiog hin. or
his last hupa aud of his best inheritance.
--AuqgstGt Ckfaascie and C6assituttoaaliss,