Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-02-26
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE
nov TT IS AND MUST REMAIN THE
PRINCIPAL SOUTHERN INDUSTRY.
(ConclusiOnD

The above arrangement gives the merchant
the balance of power in directing the econ
oniy of the farm and plantation, which he, of
course, exercises in the advancement of his
own interest Cotton being the only crop
which can be readily aud certainly converted
into cash, his interest is best subservcd by
tho production of cotton To the exclusion Of
the many other valuable crops which might
be produced, and he generally has an under
standing with his customer rs to the number
of acres to I've cultivated in that staple In
deed, tho libcrallty or parsimony with which
supplies are advanced depends upon the
area Of the "coiton-patch' y aud its proper
culture, 10 the neglect of everything
else. Under this arrangement good hus-
handry aud diversified agriculture arc
absolutely impossible the landlord, who
should direct the cultivation of his own
lands, Is mere figure head, and utterly
without power tu control the labor that is ac-
~ quiriug its daily bread on the faith Of tho
crop to- hc produced on his soil The tenant
may disobcy his landlord with impunity, for
l. he can not I've easily cvictcd before the cNpira.
Ton of his torn but disobcdionco of the
orders OF his supply merchant VIII DO fol-
lowed by Withholding of supplies, which
consideration out-wcighs all others present
and future II il, in like manner, the interest
OF the merchant to sell tho customer all that
he can make cotton To- pay for. Hence, the
South has drftcd into tho 'ali-cotton- -plan,"
producing cotton alone, and purchasing
everything it uses or consumes not even cN-
coptiug bacon, hrcadstuils, mules aud horses
aud forage aud nearly all of which could bo
produced here, under more iudicious
system ot agriculture. Add 10 the above
item the cost of agricultural implements,
dry goods, sugar, coffee salt md tobacco,
aud II ~ not dtiiCult to tell what becomes of
the large annual cotton crops Of the South.
THE MERCANTILE INTERESTS on TOP
The natural and inevitable result of the
system above described Is, that Southern
agriculture has become thoroughly and com
pletcly 1uborduatcd to the interests Of the
merchant and the merchants of the South
directly, tO New York aud other Northern
money CCntCrs. II follows that the whole
fabric of cotton culture is but the vassals of
American Interstate commerce and Amer
ran manufactures. The South is the best
market now open Ia the Northern manu-
iacturCr and the Northwestern farmer aud
!. iley bold this market In complete subiec-
uou TO their will. Statesmen have con.
sidcrcd that agriculture, commerce and
manufactures are equal, coordinate aud
independent industries, and as such, all
essential to the existence of "A great com.
mOnwc1lth but in the South, we see agri-
culture reduced to a state of ahiect depcn-
denco upon and slavery To commerce and
manufactures The ono exists that the
other two may feed and fattcn upon it,
Moreover. agriculture is made to pay an un-
necessary tribute tu the railroads and other
lines Of transportation. All the freight
meat and brcad~tuilS brought into the South
come out Of the planters, farmers and labor
crs and those charges are an unnecessary
tax, as under proper system these things
could all boz produced in the South Aud this
is true ~ to so much Of the cotton crop a. *
shipped out of the South Ia pay for these
things the producer must pay the freight ON
1t Ia market, thus making double freight
upon great volume of traffic which ought
not to exist Rt all. \ little reflection will
convince any one that the unnecessary
freight charges annually drawn against the
southern cotton crop are simply enormous.
THE SOUTHERN FINANCIAL CoNpITIoN.
Let us look moro particularly into the
financial condition of the agricultural pOpu-
lation of the cotton states. In the years ISIS,
Thomas II. Hcnton made a speech in the
United States Senate upon the pending tariff
bill, In which he said: - feel for the sad
Changes which have taken place in the South
III the last itty years. Before the Revolution
II was the seat OF wealth. as well rs hospital
- and all it commanded abound
ed there. Wealth has fled from the South
and settled in regions north Of the Potomac;
aud this in lilcC Of the fact that the South, in
four staples alone, has exported produce
since the Revolution to the value OF eight
hundred millions of dollars Such an export
would indicate unparalleled wealth, but what
II the mCt? In the place of wealth, "a uni
NcrsHl pressure for money is fclt--nOt enough
for current CNpcnSCs-thc price of all pro-
pCrty dOwu-thC country dropping and Ian
Euishing-towms and cities dctaying-and
the frugal habits of the people pushed Ia the
verge Of universal sclf-dcnial for the prcscr
VatiOu of their family estates Such a result
is a strange and wonderful phenomenon. 1t
calls upon statesmen 10 inquire into the
cause"
The above pen picture is here reproduced
for the purpose pt saying that II Is tame when
? compared with the present condition of the
agricultural South, and especially In the
cotton-producmg districts. There is now not
only "a universal pressure for money felt
not enough for current expenses but nine
tenths of the people are unable To command
any cash at all--hardly enough TO pay taxes.
Now, it is not enough to say that "the frugal
habits of tho people are pushed to tho verge
of universal SClt-dCnial for the preservation
of their family estate - but there is great
priVatiOn and suffering among the people,
aud their " family estates " and homcstcads
are now, and have for years been, passing out
oi their hands ana accumulatlng in large
bodies in the hands OF merchants who have
acquired them by the foreclosure of mort
cages held for advances made. 1t is n COM
mon thing for the advancing merchant
To- hold from 1900 acres to 10000 acres OF
farming lands in one county, acquired in this
way; and, as Southern merchants fail occa-
sionally, many of these family estates
have and will fall into the hands of non-resi-
dent owners Out of all this there will spring
up in the South a landlordlsm" which
promises to he as ruinOus to the people as
that which exists in Ireland. Had this in
dustrial cankcr and decay ended here, then
there would possibly be some hope for the
present generation of Southern agricultur-
lists but majority of them are hopelessly
in debt, without personal credit, and unable
to continue farming and planting operations
except by the hypothecation of their crops
before the seeds are in the ground and which
are wholly consumed before they arc ready
for the market "And this in the face of the
iact's that in the last twenty years the SOuti
has sold cotton to the value of five billions O
dollars )S5, 600, OO,0OO) 4" Such result is
strange and wonderful phenomenon Il
calls upon statcsmon," North as we'll a
South, ito inquire into the cause.