The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-10-10

Interest on thr land and canitai
and lai,o,rrs' wages .............. Si6is, ,oss. 4
Now, ifthis sum is deducted from til,
amount ofthe crop sold, consumed, an!
on hand for 1870, there will be an over.
plus Of St;ll ,sG25l subject to reduction
by the amount nf the items omitted, The
amount of taxes, State and County, and
the amount Of the purchases Of merchan.
disc. The question hen is, did this
overplus leave the farmers any cleal
profit after paying for the fertilizers and
other farm supplies, with interest, and
after the allowance for the rent of the
land, the interest upon the capital and
iaborers' wages, as has been done in the
above statements Certainly not, and fcr
the reason that the liens and agricultural
supplies the next year (lSS0) were in.
creased to the sum of $50, ,i%0.GG, to say
nolhirg cf the chattel mortgages under
one hundred dollars for the same pur.
pose. the amounts of which cannot be
given, fur tho reason above stated. The
crop of 1870 did not replace those item:
Of capital that were consumed anil
destroyed in lis production, aud. there
fore, the necessity Of giving liens and
chaltel mortgages for supplies to produce
the crop of 1880, and ,sl,ch were
charged to the crop oftha. year.
This deficiency Of production may be
said to be fairly represented by The iers
aud chattel mortgages giyen each year
for The production of ihe crop of that
year. But the farmer may taerle him.
self with the notion that this is all o
mistake, and that after selling 80 much
Of his cotton crop as may be necessary TO
pay for these supplies, that he can sell
the balance when the price suits him,
aud that this will be clear profit. But
under such u supposilion he abandons
all claim to compensation for the rent of
his land and the interest upon his CAPT
tai. According to the census Of 1880, tie
cpt!on crop Of this County vas 2l,SG7
bales, which at $45 per bale amounted to
$0S:i .33G5, so that the whole cotton crop
WAS moi quite sufficient 10 pay the rent,
interest and laborers wages as shown in
tic foregoing statement. How then can
the balance Of the crop, after paying fer
agricultural supplies, be considered az
clear profit? The farmer has right to
expect that The crop will not only cover
all these items, but that it will leave him
q clear profit besides, and if it does not
lo this, then he is not accomplishing
what Is being done ia ali the other
branches of industry. He certainly
ough. not to be willing to accept less
for his Industry and capital than is
received by others for the:rs, aid it is
insisted that this result may be attained
by the production of our own supplies,
and by the saving Of the large sums ex
pended annually in their purchase.
!may be said hat ii the farmers pro
dncc their own supplies they must FRO
lure less cotton. Granted. Iinen tie
question is whether this diminished crop
is not worth quite as muci! as one en-
c,mbercd viii, liens ai:d cna!tel mc.t
Cages under one hundred do!lars 10 il.r
full extent Of the purcha;t monsy o:
these supplies. Besides, Il, il tak;s less
time an'l labor to raise ouT' o.'ii gain,
hay AMI other provisions :iian il does The
amount nf cotton necessary 10 ray 'or
them, woull it rot be au economy of
time aud labor 70 produce them our
selves. There is still another reason
why re should produce Cur own supplies,
and it. is this: that by so doing we would
make ourselves independent cf the lluctu
a:ioas of prices in the foreign market
upon which we rely Tie newspapers
sometimes herald the newa of the proba-
hility ufa European war. What is the
consequence A rise in the price Of
provision. Of all kinds, which the uiepcn.
dent cotton planter has had to pay, and
To The extent of this advance in price he
has been an actual loser. Again, one OF
lhe most alarming features of the times
is the varied aud extensive combinations
Of capital, under the name Of trusts, for
the purpose of controlling the price of
the necessaries Of life. They have their
origin in that inor,linatc desire for the
accumulation Of wealth, which is unwll-
ing to wait on the slow an, legitimate
rroces,es CT production 10 accomplish
their desired Object. AL production
which looks to the creation OF some
object necessary To satisfy 4 human want
il a public bene(i: but those who ell.
bark their capital in enterprises Of this
kind do not propose TO become producers
themselves, or to contribute 10 this kind
of production. Their c;.iect is to rob
other people of The profits Of their indus.
try by ob;aining control nf the supply,
that they may be thereby enabled 10
advance te price for their own tenci,,
at The expense Of Tie co!.sumcr, eyen
though il World deprive tic poor Of lie
ordinary nece-sareS and Comforts O! ;ft
Such uses Of capital are injurious t. pro.
duction and the pabic welfare. Ilhere
be 20 remedy tCrlbis growing evi in the
power Of Congress to regulate Commerce
between the States, or in thc power cl t.,
Courts to declare alisllch combination,
illegal aud forfeiture Of charter, i; is nG1
for hlna, Wisdom to predict the conse
quyHccs To Which they may lead. The
intensity of this ar'lor for n.oncy maxim
and .ome nl Tie lhcnolicna Atlcndan,
on HE rrogres, OF social wealth, would
seem to bear cut .hc idea OF (iuidwn
Smith that they arr '!ue to decline .