The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-10-03
For The lntcligencer.
WORDS OF WISDOM.
Some Of the Principles of Political Econo-
my Applied to Agriculture.

There is no country possessed of greater
resources and with a greater capacity for
production than our own. It is adapted
to nearly every variety of industry, and
is capable of afording employment to all
classes of labores; and yet, with all our
natural advantages, the farmer seems 10
have given himselfup to the cultivation
of cotton only, and to be content with his
condition of dependence on the enter
prise and industry of other States to sup.
ply him with nearly all the actual nee.
essaries of life. So long as we are will
ing to leave the business Of production
in all these various branches of industry
to others, We must occupy condition of
dependence, and if that condition has
its disadvantages and e1actions, ne have
no one to blame but ourselves. A con-
dition of dependence implies helpless.
ness, aud it is, of all other conditions, the
most subject to imposition and wrong.
It is the strong who levy tribute of the
weak the world over, and hence it is that
the rich are growing richer while the
poor are growing poorer.
There is no industry that requires a
smaller amount of capital than agricul-
ture, and hence there are more people
who embark in it, and it affords employ
ment to more uuskilled labor than any
other branch of industry. The misfor.
tune is, that this class of laborers is gen.
orally content with the means Of a sub.
sistence, without giving themselves the
trouble of examining into those complex
arrangements by which their labor is
taxed and they are robbed of the profits
due to their industry. The more intri.
cate the operation, the less apt it is to be
understood, and, therefore, it is that
bounties are paid to other industries than
our own without complaint. This is one
of the difficulties to be encountered in
all agricultural reforms which lock to the
elevation and improvement of the condi.
tion of the farmer. There is no indiVid
ual or industry in the country but what
is interested in his welfare and prosperity,
and, therefore, it is proposed to consider
some of the effects of this condition of
dependence upon the profits of his indus.
try, and, In doing 80, to insist that if the
tribnte which it compels him to pay to
other industries, at the expense, of his
OVID, were saved and employed at home
in the production OF those commodities
for which be has been hitherto dependent
on others, it would greatly increase the
amount and variety of our products.
That with every such increase of produc-
tion there would be an increase of wealth
and corresponding increase of the
money in circulation and, above all that,
it would place him in position of inde-
pendenee, position which, above all
others, be should struggle to attain,
because it is his only sure and safe pro.
lection against injustice and oppression.
Now, the production of cotton by the
farmers of this County upon the plan of
depending upon foreign markets for
their horses, mules, bacon, corn, -four.
hay and other necessary farm supplies, is,
an error in the business of production of
no inconsiderable magnitude, and for the
simple reason that all these expenditures
must be deducted from the value of the
cotton crop at the end of the year, and
must, to that extent, diminish the profits
of agriculture. This fact is fully appre.
ciated by our most intelligent farmers,
and many are ready to denounce the
production Of cotton as ruinous, but the
cotton crop is nevertheless an indispen-
sable and valuable crop. The error con-
sists not in the production of cotton, but
in the failure to produce at home those
farm supplies which are necessary to its
production. As large as our expendi-
lures on these accounts have been, it is
confidently believed that they will com.
pare favorable with any other County in
the State, and in many instances that
they will be found to be considerably
less. But this fact, assuming it to be
true, does not mitigate the error on our
part of spending annually large sums of
money in the purchase of these supplies
which can and ought to be raised at
home. 1t is trite maxim, but it is
as true as trite, that money saved is
money made, and tis just as true that
every saving in our expenditures is true
economy, and that without economy
there can be no accumulations of capital.
The great difficulty with which we have
had to contend for the last twenty five
years has been the want of capital. We
have had the land and labor, but in the
absence of sufficient amount of capital,
the other great agent of production, the
progress made by US in recuperstiug our
lost fortunes and developing the
resources of our country has been much
retarded. Oflate years capital has been
furnished to many communities in the
South from Northern sources, and it has
greatly contributed to their wealth and
prosperity, but these advantages have
been local. All parts of our country
have not been equally favored with this
external aid and, therefore, it becomes US,
by the practice of the most rigid econo.
my, to accumulate capital of our own,
that we may be placed in position TO
help ourselves. Economy and capital
go hand in hand, and our people must
learn sooner or later that ne cannot
accumulate the one without the practice
of the other. Every expenditure which
might have been avoided by proper