St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-09-20
Southern Baking,


This love Of money" said wise man
of old, 'tts the root of all evil" The proper
use of money, he might have added. is q
power of great good.
For what sinew of development is
money! Money means power money Is
synonymous of prosperity, and population
follows 1t as unerringly as the needle the
magnet it is the most powerful factor IN
human affairs, governing individual, sec
tional, and national destinies alike. BY
money we trace the material greatness OF
every country.
Banks are the servants of money they
are created by it, and live, prosper or Ole
by it's power. The business OF commun-
ity demands monetary circulation as i'm
peratively as the physical body requires
blood, and to the banks we have to look
for the supply of this business necessity
circulation. i, 9. money. Indeed, the
banks are the channel through which this
business circulation must flow, the sources
from which it must come, else there comes
stagnation, prostration, poverty, dlspalr,
and rum.
To measure material progress, we must
take the measure of the banks; the one
gauges the other as surely as the barom-
Applying to the South this test of bank
ing increase, it is found to be remarkable
in showing the growth of national banks
greater relatively than any other section
for the decade stated-1S79-1SS9.
This Is conclusive of the progress of the
South in a material direction, and however
much exaggeration may exist under the
booming now being applied to certain
localities in that region, yet there is no
doubt that this section of the Union is 60
lug forward at fair pace of prosperity.
With an assessed valuation in the whole
country in 1860 of $4,000, 00O,0 900, the
South had So, 200, 900, 900, which was A
per cent of the total in 1870 this valuation
of the United States had become $14, no.
600, 900, of which the South possessed only
$1,000, 000, 900, or only 90 per cent; in
other words, while the whole nation had
progressed rs per cent, the South had ret
regarded 40 per cent. This was the result
of the civil war which, whether national
necessity or sectional insanity, was an
awful calamity.
In 1889 the Southern assessment was
"a, 800, 900, 600, and with the actual value
on the basis of Al per cent of the assess
ment as estimated under the census calcu-
lation, the fair value of the South was
$40, 1000, 000,0 600 Taking the assessments
of 1850 and 1889 at their face value, and
allowing for the slave property freed
81 600, 900, 900, the South stands on basis
of property value equal to her position in
1860, which means that the lost by war
and it's attendant injuries has been re-
gained. Further than this, the shackles
of enslavement that bound the South under
slavery, have been burst asunder, and that
great region is free to utilize all the ad-
vantages it 80 richly possesses, both
natural and otherwise. She is doing this,
in large measure, to-day, as the results
prove. To do this, banks have been found
necessary, and the necessity for banks has
increased these institutions under national
charters, in number from 1870 to 1899. ne
hundred and forty per cent, viz, iron 23O
to 523.
The capital stock in these % national
banks in 1879 was S45, 597, 730, while in
1889 the 523 banks had capital of $685.
319, $40, gain of fully 80 per cent. The
deposits, discounts, surplus and undivided
profits showed an increase of over hun
bred per cent for this period, which shows
a commendable and conspicuous degree of
substantial growth in these material re-
spects. On the basis of percentage increase
these banks of the South have exceeded
those of the other sections of the Union.
The mmercial credit and honor of bust
ness men in the South is illustrated by the
remark of a president who, in State
where severe usury laws were in force, in
ain operation of ten years, involving hun
dreds of thousands of dollars in loans and
discounts, had never had put one plea of
usury made, and this was on $3.50 note
and this was when the substantiation of
usury made the bank liable in damages to
equal the debt upon which the usury was
found, and under the State law where six
per cent was the legal rate of interest.
This speaks well of the character of South
ern business men, and though there have
been instances on the part of some South.
ern States where the debts have been
scaled, adjusted, and in some cases repudi-
ated practically, and no doubt has caused
great damage to the credit of such States,
and been of Jury to said interests yet 1t
must be admitted that there were circum-
stances and conditions surrounding such
debts, and further, 1t is no doubt owing to
the popular system of politics in the South,
favoring the debtor rather than the cfedi
tor class, that has led, in some instances at
least, to the ignoring of State obligations
In greater or less degree in that section.
Good credit is beyond doubt great benefit
TO individuals as well as States, and as
other States of the Union have at various
periods of our history seemed unmindful |
for the time of the importance of protect |
ng their credit, so it may be that similar I
experience in the South may be followed |
oy the similar policy of future settlements
lfter period of delinquency; in short, a |
lefault to-day may be followed by settle |
nent to morrow, and future protection of |
! debt once ignored or neglected. AS to
lebts of the Southern States of creation
more recent, it can be said that the obliga-
ions under them have been promptly met,
md such securities are rating we'll at the
Exchanges of the country. With laws |
more calculated to improve the security of |
cal estate, similar to those in force in the
Vest, it Is believed that more capital
would move into the Southern States that
ack at present the system of legislation
INVITING to such investments.-Er.
Do You Want To Escape.
Do you want to escape chills and fever
his season? No matter how much ma
aria is in the atmosphere and how many
nay be taken down in your neighborhood
81 -s>