The Forrest City times., 1893-08-25
DEMOCRATIC TICKET.
THEN THERE WILL RE PROSPERITY


 There is no possible doubt that everything in and about Forrest City, so far as natural resources are concern ef, is:favorable to the successful and inexpensive operation of every kind of manufacturing. The richness of our soil. the perfection of our products. the convenience and value of our tim Der, the large yield of the crops, the fact that the ground never fails to pro- duce abundance when properly attend ed. al these things and more, we know. Yet there is little disposition mani fested to diversity the crops or to in- vest in enterprises which will bring money into the country. The people have become so accustomed to depend wholly upon cotton for a livelihood. that it is next to impossibility to arouse them to realization of the fact that owing to the large increase in popula
 tion and the depreciating value of the staple crop ir has become necessary to look to other things and other methods to sustain our proverbial prosperity
 Cotton is no longer king, and he who will rise above the mediocre, must look to other means of producing wealth, The richness of the dirt of St. Francis county is equal to any emergency. If Il has anything like intelligent cultiva
 tior, but it cannot support 15,000 peo- pie on 6-cent cotton. and buy from the north it's meat, lard, corn, hay, oats, four, bran, canned goods. molasses. and many other things too numerous to mention, which it can and ought to produce at home. Up to within a few years ago cotton had perhaps held the balance of trade in our favor, but for nearly ten years the balance of trade in our favor has gradually decreased and today is overwhelmingly against Us. This cannot be successfully de- nied, and, being true, condition con fronts us which every thinking man, and every patriotic citizen must stop to consider. The necessity for diversi- licaton of crops and the building of factories is being forced upon us grad ually; too much 30, in fact, for our own good, but we are slowly becoming edu- cated to the fact that not much longer can We sustain ourselves on cotton alone. An eye opener on this line has come to the people, however, since our last paper. The stringency of money matters has caused the wholesale houses to refuse to sell meat, lard and staple groceries, except for spot cash, and this has caused the merchants of Forrest City. and other towns, to allow their stocks 10 go unreplenished, and there is not a pound of meat to be found in any of the furnishing houses. This Is but start in the right drec- tion. Unless there is some revolution hot now apparent, it will be but short while, when other goods will be put on the cash list and we will gradually be brought down to cash basis. We earnestly pray that God will give this country such blessing, and punish the merchant who commits the unwise act of ever again furnishing meat, lard corn and such other things as ought properly to be raised at home. TIE TIMES has several times called atten- than to the carloads of meat, lard, corn. hay, oats, furniture. wagons. ice. canned .oods, flour, moasses and so many 'ther things, which are shipped into our county, and 10 pay for which We raise 6-cent cotton. This is simply sui eide. It is policy which retards the growth and expansion of the country. 1t is, more than any other one thing ille cause of hard times, and must be reversed before the per capita circula- lion can be increased. Every man among us ought to resolve to encourage with influence, energy and moneys, every sort of enterprise looking to the dlsersifcation of crops and the establish ment of home market and to buy nothing outside of St. Francis county which can be raised inside of said county. Let us get back to the good o'i times before the war when our fathers used to raise every thing but C ,i'e, sugar, whisky, hats. and but inus. In those good old times the n d n ...l~