The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1898-12-24
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE CROP OF THE SLAVE.
gest, from the Pen of Il. e. Sem
ter, of Dallas, Tex.

makes Ine most cOuSelNdCtNC Pioho "hN
calculations merely fitting and delu-
siye images of fancy. Is sweeps away
in single season the accommodations
of years of toll and self-sacritice with
cut any fault on the part of the loser
save devotion to his business. 1t AIDES
largely to the maintenance cost OF the
farmer without increasing the profit
of the merchant. The bankruptcy
courts which have just begun opera
tons are holding inquests on many
Texas estate that 20 years ago gave
promise of growth to fortune. In most
cases the unfortunate one will testify
that the credit system brought him to
grief. His. ledger shows an abundance
of assets, but they are not convertible
into cash.
The tenant borrows from the land
lord; the landlord from the merchant;
the merchant from the banker, who In
turn discounts the paper in the east.
the banker bases the transaction up
on the prospective cotton crop; the
merchant stipulates for cotton in his
crop mortgage: the landlord in his
lease contract provides that the tenant
shall grow little else that cotton. In
that brief statement, which epitomizes
the industrial situation from the gulf
to the Rio Grande, there is full eX-
PLANTATION of all the woes of the Texas
farmer. He is indeed slave who can
not choose his own occupation. 1t is
no exaggeration to say that two-thirds
of the cotton raised in Texas is plant
ed upon compulsion. To be sure, the
habit is becoming fixed, and the I'M
fortunate victim may not desire to
change it, but that does not in any de-
gree alter his real situation. Neither
did most of the slaves desire to be
free.
The cotton industry is the author OF
the credit System as we have it. Meth
er could exist without the other. Both
are widely at variance with correct
methods Of economy and finance. The
money lender calls for an exclusive
cotton crop because he thinks it will,
at any price, enable him to make
prompt collection of his loan. The ulti-
mate effect upon the borrower and
upon the country at large are matters
that do not enter into his calculations.
Similar considerations induce the land
lord to require the tenant to make cot
ton his only market crop. The system
contemplates eight months of borrow
ing upon expectancy and four months
of liquidation. At the best, it pits
eight months of losing business
against four months of profit for all
commercial enterprises. The merchant
attempts to provide against possible
losses by marking up the prices of his
goods. The cotton grower, whether a
tenant or land owner, pays from
twenty to fifty per cent extra for his
supplies because OF the hazard con-
nected with the credit extended him.
Experience has proved that the sys-
tenn is ruinous to both buyer and seller.
The margin for loss is large enough to
tect the other. In certain large
Texas town, that could name, only
one retail firm whose business is of
any Importance, has survived the
storms of one decade. The wrecks
have been numerous. Again | refer to
the bankruptcy courts for further
light on this phase of the subject.
1t would be work of supereroga-
ton to tell of the many evils that flow
from the credit system. All desire to
escape from it, but few realize the ir-
remediable nature of the paralysis
that it imposes upon human energy
and ambition. 1t cannot be doubted
that much Of the apathy and listless-
ness that are commonly attributed to
climatic causes are really the offspring
of sullen acceptance of hopeless situ-
alton. Even the bird that was free
loses the holiness and cheerfulness of
his song when imprisoned, though the
bars of his cage may be gilded.
In every age and with all peoples,
agriculture has been prosperous only
when based upon the principle of self
maintenance, and the sale of surplus
age. Enough is disclosed in Holy
Writ of the methods of Abraham and
his immediate successors, who were
mostly stock farmers, to show that
they thoroughly understand and fol-
lowed that system. Had it been 9TH
erwise, we may be sure they would
have needed the crop mortgage and
courts of bankruptcy in that early
age. Solomon in looking about for
beings that were exceedingly wise,"
selected the ant, the cony, the locust
and the spider for his illustrations
the ants because they "are a people
not strong, yet they prepare their
meat in the summer" What would
Solomon have said of folks who de-
pend upon the production and sale of
four-cent cotton for the means to can
Gel mortgages and also to buy meat
in winter?
The credit system and the crop
mortgage shut out the farmer from
the opportunity to achieve independ-
ence because they concentrate his at
tention on single crop and that I'M
remunerative. Let the reader look
around and observe how small is the
number of farms which export more
than they import. Cotton at four
cents can not buy what is needed to
grow it. The purchasing power of an
acre of cotton is not sufficient to equip
the Drawn and muscle necessary to
cultivate and gather it. That all-im.