The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-03-09

- amount of money that his institution
held in its vaults, and how anN,VUS
was TO put ii where II would bring
rate of interest, which seemed to III
quite low. | suggested 1t could casil,
find borrowers in Kentucky at Il hiShr
rate than he ha( nailcd,. and on th'
best of mortgage securities. 'N'
would never place our money in Ken
tucky,n he answered, "bccallsc Noul
laws make collections SO difficult and
expensive. When q borrower fails tc
pay the debt or interest he must hr
continuanccs and perhaps an appeal Il
sale of the mortgaScd property may
finally be reached, but there is Il long
redemption period, and costs and law
ycrs' fees will make the lender regret
that he ever had any money to take
care off, His criticism was too well
founded. In the Tlcat commercial
States, in case of default in payment
Il trustee can sell without Il suit to fore
close Il mortgage, and the result is that
the man prompt to meet his obligations
is not compelled to pay heavy penalty
| because of the Indifference or thrift
ness Of his ncighbors.
| One of the needs of the South is to
send to the State legislatures practical,
up-to-datc business men, and not 50
many bowling dcmayoyucs and narrow
minded politicians. This, fear, will
never be done, however, until the
masses, through amplcr facilities for
popular education, have themselves
been better qualified TO discriminate
between the true and the false. The
amount of blind, unlcasoniny prriu-
dice against capital abroad in the land
is amazing.
A few years ago whilst on il journey,
| was Il listener to Il conversation held
by some young men around the stove
Of the village tavern in an undcNrl.
oped region of the South. Among
other topics, they were discussing re-
cent purchase Of coal aud timber lands
by some Eastern parties. They all
seemed to agree that il was a piece Of
outrageous cl1r"ntcry IN 4 lot of for
clgncrs to come IN and gobb!c up prop
crty that hah been 50 long held by
| resident citizens. Whilst they were
working themselves into a fury over
the matter an old fellow. about half
drunk and quite sccdy in appearance,
came in and took u seat near them.
One of the young men tUlnrd to hlm
at last and said
"unclc Jun, what do YOU think about
H?"
Strengthening himself up and chang
ing his Iuid, the old man replied:
"Bols. I've been hearing YOU talk.
| I'vc been here nigh on to sixty vrarS.
and have seen lots of 'rm furrincrs
come and 90. Some Of 'cm had SO
much money they couldn't tote it ON Il
horse or in a buck wagon, but he had t"
bring it un the rivcr in Il boat. Doc
my cats, if ever seed one of en- take
out more than you could tie up in Il
bandana and sling across Your back.
Now, boys, who got il? Why we did.
of course. Let 'cm come. We can
take care of all they bring
There was much of good sense and
shrcwd observation in the old fellows
view of the matter, anI greater men
could profit by his observations.
Hardly less absurd than the pre- iu-
dice against strangers seeking invest
mcnts has been that felt towards cor
porations hy SO many people IN the
South. or course. no patriotic person
would favor allowing rNlortlon or mon.
opoly through Il combination of any
kind of forces, but our ordinary hu.i j.
Dcss corporations have no such power.
They are Il necessary part Of the equip
mcnt "i the highest civilization. They
wclc used by The Romans and were
not unknown to the Greeks. Our rail
| roads, canals, iurnpik">. water works &,
gas and vivctnc.liyhl plants and other
essential improvements would never
have been constructed if people fur.
nish'ny the money could not have uOnc
so through c"rp":aliOns, and lhU> been
protected against thc risk Of LOSING
more than the amount invested in their
capital stock And besides. there are
lew OF these enterprises thal single
individual coUld build up OF his own
means.
There has been so much cXaggcra-
ton as 20 the profits of railroads lhut
many honest men look upon them ~
dreadful monsters, who are daily dc.
rourng the substance OF the prUp.,
. without mercy or hindrnncr. And vet
1t is not long since j:} pen cent. Of the
/ railroad mileage Of the country vas il.
the hands OF receivers, and the ulnOUul
Of money lost in their construction and
operation has been enormous. They
have certainly, rs a rule, not been
prosperous in the South, where con
structlon has been difficult, populati on
spalsc and frcights uncertain. Some
time ago | had occasion TO look into
the matter, and found that in Massa
chusctts in one year the railroads car
rcd more than four times as many pas
scngcrs as were transported during thu
same period in all the eleven State
| that formed the Southern COnfcdcracy
And yet there arc those who insist tina
thc rates per mile in the South shoul'
be the same as those in Massachusetts
At the same time they would not ask
similar rule to be applied in any othc
line Of business. The Popullsts, wh
] l.. n1, IN h1l