Year: 1877




sonR susaEsTloEa Roz Tas BEEzRIE oF


TIE WHOLE COMMUNITY.


To the Editor Of the HeFaldi


lam glad to see you take en- interest
IN ell things that tend 10 the benedt Of
the farmer, and for that reason ! Ad-
dress this letter to you, hoping yOu will
continue 10 agitAte and condemn the
injurious practice Of selling cotton in
the seed, the evils Of which are felt BY
both merchant and planter, the mer.
chant the most, from the fact that the
landlord has lien for rents on what
produce is made on land leased. /
noticed in your weekly Of the 2lSt in.
slant, that you seem to think that the
fault is In the execution OF oi the pres.
ent laws. This / think q mistake.
The present law allows any one TO pur.
chase seed cotton from sunrise until sun.
set. Upon frat thought you might
think II an easy matter 10 detect the
eulprit, but the reverse is the case. For
instance, we will take plantation
where there are twenty renters. There
is always one or n ore who will pay ell
of his Indebtedness as soon as possible,
(or, possibly, from previous raGcality
has paid for all be bought) then those
that are indebted TO the planter or
merchant sell their cotton through
him IN daylight without fear OF
detection, and thus you see the in
furious effects OF selling seed cotton,
II 1t could be confined by law to day.
light exclusively which cannot be done.
Consequently l think the law ought 10
be changed 90 as to prohibit the sale
entirely, as there will be anarchy and
bloodshed in our county IL it is not
stopped, for people will not cit quietly
and see their substance taken from
them by the class of men who buy COT
ton In the suburbs Of Jour city. Some
contend law prohibiting the sale Of
ssed cotton would be unconstitutional.
| know not whether this is the case or
not, but II II 10, surely our legislators,
some Of whom are lawyers, could pre-
pare q bill that would practically pre-
vent the sale without conflicting with
the Constitution. Aud as lawyers,
when they have desperate case, are
noted for their proclivities in whipping
the devil around the stump, ! hope
they will get to work and prepare a bill
and have II ready 90 as TO abolish, by
law the nuisance. And hope to see our
planters and merchants make sugges-
lions to our legislators through the col.
umns Of your paper, where they can be
inspected, and If approved by the ma.
jorily Of the readers of your valuable
paper, our Representatives can act upon
them without fear of much opposition.
l am afraid / am trespassing upon
your valuable space, but, however, will
make one or two suggestions. One is,
could there not q law be passed COM
pelling all persons who bought cotton
In the seed TO procure q license, 90 they
do for whisky, make the person pro:
curing the license pay two thousand
dollars for the privilege Of buying; al'
90, make 1t penal o6ense for viola
ton. Again, If the law compelled the
buyer and seller Of stolen cotton both
TO spend five years in the Penitentiary
for every OfEense, and compel the buy
er to produce the proof that the cotton
bought was not stolen, thereby throw
ing the responsibility where It proper
| ly belongs.


l only throw out these suggestions,
hoping that some more able pen than
mine will shed light on the subject,
and receive the blessing Of this suffer.
ing people. S. T. FoRTsoN.


WARREN COUNTY, Sept. 2Sth, 1877,