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? % * i 9 -* -- t *? 4fc vit. ,'u *._ . * *> MM).' ?%j rv .* ' ! "Tolumk vf" ~ By .71. 73AC M3A7T. , 1 ' i : Terhs:?P?h!i h">cl weekly at three dollars, a ! , year; wit1! ait addition. whon n?t paid w thin f three months, of twen'y per cent per annum, j Two new nutaenOtira may take the paper at 1 *' "* five dollars in advance; and tpn at twenty. ? Four subscribers, n??t receiving their pnp^Ts 1 in town, m iy pty a year's subscription with ton ' , dollars, In advance. ^ ! j A year's subscription always due in advance. 1 . Papers not discontinued to solvent subscribers : ! . . in arrea rs. * It . *1doerti*ements t\ot exceeding If lines inserted 1 i or one dollar lite first time, anil fifty cents each I { utjeequ*nl tune. For insertions at in'crvaU of j j two w eks 75 cents after thejirst, and a dollar, I if the intervals are longer. Payment due in ( r . ?4va?i<Se for a Ivertiwem'iits." When the number i j; <of insertions is not marked on the copy, the I [ advertisement will be inserted, and charged till ! ordered out. ^ - * IT The podaga m ist bo paid on letters to the t F editor on tli? business of the otficp. S g-g; g g wsz? j; ANNIVERSARY ORATION. Of the Slate Agricultural Society of South 1 Carolina; by Oca. George McDuiJie; j4 read before the Society. on .'he 2S,'k Woe- l y ember 1*40, at their annual meeting in j1 the Hall of the House of Ryrcsanla'ircs. ic Gcn'lemen 0/ the Slate Agricultural Socic- ! . fa a/* .V/t 4 *it9?rk! inst I \*j w* v mu | ( _ ? I enter upon the performance of the r W ta-k you have been please-,i 10 assign m | with a due sense of its importance, and a t corresponding regret that 1 shall not be a- j l)le to fulfil eithe my own wishes or your c reasonable expectations. I may confi lent ly trust, however, that this unpretending i contribution to the cause of agricultural . improvement, will be received in the spirit ; in which it is offered; and that ihe partial- , itv to which I am indebted for the honor of ( now addressing you, on the greatest and t most neglected of all the sources of public prosperity, will insure, for the unavoidable i imperfections of such a performance, your f liberal and indulgent consideration. | j The art of cultivating the earth, and of! < increasing and perpetuating its productive s powers, wliile it has been the first to indicate the dawn of civilization among men. ; is probably destined to he the last to mark r by its own advancement, the final singes | of human improvement. For of all the i arts that contribute either to supply c the physical wantsor promote the intellec- s tual development and moral refinement 1 of the human family; none are more deep- . v Iv and essentially founded i.i the princi- j $ pies of inductive philosophy, or are eapa- j a ble of extending their achievements over i| a wider field of usefulness and true beni- ' w licence. It is scarcely possible, indeed, n to assign any limits, either to the aggro- p gate amount, of to the number or variety c. of useful productions, with which the fos- n tcnng bosom of mother earth is ever reaJy ! ii to reward the researches and the labors of j <_ her children. And yet, so strange a para- U dox is man, that philosophy has stood gaz- ? ing at the wonders of the heavens, en- i e tangled in the mazes of vain conjecture. c Knterprize has traversed and vexed the : a , earth, and the sens in the vain pursuit of s ^ golden visions?and even avarice, calcul- i ating avarice, has wasted its efTorts in j \wild and gambling speculations, contribu- c ting nothing to the common stock of na- c tional wealth and human comfort, while s . millions of our race have hecn literally ( perishing for the want of nourishment, ( and the whole surface of the earth has pre- i sented one boundless and inexhaustible i mine of wealth and abundance, which | haughty science has scarcely deigned to c. explore, leaving sober industry to group its ; c toilsome way amidst darkness and dis- j couragement. j c As cultivators of the soil, and as mem- 11 bers of a community whose prosperity do- a pends almost exclusively, and I may add, li unalterably, upon its productions, it is high a time that we should free ourselves from I our share of* this common reproach, and , s make one united "and* vigorous effort to 1 p redeem our agricultflre from the shackles p which ignorance, prejudice, evil habits, c and the blind and fatal thirst for the sud- c den accumulation of large fortunes, have i but too firmly fixed upon it. r\ To aid in the accomplishment of this 1 I great reform, an achievement, in all res- ! s pects, worthy of the highest aspirations of $ patriotic ambition, I shall proceed to point t out some of the prominent and practical t errors most prevalent in our agricultural v system?if system it may be called?and | a to lay down some of the fundamental prin- ' p ciplcs and cardinal rules, which must form j v the basis of all substantial improvements j r in r?nr norricultura! ppnnnniv. :i e> " | The greatest, most prevailing, and i most pernicious of ail the practices which t distinguish and deform the agriculture of j t *hisand the other cotton planting States, i t $s the almost exclusive direction of the 11 whole available labor of the plantation, to ' c the production of our greatest market sta- 1 r pie, and the consequent neglect of all the j t other commodities which the soil is capa- \ hie of producing or sustaining, and which j 1 are essential to supply the wants of the establishmet. No scheme of reform or > improvement can produce any great and i salutary results, which does not lay the (j axe to the root of this radical vice in our i husbandry. i * It should he, therefore, an inviolable ; rule in the economy of every plantation, ] to produce an abundant supply of every < species of gratn, and of every species of f live stock, requred for its own consump- < tion. I am aware, that in peculiar local- t jtjes, when the price of cotton has been t wuwi w.i-i.fc BIX H ]L JLM'IIOWB? i i I tmmtmm CI IKK A ligh. c\\n >!}s m i v ho foui 1 ofsuccessful planting where this rule lias been disregarded. I>;it this serves only toprcve, that even i bad system prosecuted with great energy i ind under favorable circumstances, may i 33 crowned with a considerable share of! the success which would more certainly lave rewarded a^jood one. Such exam '* ' 4 ~ <Un i!es, it tncy consilium an e.xutrpuuu iu iuc ule [ have laid down, by no means impair ts force or dsaprove its general cxpedien:v.?The economy.of a plantation should >e founded, not upon the temporary and nutablc expedients, but upon general and I >ennanent rules, adapted to all the proba>!c viscissitudes of trade and of the seas, ins, and all the probable fluctuations of >rices and of the currency. We have ) nirely seen enough of these fluctuations, : tad sufficiently witnessed, if not experi-j meed, their disastrous influence, to warn ; is against the fatal policy of yielding up j he lessons of experience to the temple- j ;ions of high prices and prosperous sea- j >ons. It is, indeed, one of the greatest i vhich these fluctuations hahi'uully pro-1 luce among us, that \re arc but too sue- j :cssfully tempted, by tli* | emporary alh re-! nent of high prices, to abandon ail the j naxims of wisdom and all the rules j >f 3 >uih1 economy, whmh l ave been i??i- i >osed upon us by painful experience, in icriods of depression and adversity: Let ( is, then, each one for l! ic sake of ins own j merest, and ail for the common wt-,'fure >f South Carolina, solemnly and dclibci'-1 itelv resolve, that we will never again, ! indef any tcinp'ation, incur the just re-1 >roach which must aitach to our charac-; cr as p'an.'ers, if we s!;ould he induced to i ely upon distant communities for those ; ?? UH.H WU1 V?? il |'Jtl2X let* ions are so capable of pro lacing. And 0 the crul that tlrs high resolve may be noro firmly ndopte 1 and pcrscvoii'igly naintaincd. I shall endeavor to shew, that 1 is the dictate, not less of an cnligj tv n d elf-interest, than of an enlarged public j ;pirit. We are, then, to consider and decide! ipon the comparafivc cheapness and eco- j lomy of producing ourselves on the one , land, and of purchasing from abroad on; he other, the hogs, horses, mules, and oth- ' r live stock, required for the use and con- ; umption of our plantations, during an av-, rage series of years. A stranger to our I rretched habits of economy, would be tartled at the mere propounding of such n inquiry.?He could not comprehend he economy of importing from Kentucky, hat our own soil and climate are so emicntly adapted to produce. However lausible. it is most assuredly by a false conomv, founded upon false reasoning. A lan who will assume that our hogs and orsts must he raised exclusively upon orn, and will gravely sit down to calcuite the cost of so many bushels at eventy-five or even fifty cents a bush1, will certainly come to an erronious onclusion. lint those of us who system tically pursue the business of raising live lock, can testify that the quantity of corn icccssary to raise hogs, horses or mules, s extremely inconsiderable. Oats, whethr harvested for the work horses and mules, >r used as pasturage for stock hogs and took horses and mules, is an invaluable T?>p for a cotton planter. That which is tsed a.? pasturage, while it wiil cost only lie labor of preparing the ground and seedng it, will keep all the stock in fine order, i'oni the middle of summer until the opning of the pea fields, and these, which , ost scarcely any labor, will keep them in J ike order, with very little aid from the orn crih, until December. From this j irne regular feeding will he required for i bout four months, and after that, very idle will swflice till the oat pastures arc' gain ready. In this view of the subject, j have omitted many useful auxiliaries, j uch as potatoes, pindars, peaches and ap- j >les, the two latter of which arc often J permitted to rot on the ground, though excllent food for hogs, and perhaps the least xpensive of all. Nor have I embraced j n it the artificial grasses, though I am [uitc sanguine from an experiment I now lavein progress, that in most of the strong, oils of the country, blue grass and herds irass will succeed very nearly as well as hey do in Kentucky. Upon the whole, hen, it is my deliberate opinion, founded ipon my own experience and observation is a planter, that in South Carolina, and >articu!arly the upper oountry districts, it vould he true economy for the planters to nise their own stock, even if they could ilways buy Kentucky pork at three dolars a head. But let it be remembered ns.<?/-kr,,?licn (lilsJ mil.'t fh?Vol.fi hcinselvcsto it as an essential branch of heir business. A regular system must >e adopted and a competent person be . barged with its execution ; and overseers 7 mist be made to know, that it isas much heir duty to superintend it, as the cultiration of die cotton crop; for hogs and lorscs can no more thrive without proper ittention, than corn and cotton can grow vithout attention. And it is worthy of emark, that when hogs are fat or i*i a jood growing order, it requires not half so nuch food to keep them in that condition, is it would require to sustain poor hogs ind prevent them from growing poorer, [t is, therefore, a most obvious ruic of e:onomy, never to permit stock hogs to ;ink below what we denominate a growing mndition. The corn that will be required o keep them in that condition during four >r five months in the year, will be less than ? mmm&w \V. SOUni-CAKOLLNA, that which would be required in extra feeding to prepare poor hogs for the slaughter pen ; and at the same age, their weight will he fifty per cent, greater, and their flesh will be much more firm, than that of hogs brought lip in poverty and suddenly fattened. Iam now speaking the actual result of my own experience, and I have been astonished to perceive how little corn is required to prevent fat hogs from getting poor. As an important part of the branch of economy we arc now considering every planter should keep as large a stock of neat cattle, and of sheep, as his pasturage and the otfal of the plantation will support. To this extent, there is no description of stock s:f valuable in proportion to the exr nnnsn of maintaining them. Their flesh I o is much cheaper than tliat of hogs, and besides supplying the table of the planter with an abundance of good beef, butter and mutton, the former will advantageously supply one I al oftho; 1 in-ation rations of meat during the autumnal months ; and the latter, all the wool required for clothing the negroes in winter. In addition to all this, it is the opinion of the most experienced planters, in which I fully concur, that where cattle are penned every night on grounds properly covered with litter, the manure they will make i?:.he course of the year, will very nearly defray the j expense of maintaining them. I have thus attempted to shew that it is the true interest of every planter to raise all the live stock required for his own use, for the use and consumption of his own plantation, though no one else should pursue same policy. I now propose to consider the subject in a still more interesting pr int of view. I propose to enquire what would he the ellect of tins system upon the general prosperity of the cotton planting States, assuming that it should he universally aO dopted. It is not extravagant to estimate the annual expense which a planter would incur in purchasing his supplies of stock, at one tenth of the nett proceeds of his cotton crop, as exhibited on the hooks of his factor. Assuming, then, that the labor diverted from the production of cotton, in order to raise these supplies, would diminish the cottcn crop ia the s ime proportion, it would follow that each individual planter would derive as large a nett income from his diminished cotton crop, as he would have derived from one tenth larger, if he purchased his stock, even supposing that the diminished cotton crop, brought nohighci price than could have been obtained for the larger one. But here we realize the grand result of the proposed reform in our agricultural economy. It is a well established principle of political economy, confirmed by the uniform j.vnnrlnn/.o r?f rim r>nftnii nlantinjr States. 1 | D that when the supply of a commodity exceeds the effective demand, the price is diminished, not in proportion to the excess, hut in a still greater proportion. If, then, we assume that the proposed reform would reduce the annual cotton crop from two millions of hales, to one million eight hundred thousand, and that the effective demand of the world would not exceed the latter number, it would clearly follow from the above stated principle that the smaller crop of one million eight hundred thousand bales, would yield a greater aggregate income than the larger crop of two millions of bales. In the habitual state of our cotton trade, with a constant tendency in the production to exceed the '("imn;1. stir.S won! I rilwavs be the result 1 of diminished production where no extraordinary causes existed to check consumption. It results from this reasoning that the planting Slates would realize from the universal adoption of the propoi sed reform, a clear aggregate saving of the sum annually expended in purchasing live stock ; and that each individual planter, besides greatly increasing the comforts of his establishment, would add ten per cent, to his annual income.? Entirely satisfied, as I am, of the sound, ncssof this reasoning, and the justness of the conclusion to which it leads, I am j aware that it is exposed to an apparent i objection. It may be naturally asked, j how it happens that the planters, a class of 1 men sufficiently intelligent to understand J their own interest, should, generally, pur[ sue a course so little calculated to promote it ??A sufficient answer will be found to this question, in the force of establishcd habits, the mistaken ambition i which makes the point of honorable distinction consist in the number of cotton j bales, and above all, the unfortunate : habit so generally prevalent among plan: tors, of neglecting their own business, and ! confiding it to the exclusive management ! of overseers. It is a duty which every ! planter owes, not only to himself, hut to | his country, as a matter of example, to i give his personal superintendence to his i business, and make himself master of all its details. He can scarcely deserve to own 1 an estate, who from false pride or indolent self-indulgence, remains in voluntary ! ignorance of the various operations upon which its productiveness depends, and : relies exclusively upon agents who are 1 practically irresponsible, and in general, grossly incompetent.Certain it is, that no | general reform or improvement in our I agricultural economy, will ever be made k .'*r ^ A Mmwmmwm?, WEDNESDAY, JAMj'.lr by overseers?Agents who arc employed from year to year, who have no interest in any permanent improvement, and who an; generally actuated by the motives of a tenant at will, which prompt them to aiiu at a largo cotton crop the present year, without any regard to the future, or to the subsidiary branches of a sound system of economy. Every plantor who has attempted such reforms or improvements as I have suggested, can testily how utterly impossible it is to make overseers, generally, realize their importance, or bestow upon them sufficient attention to insure their successful execution. Let it, then, be regar^^^s the point of honor w^th^veryplaut^H) attend personally to his plantation, aro make himself mister of every branch of its operations and economy. This is an indispensable preliminary step to all useful improvements in our agriculture, and is ccju illv demanded by every consideration of private interest and public duty. Another mischevouserror in our planting economy, proceeding partly from the mistaken ambition of making a large count of cotton bales, and partly from the uncalculating habits acquired during high prices, is exhibited in the general carelessness with which cotton is picked out of the Held and prepared for market. L has been fully demonstrated by experience that those planters who have their cotton properly handled, and sent to market free from the contamination of trash and stain, can habitually obtain in our own markets, one cer.t a pound more than can he obtained for cotton prepared in the usual way ; and I can personally testify, as the result of my own experience, thai the difference made in foreign market.* is much greater.?Now, I invite .your serious attention to a few pluin and ob. vious reflections on this subject. A d: I nunution in price of one cent, a pound at the present market rates of cotton, b equal to ten per cent discount upon the gross amount of the annual income of the planter, and a still larger per centag upon the amount of his nett income. Ii follows, that by the careless operations oi four months in gathering the crop, om tenth of its value is destroyed, and one tenth part of the labor of the whole yeai is absolutely nullified. The labor of one hundred hands is reduced in value to thai of ninety, and five hundred hales of cot ton arc reduced to four hundred and fifty, Now I confidently put it to every practi. cal planter, as a plain question of econo my, what possible advantage there car he in carelessly picking out a cotton crop, that will compensate the planter for thit sacrifice of fifty bales of cotton, the pro. duct of the whole annual labor of ten hands ? Let it be admitted, and it is ar ? i i i ;n _:_i. extreme supposition, mat nanus wm pirn out one tenth more in the one movie than they will do in the other. Ever on this hypothesis, one tenth of the laboi of the whole year would be sacrificed foi the sake of one tenth of the labor for foui months, and to this sacrifice we must add that of the additional expenses of the horse power required to make the additional fifty bales eCcotton. Does not the conclusion, then, irresistably follow from | these premises, that every planter should lav it down as a cardinal rule, in pitching his crop, to plant no more than he can pick out with proper care, giving due attcntion to the other interests of his plant, ation. This rule, like that relating tc live stock, comes (recommended by the twofold consideration, that it not only promotes the individual interest of cacli planter, but still more extensively, the general interest of the entire class. Ifil will cause a diminished quantity of cotton to be produced, it will cause the price ol that diminished quantity to be proportionately increased, by its superior quality and still further, the# very circumstance of its diminished quantity. It is not to be doubted, therefore, thai the general adoption of the two plain and practical rules, so perfectly in the powci ofeverv planter, of raising his cr\vn sup plies instead of buying them, and picking out and preparing his cotton with propel cure and attention, would do more to pro mote the prosperity of the cotton planting States, than all the morns mnilicaull speculations and political paper nostrum! that ever deluded a people with visionan hopes, while they afflicted them with rea disasters. And here, gentlemen, it may not be un profitable to indulge in a few cautionan I * 1-, o fiml OVfl~IVfl(r9 fl I UUl'V* I IU1ICS \Jll 111141. VT IIU UIIU v.iun.u^u.. spirit ofspeculativc adventure, with whicl almost all classes of our countrymen havi been smitten and infatuated for sevent years past, and which ha exerted a mos pernicious influence, even upon our agri cultural economy. It has unfortunate); inspired our planters, in too many instan ces, with a sort of contempt for the " dui pursuits" of sober industry, and taugh them to look upon every visionary am ephermcral humbug as an Es Dorado o sudden and unbounded wealth. Now, i any anticipates, from the deliberations o this socie-ty, the discovery of some nev process bywhich wealth is to be accumnl ated without labor, the sooner he dispel such a delusion the better. There is n Ba; iY (?, 1841. i. i ???y royal high way to w a'th, afe more than (o learning. As labor is the only true and ultima-e mcasjro of vidue, wealth is neither more nor lesi than the accumulated results of labor; and wherever one: on becomes rich without labor, it follows as a necessary consequence, that by some speculative juggle, he has, managed to tra or to him elf the ltbors ..to of her people. Though individuals, therefore may become rich by un-, productive 'process >3, it is impossible, in 'the very natureof things, that communities ever can. Let us, then, r.adzing these great principles of industry and sound e? conomy, and discarding all^yisionhry schemes, steadily pursue the bcafen track of honest industry, consoled by the patriotic reflection, that every dollar we thus add to our own fortunes, is so much added to the wealth of the State, and that the losses of others constitute no one of the elements of our prosperity. As intimately connected with this view of the subject, I may venture to offer a i\ w suggestions, calculated to show that in ' a planting community, habitual indebtedness is the almost certain cuuse of pecuuiarv embarrassment, and is palpably eppo suu tu utui j iiKiAiiii ui griiuiiii; wriuni y# Of all classes of the community, the planters can best plead the excuse of necessity tor going in debt, and fatal experience has but too clearly demonstrate the disastrous effects of such a policy?As this is the besetting fraility of the times, which so many lessons of experience have entirely failed to cure, I consider it worthy of the grave and solemn consideration of this associa1 tion. For if there be any question in the whole circle of our general economy, in relation to which a sound public opinion i should he brought to bear upon individual imprudence, this, in my opinion, is that ? very question. If we consult the experience of other States, we sjiall find that all the advantages of a fertile soil and genial climate have been blasted by the mistaken policy of which I am speaking; and that communities, which industry and prudence would have caused to flourish almost beyond example, exhibit one general scene of pecuniary embarrassment, bankruptcy and \ ruin. The experience and observation of ' every planter will sustain me in the as5 sertion, that we pay for credit, in the : mode in which it is usually obtained in r the purchase of property, from 10 to 20 ? per cent, interest. Every one who is act customed to attend administrator's and . < thcr public sales, must have been struck bv the extravagant prices men are tempted to give by a year's credit; and not less by the fact that such men arc perpetually involved in pecuniary embarrassments, and that the very efforts tney thus impru' dently make to get forward in the world * faster than their neighbors, keep them al' ways in the rear. In fact, it may be tru1 ly affirmed as a general truth, that plan* 1 ters who are largely in debt, arc, to that ; extent, the mere stewards of their credi i tors. Lite is with thein an anxious anu i slavish struggle in pursuit of an object which always eludes their grasp. But there is anol her form of credit, fortunate. ly not so prevalent in South Carolina as in other Slates, of w hich planters are but too ready to avail themselves, which is equally at war with sound economy and a sound currency. I allude, of course, to bank discounts. It has been so fashion. 1 able of late, to pronounce extravagant eu' logics on what is miscalled the credit sysI tern, that it will probably be deemed quite 1 heretical to say that credit, in any form is a public and private evil. It is, nevertheless, . my deliberate and well considered opin> ion, that one of the greatest nuisances that ; could afflict an agricultural community, - would be the establishment of agricultural { banks, so located as to enable every plan , ter to obtain credit to the amount of one t third part of the value of his estate. The ( fatal experience of other States has conP clusively proved that such establishments have been the invariable causes of embarb rassment and ruin. Owing to the periodi cal fluctuations inseparable from such a 5 system, it has generally happened that a credit obtained by a planter, to the amount t of one third of his estate, in a period of ' expansion, has required the whole estate in a period of contraction. And wc have been but too impressively admonished that t it is the vcrv genius and instinct of those in " J o r stitut ions, to grant credits in periods of ex* pansion, and exact payment in periods of T contraction. One motive for calling your ? attention to thissubject, will be found in the public manifestation of a desire in ' some' parts of the State, to convert the ' Bank of the State of South Carolina into an agricultural Bank, and with that view, to give it a central location. Such a >r change, made for such a purpose, I should 1 regard as a great public calamity. Every 1 one practically acquainted both with p'aiB ling and banking, must be aware that a I mere planters' bank can be nothing more t nor less than a loan ofiicc. The planter - realizes his income annually and periodi/ cully; and it follows, that a discount gran ted to him, except in rare cases, must be 1 virtually a credit for a year. In practice t it would be more generally for a longer I than for a shorter period. It is self evif dent, then, that such a bank could not f maintain the character of a specie paying f bank for a single month. Now, if there v is any one measure which the public opin ion and the true policy of the State cons cur in demanding, it is the rigid enforceo mcnt of specie payments by ail the banks. |v ? w r ? V > V ' ' ' , ' } K % t ' 1 1 _ 1 , . ^ ? ~ NUMBERa ?1 "I 1. t . , Let mo warn my brother planters, Ihcrjf->r\ against involving themselves in a sta'o of things by which they would ei:h. ortfe the means of defeating this measure ofsalu'^rv St ite policy, or become themselves the victims of it, I cannot, ilureforc, recommend a more important reform to our planting community, than to get out of debt with all-psacticable despatch, if already involved in, it, i and resolve for the fut.i.e never to be?involved in it again. ?>uch a re olu ion? generally adopted and'tirrilly maintained, would do more to promote the independence and substantial prosperity of an .agricultural State, that! all the q ac'ccriea ! of legislation united. Imagine tor one moment the great morel and ,pcjgl$cal change which woul 1 be produce<vif it could be truly announced at this moment, that every cultivator of the soil, within the wide limits of South Carolina, was entirely free from ^ie shackles of debt. It. would be a glorious day of jubilee. The fatal spell of pecuniary influence would be diss< 1/ed at o.ice, the shackles of depen lence would fall from the arms of theindebted, and every citizen would walk abroad in the majesty of genuine independence and freedom. But let us consider the effect which ! this general and habitual freedom from ! debt, would produce upon the progress of individuals in accumulating wealth, and upon the aggregate prosperity of the whole class of planters. Taking experience for our guide, it can scarcely be doubted, that. * those who have uniformly kept out of debt, and have never purchased property till they had the money in hand to pay for it, have generally accumulated fortunes more rapidly and much more certainly | than those who have pursued the opposite ! policy. Every step they take is so much | permanently gained. They are exposed to no backsets; they arc affected by no vicissitudes in trade, and stand firm and unmoved amidst those great, and now frequent periodical convulsions, by which those who are in debt are always shaken and often overwhelmed. \ Instances will no doubt occur to every ! one who henrs. tne, of men who have bpb! itually made smaller crops than their ! neighbors, and who hav? yet, in'a aerie* j of years grown wealthy and much foster* by this very simple rule, which I one* ! heard laid down by a friend. He never made large cotton, crops and was regarded as a bad planter. And when asked how he got rich so much faster than hi* more energetic neighbors, he replied: "My neighliors begin at the wrong end of the year. They make their purchases at the beginning o!' it, on a credit; I mike mine at the end of it, and pay down the cash." And here I am reminded of a saying of' the late John Randolph, of Virginia; a , man not more remarkable for his genius and eccentricity, than for the profound philosophical truti s which sometimes escaped him, like the responses of an inspired oracle. In the midst of one of his splendid rhapsodies in the Senate >of the i United States, he pause.) and fixing his eye upon the presiding officer, exclaimed, "Mr. President, I have discovered the philosopher's stone. It consists in these j four plain English monasvllables; "pat a* ! you go." Now, I will venture to 6ay? ? ' that this is a much nearer approach than J alchemy will ever make, to the great ob-. object of its visionary researches. And ; in recommending this maxim to the cotton I planters of tiie State, I have still kept in ! view, not only the individual interest oC each planter, separately considered, but the common interest of the whole community of planters. For this reform, like the j others I have suggested, independently of I the direct benefit it will confer on each individual planter, will benefit the whole, as a class, by checking over-production.? One great cause of the incessant struggle to make large cotton crops, to the neglect of every other interest, is the reckless i habit of contracting debts, which I am J. nrn nilrrhnjmt j Ul pi lUHlllg# lltg I WO uiv Y xmm ' - I upon credit, and the planter is this furnished both with the means and the motives for unduly and disproportionately [ enlarging his cotton crop. As cotton is> , the only crop that will command money* ^ and as money is the most pressing want j of a man in debt every thing is directed to. j that object; So much so, that it is the standing apology for neglecting to pursuo I a sounder system of economy. The sayj ing has, indeed, become proverbial among p'anfers, "if I were not in debt,I would not strive to make such Itrge cotton crops,, but would devote myself to raising my own supplies, and making permanent improvement. Let me, tbcrefo-e, advise, admonish and be.' eoch all our planters, as they regptd >> their own true interest, the dignity ud honor of their vocation, and the substantial welfare of the State, to avoid the entangling embarrasmcnts of debt. Let them regard those who may offer them credit with no friendly eye, but as enemies in disguise, who seek to lead them into temptation. If they have contracted the habit of anticipating their ini /*nmoa_ avpti ft sinfde vear. let them reform vv",v" ' O" ? " ' evet that. Yes, 'reform it altogether.** Then will their prosperity be placed on immoveable foundations. Then will they stand unshaken and unterrified amidst I those periodical storms and convulsion* which are inseparable concomitants of * ! false and artificial system of fluctuating credit and currency. Then will Soutfc ,.s