468 



In the progress of my address, I shall endeavor to present such top- 

 ics, as in my judgment, are best calculated to promote the general thrift 

 and comfort of oiij- Society, which I humbly hope Tvill not only be cal- 

 culated to promote our happiness and thrift, but that of those with 

 whom we daily mingle. So far as happiness and thrift are concerned 

 we wish to be no respecter of pei^sons. ^ 



It is estimated that not far from three-fourths of all the capital and 

 labor in the United States, are employed directly or indirectly in culti- 

 vating the soil, and yet there is no field of enterprise which ofiers more 

 permanent inducement, or calls louder for more help to cultivate. Per- 

 haps there is no county in this western country of the same age, where 

 more talent, enterprise and capital, have been displayed, than in this. 

 We have all the material, which if rightly improved, will soon exalt us 

 far above many, who now consider us as out of the world, or as beings 

 of an inferior race, situated on some isolated fragment of the very fag 

 end of creation. 



One of the things which has greatly retarded our growth, from the 

 first settlement of our county, and does now, and will in all coming 

 time, unless abandoned, is the credit system. 



This system is considered by many as indispensable, as one of the 

 greatest conveniences ever introduced into business transactions. If all 

 things were valuable according to their cost, then, certainly, it would 

 rank high on the list of valuables. Nothing but intemperance, I am 

 "well persuaded, was so extensively practiced with so little profit. When 

 property is purchased on a credit, more is given for it, and a higher 

 per centage on the purchase money is exacted, the foundation laid for 

 contingent charges, litigation and bankruptcy. We admit, there may 

 be cases where a short credit may be expedient, but it should ever be 

 considered as a debt of honor, which, if not paid at the time, or a per- 

 fectly honorable and satisfactory arrangement made, all confidence is 

 destroyed in the debtor. But so little confidence is there to be placed 

 in men, that no one, who sells on the credit system, but what, for a 

 general rule, to cover all contingencies, adds to the value of his goods 

 twenty-five per cent. This is not only applicable to merchants but to 

 all classes, from the Yankee pin-pedler, up to the lordly land speculator. 

 or wherever the credit system is practiced. 



