48G 



F A R M E ii S 



RECnSTER. [No. 8 



(hough our resources are immense, a eudden invi- 

 fation to 'hand over' would produce a convulsion, 

 ofvvliich vvc vvlio remember 1837, may Ibrm a faint 

 conception ; a convulsion in which the credit and 

 the floating capital of the country would alike go 

 to ruin. The individual is on the high road to 

 bankruptcy, whose average expense exceeds his 

 annual income, and the same is equally true of 

 nations. How stands the matter with us in this re- 

 spect? 



In 1S37 we imported in flour 



and wheat, $4,276,776 



In the same time we exported 



of the same, 3,075,475 



Leaving a blance against us 

 of ;ff'l,201,201 for our bread. 



In 1S37 we unported of sugar, §7,205,904 

 And we exported, 76,181 



Leaving against us a bal- 

 ance, of ;f 7,129,723 for our sugar. 



In 1837 the whole of our 



imports was $140,989,217 



And the sum total of our 



exports was 117,419,276 



Leaving against us a bal- 

 ance of.' p3,569,941 



eggs. Cocoons are first selected, and when the 

 butterflies come out, the first and the last are re- 

 jected. Let the people of the United Stales iriake 

 numerous and careful experiments. We beardless 

 boys of Virginia at least, do not mean to open 

 wide our mouths and swallow nostrums as an un- 

 fledged bird does its food. L. Y- A. 



COPPER MINE IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



To Uic Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



IVilliamsburg, 15th August, 1839. 

 I take the liberty of sending you the ibllowing 

 advertisement, taken from the 'Virginia Gazette,' 

 printed in this city lor WHliam Parks, IGlh Febru- 

 ary, 1738. Il is possible that it may not be known 

 at this time, that there is a copper mine in North 

 Carolina ; if so, the fact may benefit some indivi- 

 vidual, and perhaps our country. The informa- 

 tion is given for your use, by your friend, 



Richard Randolph. 



"To be sold by Charles Evans, ferry keeper on 

 Tar River, 15 miles from Speece's ferry on Roan- 

 oke river, in North Carolina, at ten pounds, Virgi- 

 nia currency, per hundred, 2000 acres of very good 

 land, being purchase lantl, granted in the proprie- 

 tor's time, at six pence per hundred quit-rent for- 

 ever ; and in the banks thereof, is a copper mine, 

 twice iryed in England. It runs five miles on the 

 river, is very commodious for trade, with two cypress 

 swamps thereon, and near adjoining to a desart, 

 called the Canetar, supposed to be 10 miles wide, 

 and thirty miles long, and there is brave hunting 

 the bear. Charles Evans." 



The foregoing advertisement is not sufficient 

 proof of the existence of copper ore, at least in 

 profitable quantity. From one of the old manu- 

 script journals of Col. William Byrd, (which cu- 

 rious and interesting records of old times we hope 

 to be enabled hereafter to publish,) it appears that 

 there was formerly a copper-mine mania raging 

 along the borders of the upper Roanoke, which 

 has since passed away, leaving no known trace of 

 its existence, save what is presented in his journal 

 and this old advertisement. — Ed. F. R. 



"the debt-paying nation. 



From tlic Genesee Farmer. 



This is the name which the United States have 

 acquired abroad, and never was an appellalion bet- 

 ter deserved. We, as a nation, run in debt more 

 to others, than perhaps all other nations put toge- 

 ther. What would be said if Great Britain should 

 run in debt two hundred millions to France, or 

 Prussia fifty millions to Austria. We, on the con- 

 trary, think nothing of selling our credit to the 

 amount of a hundred or two of millions, in the 

 shape of stocks, and then purchase goods annually 

 to the amount of some twenty millions more than 

 we can pay at the time, trusting to luck, and tempt- 

 ing Providence. It requires no prophetic sagacity 

 to foretell that matters cannot always go on at this 

 rate. Our credit must be over-taxed in time, and 



But it will be said, this balance is paid, and the 

 debt cancelled. So il is, but how 1 by transferring 

 the account from the individuals who contracted 

 if, to the country itself. In other words, this 

 tweniy-ihree millions and many more similar bal- 

 ances of trade against us, have been paid in stocks, 

 or the credit of the stales has been loaned to secure 

 the foreign dealer. These balances of trade against 

 us are not paid, and when they will be, if we con- 

 tinue to buy much and sell little, is beginning to be 

 a serious question. We are in a fair way to have 

 a national debt accumulated upon us equal to that 

 of Great Britain ; a debt, to pay the interest of 

 which, is now weighing her agriculturists and 

 manufcicturcrs to the dust. The only difference 

 will be, her indebtedness is to her own citizens; 

 ours will be to foreigners, and a fearful power it 

 will be for them to wield over us. 



How shall this alarming evil be remedied ? It 

 would be easy to say, retrench, buy less, and sell 

 more. But such is not usually the course of indi- 

 viduals or nations. We have gratified our wanta 

 until they have become so interwoven with our 

 system, that retrenchment in the means of satisfy- 

 ing them is not likely to be a favorite doctrine, 

 however just and fiiasible it maybe. The only 

 way, then, for us, if we will have just so such, is 

 cither to produce the things ourselves, or something 

 that xoill pay for them. We can raise our own 

 bread, diixA have a large surplus to sell. We cati 

 make all the sugar demanded in the country, and 

 we must do it. We can make the silk wanted in 

 the United States, and if we are vi^ise we shall 

 soon do it, and put a stop to the largest item in the 

 balance against us ; an item of from fifteen to 

 twenty millions annually. Supply ourselves with 

 these three items, and we turn the balance of trade 

 in our favor, and bring the world in debt to us. 

 In that case we should become a "debt-receiving" 

 instead of a "debt-paying nation," and (he dilier- 



