286 



THE FARMER'S REGISTER. 



where it, commanded a beiler price, or where it 

 had no such inli^rior suhstiiute. Thus the banks 

 closed iheir vaults, not lor their own sain, but (as 

 always) on the score oi' patriotic devotion to the 

 welfare of the country— and we, the people, were 

 Ibolish enouujh to believe this excuse, and slill to 

 confide in the banks' relaininir the specie which in 

 fact ihey had already parted vviih, and were irad- 

 ins upon as so much additional capital. Thus 

 re?aininiT the misplaced confidence of the people, 

 and havinj^r in their power the impoverished and 

 embarrassed ijovernments (both state and fede- 

 ral,) who were willing to justify government loans 

 to any amount in irredeemable paper, the banks 

 were enabled to play a most profitable and disho- 

 honest and treacherous game, for some years, 

 when it closed, as the present suspension will 

 close, by causing far more private bankruptcy, 

 distress, and destruction of property, than if the 

 banks themselves had been pronounced and pro- 

 ceeded against as bankrupt, as they should have 

 been, when they first stopped payment. 



During that first suspension, by the stimulus of 

 excessive bank issues and rediindnnl circulation, 

 (to which there was no check whatever,) the 

 whole country was made drunk wiih the spirit of 

 speculation. What was actunlly the depreciation 

 of redundant paper money was mistaken lor a rise 

 in the value of property, ol which the prices of 

 course advanced nominally in proportion as the 

 value of the currency depreciated. This gave a 

 new and still increasimr spring to speculation ; 

 and prices of land in Virginia rose to double, 

 quadruple, and in many cases to tcn-lbid the pre- 

 vious rates, and this, too, during a time of war, 

 and of iieneral pressure and embarrassment, and 

 when no kind of industry was remunerated, ex- 

 cept the making and issuiuii of irredeemable pa- 

 per money. Thousands and thousands of indivi- 

 duals \\iere greatly injured, or completely ruined, 

 by buying property at these speculative prices, 

 which alierwards fell, because ofgeneral pecunia- 

 ry distress, to less llian the former real prices. 

 The whole populaiion was disordered, and a very 

 lar<re proportion injured in business habits, morals, 

 and in happuiess, hy this national ttjver of excite- 

 ment, which benefited none but the few most 

 cunning or Ihrtunate individual players at the 

 game of' speculation, and the banks, whose divi- 

 dends of ptofits was as much enhanced as the 

 general rate of profits was lessened. At last, how- 

 ever, the settling day arrived. The losses of the 

 people were beyond computation ; and even the 

 banks, who had doneall the mischiel, had been such 

 injudicious lenders and spendthrifts, as well as 

 cheats and pillagers, that they were lor years after 

 in a state of real though not nominal bankruptcy. 

 After having divided enormous and unprecedented 

 profits, (or some years thereafter tlic banks of Vir- 

 ginia could pay no dividends whatever. 



The present suspension difiers from the first in 

 one important respect. The public confidence 

 which the banks then enjoyed, and so greatly 

 abused, they no longer .possess, and never can 

 again acquire. No individual now believes in 

 their ability to pay, as in the former suspension 

 was believed by nearly all. Belbre the beginnin'>- 

 and even after the termination of the IbrnTer sus"^ 

 pension, there was so much confidence in the 

 ability of the banks to pay, that lisvv individuals 

 cared to draw specie from them on that ground. 



Now, if they ever again open their vaults, and, in 

 good faith pay all their notes and deposites, they 

 will be soon drained of all their specie, and then 

 remain undeniably bankrupt, because not able to 

 meet numerous other demands. The banks know 

 this, and will not dare to attempt resumption un- 

 less compelled ; and to resume safely they must be 

 able 10 pay in specie "dollar lor dollar," for all 

 iheir notes and debts. Therelore the late recent 

 short-lived procedure was but a pretended resump- 

 tion, in which the banks avoided making the pay- 

 ments they professed to offer, by disingenuous 

 tricks and contemptible evasions, and which re- 

 suinpiion (so-called) they could not maintain even 

 in that discreditable manner. They will probably 

 never resume payments again, in good faith, and 

 cannot possibly continue permanently to pay their 

 notes, if they should so resume. 



C To be continued.) 



THE GREAT DEFECTS OF THE AGRICULTURE 

 OF LOWER SOUTH CAROLINA. 



To the Editor of tlie Fanners' Register. 



Charleston Dist., S. C, March 7, 1841. 

 I am unwilling to irespass upon your time, 

 which must of necessity be much occupied by a 

 large correspondence, but trust you will appreciate 

 my'motives in asking you to publish in your Re- 

 gister, lor the inlbrmaiion and benefit of your 

 southern friends, a history and description of the 

 corn fields in lower Virginia. 



You are doubtless aware that the city of Char- 

 leston not only receives no supply ol corn liom 

 her back country, but that frequently she supplies 

 the country li-om her importations liom the states 

 north of this. A country like ours, ilius obliged 

 to obtain its supplies of provisions from a distance, 

 must necessarily remain poor. Our highlands 

 yield liom ten to twenty bOshels per 5cre ; the lat- 

 ter quantity is considered a good yield, I doubt 

 whether the average product of the whole low 

 country below the falls of the rivers will exceed 

 twelve bushels per acre. 



If you liave access to a copy of Mills' South 

 Carolina, you will perceive that the map of this 

 district (Charleston) indicates a great number of 

 swamps, extensive tracts of low grounds on the 

 margins of the numerous creeks which feed our 

 rivers. With the exception of those swamps 

 which lie accessible to the tide water, and beyond 

 the region of salt water, none of these low lands 

 are cultivated. Occasionally a planter is enter- 

 prising enough ^o subdue a small portion, and if 

 the season prove good he is successful in raising 

 corn ; but unless a general system of draining 

 should be adopted, it is impossible to secure even 

 those few spots. I think that the combined efforts 

 of the planters on those swanips would enable 

 each to secure to himself a permanently valuable 

 field of corn. I have long thought that the drain- 

 ing of those swamps would also contribute ma- 

 terially to the health of the neighborhood. Do 

 the corn fields of lower Virginia lie in such re- 

 claimed swamps, or are they still wildernesses'? 

 And if the swamps have been subjected to culti- 

 vation, has any amelioration of the public health 

 been thought to follow"? 

 The exceedingly fluctuating price of cotton I 



