THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



373 



someiimesto employ when speaking of banks, and 

 which cannoi subserve ihe purposes of candid and 

 lair discussion. — Jiichmond Compiler. 



" The Compiler contains much useful matter, 

 and we trust is meeting the encouragement it de- 

 serves. VVe beg leave, Imwever, to except to 

 some sweeping phrases which the intelligent edi- 

 tor is pleased sometimes to employ when speak- 

 ing in favor of batdcs, and which cannot subserve 

 the purposes of candid and fair reasoning." — Pe- 

 tersburg Statesman. 



" Farmcr''s Register. — The Petersburg States- 

 man takes up the cudgels lor the editor of the 

 Register, and retorts upon our "exception" to 

 certain sweeping phrases in the Register against 

 banks, by charging upon us the employment of 

 like phrases \n favor o( banks. Now we reckon 

 Mr. Ruffin will hardly thank our friend of the 

 Statesman for such a defence ; our errors, admit- 

 ting the justice of the retort, are certainly no justi- 

 fication tor the Register. VVe feel assured, how- 

 ever, that the Statesman cannot find in our journal 

 arbitrary conclusions or denunciations on this 

 subject, that will fairly offset some we could point 

 out in the Register. But we object thoroughly 

 to a contrast between the Register and our paper. 

 We claim as a privilege to indulge a degree ol 

 flippancy which the Register is on every conside- 

 ration prohibited (i-ora adopting. We have a 

 right to be slipshod philosophers and political 

 economists — the Register nor^e. Our daily jour- 

 nal requires an expedition and despatch that docs 

 not afford time for grammatical propriety, let alone 

 mature reflection — a momentary excitement can- 

 not subside ere an Indiscretion it may induce is 

 held up before the world — there is no time for 

 sober second-thought, no lime lor better judg- 

 ment to modify, or for taste to improve. But the 

 Register, a monthly journal, conducted by an 

 accomplished scholar and intelligent gentleman, 

 with time for reflection, for leisurely composition, 

 and then lor pruning according to critical proprie- 

 ty and even adding the charms of beauty — we 

 say the Register can urge no such excuse, and 

 can claim no such right. We have always been 

 proud of the Register as a southern monthly ; 

 ibr its ability and its valuable scientific and prac- 

 tical information : and we must contest every 

 inch of ground when it comes to encroach upon 

 our commons. But we repeat we do not suppose 

 Mr. Ruffin would set up a defence similar to that 

 of the Statesman, and may be we are saying 

 more than necessary. 



" By the way, we see that the Lynchburg Vir- 

 ginian has expressed itself somewhat in the same 

 vein we did, without possibly having seen our 

 'exception.' It says, ' Has Mr. Ruffin changed 

 the character of his Farmers' Register ? Instead 

 of telling the farmer by what means he may draw 

 v?ealth from his banks of earth, he seems disposed 

 to make an exterminating war upon banks of dis- 

 count and deposite. [Which were in fact advo- 

 cated, instead of being warred against. — Ed. F. 

 R.] His essays may be very original and pro- 

 found Ibr aught we know ; but it seems to us he 

 ought to select some other channel to convey them 

 to the public' " — Compiler. 



Now the whole question is, whether, in consi- 

 dering the operations and eliects of banking and 



paper currency, we have altered the plan of the 

 Farmers" Register, or varied in an important or 

 censurable degree from ilie designed and proper 

 general procedure. We deny the justice ol' the 

 cliarge, and appeal, without lear, to the tacts of 

 the case, lor our justification and acquittal. 



In Ihe earliest publislied prospectus of liie 

 Farmers' Register, and which wa^ inserted in tlie 

 tiist number, (p. G 4, vol. i.) and republished often 

 afterwards, the subjects to be embraced in the 

 work were stated and numbered under eiglit dis- 

 laici heads, as follows : 



'• 1. Original communications of experiments, 

 observuiions and opinions on agriculture, garden- 

 ing, and domestic econuniy. 



2. Selections from liie best periodical publica- 

 tions on agriculture, European and American, and 

 from such other agricultural works as have not 

 been published in this country, or are not gene- 

 rally accessible. 



3. Reviews or notices of agricultural works. 



4. The discussion of such subjects <f political 

 economy as are connected with the preservation and 

 support of the inleresls of agriculture. 



5. Chemistry as connecied with agriculture — 

 and, with the same limitation, botany, mineralo'^y, 

 geology and natural history. ° 



6. Reports ol the topography, soils, minerals, 

 peculiar manures, and actual state of agriculture 

 of every county of Virginia, from which such in- 

 formation can be obtained. 



7. The consideratiow of public improvements 

 by roads, railways and canali?. 



8. Discoveries in science, or the arts, and the 

 occurrence of other evenis that are considered 

 likely to aflect the interests of agriculture." 



No w oi'lhese eight classes ofsubjects, the two first 

 only relate exclusively to agriculture or domestic 

 economy, to which heads the editors of the Virgi- 

 niaiiand the Compiler seem to think we are pledged, 

 and bound to confine our articles exclusively. The 

 third class would be generally, but not exclusively 

 of that description ; and the five other heads are 

 of other classes of subjects, all at least as remote 

 from practical agriculture as the consideration of 

 banking frauds, and the bearing of the banking 

 system on agricultural interests. But this is not 

 all. The fourth head (copied in italics above) 

 distinctly embraces (and was designed to em- 

 brace) the consideration of this, as well as other 

 like subjects ; and if we had failed to treat of this 

 one, and boldly and fearlessly, when required by 

 the suffering interests of agriculture, we should 

 have fbrfeited the pledge there given, and have 

 proved recreant to that noble cause, to the support 

 of which we hav.e devoted so many years of our 

 life. We unfortunately difier with our friends 

 the editors of the Compiler, and the Virginian, as 

 to the bearing of this paper system on agricultural 

 interests. They think it highly beneficial — and 

 thinking so, we would not blame them for advo- 



