1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



515 



A NEW VOLUME AND NEW PLANS, 

 In view of the fact that we have determined 

 upon a radical change in the manner of conduct- 

 ing the business department of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, and one which we desire thor- 

 oughly to explain to our subscribers, the present 

 time, although considerably earlier in the season 

 than we have usually issued our prospectus for 

 the ensuing year, is thought to be a favorable one 

 for stating its peculiar features, and requesting 

 the approbation and assistance of our readers. 



The troubles through which our beloved coun- 

 try is passing, while fraught with the most mo- 

 mentous consequences to the liberty and prosper- 

 ity of the nation, have already had a marked and 

 decisive effect upon business relations. For many 

 years, merchants, and business men generally, 

 have conducted their business upon the credit 

 system, and the result has naturally been panics, 

 embarrassments, suspensions and failures. With 

 the best intentions, the honest man may some- 

 times fail to meet his liabilities, while the rogue 

 is only too eager to avail himself of the credit sys- 

 tem to swindle his living out of his creditor. 

 The fall of 1860 found us recovering from the 

 great crash of 1857, and everything, apparently, 

 in train for the prosecution of a most prosperous 

 business, in every branch of industry and art. 

 The events of the next few months, followed by 

 the repudiation of the millions of dollars owed 

 by Southern debtors, plunged the whole commer- 

 cial system of the North into distress, though, 

 fortunately, the utter ruin anticipated by many 

 has been averted. But the immense sum thus 

 irretrievably carried to account of "profit and 

 loss" has, more efifectually than years of preaching, 

 and volumes of admonitions, opened the eyes ol 

 business men to the dangers of the credit system. 

 The advantage of a cash basis is now fully ap- 

 preciated, and while we see, with pleasure, that 

 trade is slowly but healthfully increasing, we also 

 note a not less important fact, — that credits have 

 been, in many cases, entirely done away, and in 

 all materially abridged. 



One of the greatest, and perhaps the most im- 

 portant objection to the credit system, is, that by 

 it the honest man is forced to pay a higher price 

 for what he buys, in order to make up what the 

 dealer loses on bad debts. This is evident to the 

 most careless observer, for, were the grocer, for 

 instance, to sell for cash only, he could, suppos- 

 ing his losses by bad debts to be five per cent, of 

 his sales — and that is not an extravagant esti- 

 mate, for the average of business done on credit, 

 — sell his goods at a corresponding reduction 

 from the prices he is compelled to ask, and still 

 make as much profit as by the other system. 

 This percentage is no small matter to the poor 

 man, who can ill afibrd to be taxed to make up 



for the shortcomings or dishonesty of those who 

 may be better off than himself, and it often rep- 

 resents to the merchant the difference between 

 poverty or a competence — between success or 

 bankruptcy. 



A little tract before us, contrasting the two 

 systems of cash and credit, among other strong 

 arguments uses the following : 



"The credit system is a seductive and delusive 

 one, flattering men into dangerous and uncertain 

 paths, and ruining, for time and eternity, the pros- 

 pects of thousands and tens of thousands. . . . 

 By means of it, men become everywhere depend- 

 ent on each other, and the fraud of one party, or 

 the untoward speculations of another, may disar- 

 range the whole, causing the wheels of commerce 

 to come to a dead lock, and introducing, as its 

 concomitants, misery and sorrow everywhere. 



The cash system keeps you within your means. 

 When you need a thing, you buy it — when yoa 

 buy it, you pay for it. . . . It causes every man 

 to depend upon his own resources. In matters 

 of business, he is an independent man — and in 

 matters of property, he is the real owner of what 

 he holds." 



Could a more forcible argument in favor of the 

 "Pay as you go" system be urged ? 



Considerations like the above, and the obser- 

 vation of the struggles of other newspaper pub- 

 lishers to make a living upon the plan of send- 

 ing their papers to every one who wished to sub- 

 scribe, and then waiting years for their pay, or 

 losing it entirely — together with a careful exami- 

 nation of our own business, and a comparison of 

 our actual receipts with our just dues, have led 

 us to adopt what is known among publishers as 



the 



"CASH IN ADVANCE SYSTEM." 



We prefer, if necessary, to do a small but safe 

 business, rather than to have a mammoth list of 

 subscribers, with the corresponding outlays for 

 agents, collections, paper, and the thousand ex- 

 penses of such an establishment, and, at the same 

 time, find our receipts constantly falling below a fair 

 percentage. We feel sure that none of our read- 

 ers -would object to our receiving a fair return for 

 our labors, while the certainty that we are not 

 working for the mere purpose of increasing the 

 amount of debts already due us, can but add vigor 

 to our endeavors to benefit our readers. 



By the terms which we have decided upon, our 

 readers will see that we do not desire to be the 

 sole beneficiaries by this change, but that, while 

 making a liberal allowance for payment and con- 

 tinuance to those who are indebted for the Far- 

 mer, we wish to retain and extend the benefit of 

 the reduced prices to those who have thus far 

 been the main-spring of our success — our advance- 

 paying subscribers. We do not mean that they 

 shall, hereafter, have the feeling that, in paying 

 their subscription, they must look upon one- 



