THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



571 



be its intents wicked or charitable, the public 

 looks only to results." 



We thank you for this admission. You must 

 allude to the great cities of New York, Balti- 

 more, Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans, 

 as being the emporia referred to, as worthy 

 precedents. You are aware, that in the North- 

 ern cities referred to, yon cannot buy or sell 

 one share of stock, or sell one bushel of grain, 

 except through the hands of the commission 

 merchant ; and at the South, even though you 

 held all the cotton that grows on the Yazoo, or 

 Mississippi Bottom, and go into one of these 

 cities, you cannot dispose of a bale except by 

 paying a commission to a factor. The question, 

 then, is whether Richmond is ready to imiiaie 

 their example," ? We cannot see by what code 

 any privileged class shall appropriate to them- 

 selves all the rights of purchase and sale at a 

 public market, and permit no one else to come 

 in and enjoy the advantages of the market ex- 

 cept by paying them HLhoausiov so doing. We 

 do not see why we, who grow the tobacco, 

 shall not have the right of disposing of our 

 own crops as we may think proper, be they in 

 our barns, or in the warehouse in the city of 

 Richmond ; and w^hat policy of commerce can 

 be promoted by forbidding our so doing, or 

 paying a tax for the privilege — not for the 

 benefit of commerce — hut for the benefit of a 

 combination of private individuals? Tlie de- 

 mands of commerce are not so unjust, and she 

 asks no such an offering at our hands. And 

 if " the cumbrous machinery of trade" moves 

 so heavily as to require some improvement, v/e 

 plead guilty to the obtuseness of not being able 

 to see the necessity, or justness, of having it 

 lubricated by a compulsory tax of 2 J per cent, 

 on all produce sold in market. If Richmond 

 is to become the great emporium for the sale 

 and shipment of tobacco, you must see that the 

 establishment of this Exchange, " in confor- 

 mity to the precedents of other emporia," must 

 also establish a tax, amounting to the commis- 

 sion, on all tobacco bought in the upland mar- 

 kets to be re-sold in Richmond, just as the 

 dealer, in buying cotton in Memphis, must cal- 

 culate the additional cost, and deduct it from 

 the price paid, by being compelled to employ 

 a factor in New Orleans to dispose of it to the 

 shipper; all of which comes out of the planter. 

 If we are not much mistaken, we recollect 

 with pleasure your zealous and able advocacy 

 of the abolition of all Inspection Laws, as im- 

 posing unnecessary tax on the planter, and are 

 at a loss to reconcile it with your support of a 

 ays em now, Avhich will, " in conformity to the 

 precedents of other emporia," impose a com- 

 pulsory tax on the tobacco alone grown by him, 

 m many instances as great and greater than the 

 whole amount he pays on all his property, 

 personal and real, into the State Treasury, and 

 of which tax now there is so much complaint. 

 You have favoured us with statistics, showing 

 the amount of Inspectors' salary &c., at Shockoe 



warehouse. We will now ask, and will be 

 under obligations to you to give us some state- 

 ment of the amount of tax the planter will be 

 compelled to pay, in the v»'ay of commissions, 

 on all tobacco sold in Richmond, when the Ex- 

 change is perfected " in conformity to the 

 precedents of other emporia." You can ap- 

 proximate to the amount, by ascertaining the 

 value of the tobacco trade for the past year, 

 and give us the 2^- per cent, of the amount, to 

 say nothing " of the large and increasing trade" 

 which the founders of the Exchange anticipate. 



We believe that the intent of the founders of 

 the Exchange, "be it ivicked or charitable," is 

 to break down all inspections and warehouse 

 sales — that their "policy" is to force all tobac- 

 co into the Exchange, and thereafter into the 

 hands of the agent ; and that the result of its 

 establishment will be " in conformity to the 

 precedents of other emporia." " The public 

 looks only to results," and profiting by these 

 "precedents" — to prevent just this state of 

 trade in the tobacco market that we demur — 

 and for that reason we "do resolve, 



1st. That whilst we may use our commission 

 merchants as agents for the sale of produce, at 

 our option, we will not be compelled to resort 

 to their agency against our will," &c. 



We still advocate " freedom of trade, of 

 action, and opinion," careless as to whose code 

 it may offend. If the machinery of trade has 

 become so cumbrous, and it is necessary to 

 have an Exchange, we would ask, what ob- 

 jections you can possibly have to an Exchange 

 enacted by the law of the land, where all may 

 have the same rights and privileges, that they 

 now enjoy, defined, by law? In other words, a 

 general pla^e of sale, where all samples are 

 taken and each inspector sells the tobacco of 

 his warehouse in the order of the breaks of 

 that day ? But you answer, that the planter 

 now has the right to .sell at the Exchange for 

 the pittance of 12J cents per hogshead — a sum 

 less than he pays the Inspector, Not being a 

 tobacco planter yourself, we perceive that you 

 are not conversant with the tricks of the trade. 

 'Tis true, that we may sell at the Exchange for 

 this small pittance, but what guarantee have 

 we that we may do the same thing next year? 

 and besides, as you admit the crier is " bound 

 not to collect at all" — you must see that not 

 one planter in fifty could collect the proceeds 

 of the sale of his crop, divided among half a 

 dozen purchasers, witliout great loss of time 

 and incurring expense. It is almost impracti- 

 ca))le, as the counting-rooms of the dealers are 

 scattered over a large portion of the city and 

 unknown to the planter. And besides, we 

 charge it upon the patrons of the scheme, that 

 this prohibition of the crier "]U)t to collect at 

 all," is one of the studied ^'intents" to force the 

 planter into the hands of the merchant. After 

 breaking down the inspection sales, (an intent 

 which you will hardly deny for them,) if they 

 do not have the hardihood to come right down 



