THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER 



311 



benefit of his reform thus far. A kind Pro- 

 vidence afflicts some people with too much wis- 

 dom, and in this instance we see a melancholy 

 demonstration of the fact. 



• In the second place he says : "Let them (the 

 graziers and drovers,) call a convention to meet 

 at the next Agricultural Fair at Richmond, 

 where the matter can be discussed and such 

 steps taken as will remedy some of the evils 

 under which we now labor." 



Now, can any man of sense read the above 

 extract from his article without coming under 

 the influence of risible emotion f This is a free 

 country, and the people have a right peaceably 

 to assemble to redress existing grievances ; but 

 what can this proposed convention do towards 

 keeping open markets — towards forcing butch- 

 ers to give more for beef than it is worth ? If 

 Mr. Jones supposes this can be done, he is 

 vastly mistaken. All men, like himself, will 

 sometimes look to self-interest, but all of us 

 have to yield to circumstances at times which 

 are beyond our immediate or effective control. 

 To keep more than one drove of cattle from 

 coming into market at a time could not be 

 done — is it necessary 'that every man owning 

 cattle should write to every other man 

 in the State that he intends starting his cattle 

 on such a day, and that he must not start, else 

 they will both come into " a tight market," 

 and thereby be " literally skinned." This 

 species of reform can't work, and the conven- 

 tion can't remedy the " evils" of a crowded 

 market. In an open market, our prices here 

 will compare favorably with, and oftentimes 

 exceed, those of any other market, and, let me 

 add, for the last two months cattle have been 

 considerably higher here than in Baltimore. 

 The only thing the convention Mr. Jones pro- 

 poses can do, is to get up packing houses for 

 his benefit, which he suggests as having a ten- 

 dency to keep an open market and more uni- 

 form prices. Sow wonderful ! Baltimore be- 

 comes glutted with cattle as often or oftener 

 than our market, notwithstanding the fact 

 that there are three or four packing houses 

 there. Now suppose we had packing houses, 

 might we not still be in the fix in which we 

 sometimes now find ourselves? But we want 

 to know what sort of a reform the proposed 

 convention can effect? I should judge they 

 would 'say, take choice of your agent, or sell 

 yourselves, or sell at home. As Mr. Jones 

 harps on the Baltimore market, let him con- 

 tinually keep in mind that our prices stand a 

 better average, and that Baltimore is glutted 

 as often as we are, and when in a glutted state, 

 drovers are sometimes skinned there. One 

 thing is very sure, the convention may meet 

 and debate — have Mr. Jones for orator, and 

 any reform they suggest will go no farther 

 than the conclave over which I propose Mr. 

 Jones to preside. As warm weather is com- 

 ing on, would it not be best for Mr. J. to have 

 his convention called in the course of sixty 



days. Fish, fowls, and "small meats" gener- 

 ally, are coming in freely, and will continue to 

 come in for five or six months, and a large de- 

 cline in the prices of beef may be expected. 

 So, come on, have your convention, and drive 

 out the fish, fowls, &c. Usurp the throne, and 

 utter your manifestos. We may then with 

 propriety ask you, * On what meat doth 

 this our Csesar feed, that he hath grown so 

 great ?" 



Now let me give a true statement of the 

 cause, which led Mr. Jones to perpetrate his 

 effusion on the " Richmond Cattle Market." 

 In the month of December, 1856, Mr. Jones 

 wrote me he had a drove of cattle he wished 

 me to sell — wished me to have an open mar- 

 ket. I advised him when to start — he did so, 

 and previously to getting near Richmond, 

 other droves which had started before his, 

 and were ahead of him, cut him out of his 

 turn. Mr. Jones came to see me, and insisted 

 that his cattle should come in ahead of others 

 which were ahead of him. To this proposi- 

 tion I could not in justice to my customers or 

 myself, assent. In other words, I distinctly 

 told him it was an unvarying rule with me, 

 that when several droves came to a stand about 

 the same time, the one which first reached there 

 shoidd come in firsi. I considered this fair, 

 and have observed it carefully in the prosecu- 

 tion of my business. Mr. Jones would not, 

 however, take the " miller's turn" of " first 

 come, first served," I, however, appointed the 

 day on which his cattle should come in — they 

 came, the market was so full and prices so low, 

 that I was neither able to get a fair price, nor 

 willing to sell at a reduced price. He then, 

 according to my advice, drove back a short 

 distance from the city, and instead of waiting 

 till I should send for the cattle, the next day 

 brought in thirteen instead of half his cattle, 

 and sold them ; and next day sold half of what 

 remained — he sacrificed his cattle, and now 

 " bites off his nose to spite his face !" I was 

 very well satisfied with his selling his own cat- 

 tle, because I never ask any man to send stock 

 to me. He had a portion still left — I had an 

 order for eight cattle from 'Hampton. Feeling 

 interested in his welfare, I told him I would 

 take nine of his cattle at $7 nett, and send to 

 Hampton. I did so — made the usual charges 

 of commission, &c, and gave him my accep- 

 tances at 30 and 60 days. I sold these cattle, 

 as I always have done, on credit, and I have 

 not yet received the money for them, the 

 amount of which is $324 45-100. My first ob- 

 ject in selling stock is, to get a fair price, and 

 to effect this object, the credit system must cer- 

 tainly be observed to avoid a^ sacrifice. Any 

 salesman who sells for cash will not do much 

 selling, and those Wt whom he sells will be 

 "literally skinned," to use Mr. Jones' delicate 

 English. Owing to heavy losses I had previ- 

 ously met in past years, by the unfortunate re- 

 sult t>f business at the hands of butchers, and 



