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his situation & that the Bank had called on him for payment & make him that the price of slaves would go Down in his place & & to sell out his lott at cost and if not at cost at less than cost and pay his Debts as far as it would go & Drawn on in for the Ballace sum which time I have accepted his Bill for Two thousand and will accept again & pay if I have to sell negroes for 200 Dollars a piece on demand paper at half what it calls for he further Intimates that I do not care for the credit RGB &Co because I in my Individual name as in that of the consern of F&A may never want any thing from the Bank at Fredicksburg and since I requested him to sell the negroes he advised me that he could sell out at least consequently he could have sustained himself he was not ignorant of my situation he will know that if paper could have been discounted at even a sacrafice I would have submitted to the sacrafice chearfully rather than any one Branch of the consern Should have wanted money to pay Debts as if it could be raised by a sacrafice of property and that I have got to Learn that when anyone Branch of consern looses Credit that it does not affect the whole I have kept our Mr. Ballard always advised of our situtation and requested him to sell for cost & pay his Debts and as I have before stated he replyed that he could get cost this seems strange that a hint of his known capasity in financial arangements would refuse to take cost for
there is very little trouble to have negroes vaxinated
when he will know that they were going to a Bad Market wher contagious and every disadvantages was known to him existed in the country even the cause of the rise of slaves had been Lost by the pull of cotten and every thing that made slaves valluable had Disappeared
Confidence lost with the whole [can?] would was last Governments Deposits [re?ed] forreingn exchag down below par, broke all this [?ing] have the [face?] with my instructions to sell by all means for cost and if cost could not be obtained to sell for a loss and pay his debts, this he may have forgotten but if he will look over my advices it will be seen I am Truly sorry that he now charges me with a want of Interest in that branch of the consern for I can assure him that one Branch of the consern is as much entitled to my protection as the other & that I would not that either should be Discredited for all I ever Expect to make by them, the Brigg Lisbon sailed from this place on the 17th and should we still have any Slaves on hand they had agreed be shiped I am sorry that he misunderstood my previous instructions which was intended to be not to shipp me any man provided they could be sold for cost but the Idea to keep them there unless they could be sold never entered my mind & supposed that all that had not been sold would have come out last shipment my insructions were only preventory not to purchase an other with intention to shipppe Adieu Isaac Franklin
there is very little Trouble to have negros vaxinated as fast as they come in the house and we [answer?] to loose for our negligence
Mssr R C Ballard & Co Richmond Virginia
[Postmark: New Orleans]
New Orleans 30th March 1854
Dear Ballard
Yours of the 12 of the presant month is before you complain of hard times and sickness this makes me laugh to hear of a man being in distress at the loss of few negroes when I have had on hand in this place Two hundred at a time and forty or fifty to attend to at a time and at one time lost 4 negroes in less than forty eight hours but thank Godd they are all with a very few acceptions well at this time we have here on hand at this time only about fifty besides some 15 these are Contracted for and not yet delivered should this reach you before the Brigg Tribune sales you may shipp what you have and hand sales on slave and no Cash offering and I am not able to say when I can remit you any money for I am still hard pressed to meet Bills already accepted should your Banks be doing any thing and your can Borrow for 60-90 days with the privilege of taking up the notes at four months buy Bills on me you can go on to purchase sparingly at reduced prices this is the only way we will be able to do business the next season Our situation is not so desperate as I at one time anticipated we will make some money under all our bad luck provided the times would change a little and confidence could be restored our success Generally depend on that
we must act cautiously untill the times changes and confidence is restored after which we may go ahead like a steam Boat the Bank at this place are doing very little and I at one time was so hard run to meet my Bills that the Cashier suffered me a over Check for Ten thousand I can get money when no Other Trader can obtain a Dollar I have been very much distressed for fear your Credit would suffer but I had faith in you and also Sam Alsop to sustain yourselves and as I said in a previous letter that I had accepted one Bill after requesting you not to [?] I will still accept and pay any Amt at least so much as your owe in order that your you might pay the Bank calls punctually for I have alway held Credit above price and most Chearfully submit to any Sacrafice rather than have you discredited for one day let me hear from you frequently As Usual Isaac Franklin