The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-07-09


to itself. 1t is now deemed necessary to annex Gu
ba, and the present year has no less than two
expeditions for that purpose, both patronzed by the
South, and the latter of them defended even the
floor of the Senate. Now, if there be any mea
sure better calculated than any other that could be
devised for weakening and impoverishing the
South, 1t would be the annexation, even If peace
ably accomplished, of Cuba. Nothing has thus far
saved the cotton planter from ruin but the with
drawal part of the population to be applied to the
agriculture, which would perish at once were
Cuba admitted into the Union, and then the force
now employed in producing sugar would have to
return to cotton, although the cotton planter is
saved from ruin by nothing but an occasional short
crop. The pro-slavery feeling, hocevn, oUerrides all
prudential considerations, and the probability is
that we shall revolution in Cuba, produced by
pro-slavery agitation, and followed by the emanci-
patton of all the slaves of that island.
The. annexation of the Cuban slaves would in
crease the supply Of cotton and diminish its price.
The annexation of every European immigrant tends
to increase the demand and raise its price, and yet
pro-savery leads the South to seek the former and
to interpose obstacles in the way of the latter The
consumption of cotton per head, within the Union,
is about fourteen pounds. In Ireland, il is little
more than Half a million of Irshmen, or of
Germans, within the Union, would consume seven
millions Of pounds, and such an importation of men
for only ten gears, would give, with the natural in
crease, population that would consume more of
our cotton than is now consumed by the whole pop
ulation of Great Britain and Ireland dtten cents
pound the latter cannot than about eigh
ty tpe millions Of pounds" and the poper to pay for
IL is steadily decreasing. Immigration trebled from
1881 to 1895; and it did again from 1874 to lS47
nd he baco ufa II a.,
steadily rscedng, and thus it is that while the
whole policy of the South tends to increase the mum
Der of cotton prsducers, it tends to diminish the
number and the powers Of cotton consumers. Had
the growth Of immigration for the year 1916 Z to
the present time been the same as in the four pre-
vious years, it would be this year sir hundred thou
sand, making market on the land for the products
Of the land to the extent Of srty millions of dollars
whereas, there Is now every to believe that
it will not greatly exceed fioo hundred thousand
and thus will the farmers and planters of the Union
be deprived of market TO the extent of FORTY mil
lions of dollars.
The average cost of raising the people who ar
rive in the Union exceeds one thousand dollars,
and it is the most valuable species of merchandise
that we can import because IL is the one that adds
raiue TO land, and yet it costs US nothing. The
Immigration OF the present year will be less than
it should be by 100000, worth, at s 900 per head
-four hundred millions of dollars and the Union will
be poorer than il would otherwise have been by this
whole amount-and probably much more; and all
this loss is due to pro-savery commercial policy.
beg you now to determine for yourself how much
so great an interference with the growth of capital
tends to diminish the power Of the people of the
Union to make market for your great staple.
From 1923 to ls47-S, the domestic consump-
ton rose from less than eight to almost fourteen
pounds per head. II is stationary, with ten
dency downwards, whereas 1t should have grown
to almost ttcenty pounds per head, which would
give, with population of twenty three millions,
home demand for 4oO,00O,00O, or half the crop
What then would be the price of cotton Let it
be observed that euey oduance of price resulting
from increased demand, increases pooer 10 consume
because IL as attended Dih general prosperity Eng.
lish merchants caution US against advanced prices.
because they "check consumption" but the sole
cause OF diminished consumption is the inability of
England to increase her production of commodi-
ties TO be given in exchange for it, The reverse
would here be the The richer Tie planter greir
The iron he ,ro,ld need, and The more iron that
,oas needed, The cotton mould be consumed.
Fortunately for the South, the Government lent
no countcnsncc to the Cuban scheme, so pregnant
would it have been bad the late administration
acted towards Mexico as the present one has done
towards Spain. The sole good fortune to the South
in all the recent movements consists as think, in
the extensive failure Of its views in regard to terri
torial aggrandizcment A large portion Of Texas
is unfit for slave cultivation is the whole Of the
recent acquisition from Mexico. Had il been other
wise-had New Mexico and California been new
Alabama and Mississippi-the effect would have
been to produce a still more rapid dispersion Of
population attended with great dimnution in the
value Of landed property in all the States east Of the
Mississippi, diminution in the return 10 labor,
and diminished strength, the natural accompani-
mcnt Of which would have been a very rapid in
crease Of the proslavery disease in part Of the
Union, and Of the anti-slavery in the other.
The result might then have been war between the
two sections Of the Union, but certainly as think
a dissolution Of the Union-next 10 war, the
greatest calamity that could befsll the South,
whose only security il to be found in the establish
ment and maintenance Of harmony.
pny you now TO examine these facts, and de
termine If further progress in the present direction
must not be attended with increased weakness on
the part Of the South, and increased danger to is
institutions; and, further, TO determine II a result
widely different would not have been obtained bya
continuance Of the policy Of 1898. Had the mining
Of coal and the manufacture Of iron gone on would
Virginia have been depopulated' Had South Car
olina built factories, would her population have
ceased to grow Had they rendered available their
water power, their fuel their orc, and their lime
stone, would their lands have so greatly dimin-
ished in value Would the whole South now be
seen holding meetings with view to cndeavor TO
diminish the product Of cotton Would il not on
the contrary, be now rejoicing in the increased ia
cility of obtaining both cloth and iron, and the in
creased power TO raise food and cotton consequent
upon having brought the consumer 90 take his
place by the side of tho producer Would not the
slave be now feeling the benefit in his improved
condition, and the master in the increased value Of
his land Would not the questions Of anti slavery
and free. soil have remained as undsturbed they
were twenty years since Would not tho harmo-
ny that once existed between the North and the
South have been maintained That II would have
been 80 is, think, beyond doubt.
The tuhole difficulty. be assured, lies in his cues
ton Of commercial policy. The South is constantly
weakening itself, and therefore il is that pro-sla-
very and abolition grow. It has wasted more labor
in settling new states, aud making new roads
fbrougb tbcrn than vouId have btiilt f,rn.rcs 81