The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-12-02


ton, These resources are in fact so great as to
furnish the basis upon which the lucrative com
merce of the North Is carried on, and the means
by which the principal amount of the revenue of
Government - raised, TO say nothing of its con-
tributions TO the commerce and prosperity OF other
nations. But for the single item of cotton, which
is produced within the slave States, how different
would be the conditioned the Northern States and
the people Of the North "Deprved of the cot
ton and commerce of the South, what would be
seen! Ships rotting at their wharves factories
tumbling into ruins and their merchant princes,
like those OF Venice, living meagerly on contrIbu-
tons levied on the curiosity Of travellers. The
cotton OF the South gives play to the shuttle ofthe
North it is the pulse OF its life Let II stop once
and it beats no more. Nor is this confined to the
North, The same cause operates on every pow
erfu nation of Western Europe"
The following facts will go to show some of the
elements of wealth and power possessed by the
Southern States, establishing, beyond question,
the superiority of their resources over those or the
Northern States. 1.-THE crop Of the United States,
in 1923, was only 5O9,1 5s, and yet the crop Of
1889 had reached 2,72S, 596, more than five
times as great in l648 as it was in 1923, twenty
six years before. This was worth, Cat ID cents)
$sl ,S71 900. Deductng ,039 as the quantity
consumed in the United States, we have for ex-
portation, ,227, S44 bales, which at 10 cents "a
mean estimate) is worth $50, 1926 1929 If to this
be added the other domestic productions of the
South, So, 674, 176, the whole value of Southern
exports for 1849 is 500 SOC, O0O-more than two
thirds Of the whole domestic exports from the
United States for that year, which was Sl3l, no.
0Sl, and more than three times as much as the
whole domestic export from the North for the
same year, which was So, 2l0,08l. The remark
able fact is also shown, that the domestic exports
of the South, sresiue Of cotton, her great sapLs is
sac, 674,176, while the exports from the North
are S32, OH, O8l, leaving the value OF her cotton
nd ha n
sumes less than oneffth Of our cotton, while four
ffths find 80 ready market on our wharyes, is
significant Of the independence Of the South and
the North might well be reminded by her receiy-
ing all her supply ofra,o material from us and send
ing it again TO us in her manufactured goods, even
| if less keen-sighted than our Northern brethren
are reputed to beg how dangerous is the policy oil
converting an ally into an enemy, and customer
| into a ripai. .f. ;. .. .a....
"Thus is shown, by the operation Of one agri-
cultural product, the vast power the South already
has and controls unconsciously. What she
might attain, if her attention were turned to man.
ufacturing her productions, would be an interest
ing inquiry. IL would illustrate u condition
scarcely TO be seen elsewhere, of a people possess
ing the means of producing and manufacturing,
within the same limits, the material for wealth
and expanded commerce." .... ... ~
To demonstrate the capacity of the South to Ell.
gage extensively and successfully in manufacture
ing, would be to present picture upon which no
truly Southern eye can look without feelings oil
pride and pleasure. But this view Of the subject
is omitted for want of space, as its discussion
would carry this essay beyond the limits contem
plated. The power Of the South in another, and
not less imposing view, will be presented. 4.,u \
"The South now, alone, has militia Of 700 ,00C
men doing duty, and, in an emergency, the num-
Der could be increased to one million. With her
territory extending from the Chesapeake to the
Rio Grande, from the twenty-ninth to the forteth
Il 20 G,1P anal tl,nt
of 2,l00 miles, the former acquired since the war
of the revolution with her territory mapped over
by long lines of railroads with the control Of the
largest river in the United States-that inland seq,
bearing on its broad bosom the wealth Of the
South and West, and the Northwest with eli
mate and soil so diversified that all the breadstufts
necessary for man may be grown IN one section
Of each State. But above and beyond all these,
there is tie which cements together these South
ern States beyond any union now existing be.
tween the opposite sections of the country. 1t is
the identity of the interests and pursuits of its
population. The existence of slavery links then,
together, as perhaps no separate people have ever
yet been. In the North, as society now exists,
the interests of the sections are diverse, and so
must necessarily be their. feelings" ay:
From these considerations may we not be en-
couraged with the hope that, in case our Northern
brethren do drive US from them, we have the abil-
ity to 'set our house in order," and live ndepen-
sources. But "we have no wish to see the Con-
federacy dissolved. Bring it back to justice re-
new and respect the guarantees Of the .Constitu-
ton give us peace restore our securities cease
to trespass upon our rights !; yield us an equa
share Of the results Of the Union, its trumphs and
acquisitions, and there will be no longer voice Of
complaint or censure, or discomfort among us. u
A disruption of the Union, carrying with it no
little acerbity of feeling, would result in breaking
up in great measure the present system Of inter
nal trade "a trade which has made the North what
it is. and which is the foundation Of its wealth and
prosperity. The following statistical facts will
illustrate the immense loss to the North by the
abandonment by the South of its connection with
that section. They are worthy of the consdera-
ton Of those who seek our overthrow, and by
consequence their own ruin.
"DIREcr TRADE.-The New York Courier, in
an Article on the consequences of disunion, con-
denses some important commercial figures and
facts. The product Of the slave Sta es it puts
down us follows:
1649 lS48 1S47