The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-10-28

the South revenue OF mere than III miilionst am
sSr Purpose asr ss sas
is only is millions, and her expenditures would
be much less for her population than the North 8.
fter territory Is more compact, and her people are
unaccusfomed to look 70 Government for the
means Of living. All the ordinary expenditures
of the United States In 1880, with third more
population than the South now has, were but -
millions. We have placed her revenue at the
lowest for the increase in the value Of the exports
OF cotton alone in the present year Will probably
be 40 millions, il we may judge from the returns
thus far. IL we add the rice, tobacco, gram and
cotton sold to the North, 80 millions more, we
have total of ITO millions of exports, and the
return imports may be fairly put down at 200 mil
lions, on which the same low duty would yield TO
the South revenue Of 20 millions or dollars! II
is very plain that the South could have no dlfcul-
ties IN her finances. Meantime her trade would
revive and grow, like field Of young corn, when
the long expected showers descend after wither-
| ing drought. The South now loses the use Of
some 40 or lao millions year OF her capital, and
also pays TO the Federal Government at least rs
millions of taxes, 90 of which are spent beyond
her borders. This great stream of taxation con-
tinuay bears the wealth Of the South far away on
its waves, and small indeed is the portion which
ever return in refreshing clouds to replenish it's
| sources. Turn it back to its natural channel, and
the South will be relieved OF l5 millions OF taxes
to be left where they can be most wisely expend-
Gu, III the udnuS OF Tue payers, oHu tuo otHoT IL
millions win furnish salaries to her people and en-
couragement to her labor. Restore to her the
| use Of the 100 or l40 millions year of her pro-
duce for the foreign trade, and all her ports will
| throng with business. Norfolk and Charleston
and Savannah, so long pointed at by the North as
a proof Of the pretended evils Of slavery, will be
crowded with shipping, and their warehouses
| crammed with merchandise. The use and COM
mand of this large capital would cut canals; it
would build roads and tunnel mountains, and
drive the iron horse through the remotest Valleys
till "the desert should blossom like the rose. %
remarkable difference between the Northern
and Southern sections is, that while the latter is
complete in herself, both in the resources of
wealth and the means of communication with the
world, the former is strikngly the reverse. We
have already shown that the savehodlng States
produce nearly twice as much food for their popu-
latlon the free States, and are still increasing in
quantity, both Of bread and meat, for each person.
It is notorious that the Eastern States have long
| been in the habit of drawing large supplies of
| grain from the Chesapeake and from North Caro-
lima. With the tendency of Northern population
to gather in towns and factories and the increasing
| tide Of foreign imm grafton, the time cannot be
very far distant when the free States, Us whole,
will be dependent on the South for part of their
| food. The progress Of population must soon
force a resort to inferior soils for cultivation, and
so raise the cost Of production. On the other
hand, such day is far, far distant in the South
| I1ST UuHUcTS TtCeiVc uO uHIutuIdi luCfcdSt IOIH
immigration, but the adjustment of population to
food is left to the eternal laws of nature. Here
! inhabitants are not so densely settled, ard have
therefore more land TO cultivate. The soil is more
fertile, and the superiority OF climate is almost
| equal to as much mere of natural fertility II
may therefore, be concluded, that her people will
continue to have large surplus food for expor-
tation, after themselves consuming more per head
than the people of the free States, besides export
ing several millions Of dollars worth.
But If such is the comparative condition of the
two sections to the great staff of life, how is it
| In regard to other articles, which add to our COM
fort, and minister to the higher wants Of a refined
civilizatona
The Patent Office Report (for l947,sp. 1917 esti-
mates the consumption of sugar in the United
States at 800 millions Of pounds annually, which
agrees very well with the returns Of imports re-
tanned for consumption, and the amount of the
Louisiana crop. This allows l6 or II pounds for
every person, black and white, in the country,
and makes the consumption at the South not quite
| 1877 millions Of pounds. But the Louisiana crop
has averaged 200 millions Of pounds for the last
| four years, which would not only supply the
Southern demand, but leave surplus for expor-
| tation of sd millions of pounds, worth S2 ESQ 900.
This is besides 10 millions Of gallons Of molasses,
which will pay all the expenses Of cultivation.
We may add, that the culture of sugar is fast ex-
tending at the South There are large districts in
western Louisiana and Texas, and in the PENN
|
amount as cheaply as in Cuba. Nothing is want
ing but capital to open them, and erect the neces-
sary machinery. In the event Of dissolution of
the present Union, this would be easily supplied
from the Is millions of taxes saved, and the l40
millions of Southern produce restored to our use
On the other hand the North is entirely dependent
on the South and other countries for l73 millions
of pounds of sugar, worth $3.50 900.
Tobacco is another great staple of the trade Of
the world. Nearly the whole production GEO
millions of pounds) of the United States, is in the
South; that is, go millions Of pounds, worth, at
5 cents, TO- millions of dollars. Maryland, Vir-
ginia, and North Carolina, alone, produce SO mil
lions and the quality Of their tobacco is acknow-
edged to be superior to any in the world. The
South can supply the whole annual consumption
of England and France, 40 Millions and still have
81 pounds left for every soul, slave and free, Of
would cost the North So, 756, 900 for the IT'S mil
lions Of pounds required to furnish her population
as abundantly. The great staple has become
almost necessary of life, and we may expect
steady increase in the demand for it, while slave
labor, and certain pecuarities Of soil and climate,
give the South monopoly of the supply Of the
higher qualities. But the chief crop the South
is yet to be considered; we, of course, mean cot
ton.
The exports Of this one article have some years
been over two-thirds of the whole domestic ex-
ports Of the United States. Last year they were
HOTe tIidH Hdh,-oVeT W tHiluoHS Oi uOliaTS he
price this year averages 70 per cent higher, as
calculated from the actual returns, so that the ex-
ports, though less in quantity from the short crop,
must be considerably greater in value. The crop
has increased 25 per cent since 1910; but the
foreign demand, as shown by the exports, has
increased still faster, that is, 80 per cent. The
average crop is now 2, 100000 bales, and all the
rest of the world cannot sell 10000 bales. In
Great Britain, A millions of persons live by the
manufacture of cotton, 2 millions more in Europe,
and million in the free States--in all millions
of people, whose daily bread is diminished or in
creased by the supply Of cotton from the slave
States. England has imported annually for the
last five years, from countries other than the
United States, 322 1861 bales, which is &C, 900 less
than the average Of the preceding FIVE years. The
imports from India, which, it was pretended at
one time, would ruin our market, have declined
from 274 900 bales in ls4l, to 100000 in 'lS49.
Egypt supplied more than $4,000 bales in 1S45,
and now does not send third Of that quantity.
The Southern States are the only part of the
world where the growth Of cotton is extending, and
here the average increase Of the crop is not over
80, 900 bales year. So great has been the decline
Of the cotton crop in other countries, that the
English supply from all quarters, available for
home consumption, including our slave States,