The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-04-09
From the journal Of Commerce
AMERICAN INDUSTRY NORTH AMI son,

try of Massachusetts, and to some cxtnnt nr IL
Nofthcrn States, l now invite attention to ths
iacI mat neither cotton, tobacco, sugar. nor rice
the great staples of the South, is thus ovor.os,;
mated Unlike grass, hay, coarse a,,a;ns no,a
toes ana other products Of northern opricnIturc
which are repeatedly estimated in the ccnsus oc'
count OF northern tilInge and husbandrv' in tI,o
form OF meat. dairy products. wool. and live
s'och' southerh cotton is never counted but
once, aud then at the price it sells ut mud ~"
more. The same is true of tobacco. r;cn OIL
sugar. oe' "n"
II the planting labor of the South were no
more rem,lnerntive than the Turning md mann
iactnrlng industry of the North, it is inconccivn
nae .oM Pianters could afford to pay, US they now
do from 81 200 to 81 800 for common field hands
TO raise cotton. Were such an onerous invest
hieht necessary to carry OH northern agriculture.
manufactures, or commerce, it could not fail to
reduce very materially the profits and extent Of
Northern enterprise; and yet SO entirely differ
eht are the circumstances which surround South-
ern enterprise, and urge forward its dcyplonment
lnat t'l's drawback IS more than compensated bv
advantages which are little sccn and less under
stood by persons residing out Of the p,ont;me
states. Wishing to make these ADVANTAGES
plain to every reader, l shall deal only in fnc,s
which l have reason to believe cannot he smc.
cessiully controvcrted.
INC otnte oil New York has uneuualled con,
mercial advantages in its command of Tho traJo,
oil the great Lakes, and facilities for importinn
:, :: "e al heediul foreign goods Ita
SOIL IS better, on an average, than that of Geor.
Sa; and IT has been much longer settled bv En-.
rop"ans, and is therefore in possession of caDtal
mat has the accumulations of two Centuries
AT the last United States census, the real and
personal estate or the people of New York, was
returned ut $l,0s0,3n9,2l6 Its poDulstion ot
".097:3 1874. Divide the sum of their wealth
equally and each will have s34e.f8 At The
same census the people of Georgia. who were on.
Pnbie ol holding property, including all free ne
groes; numbe'ed 524,503. Their aggregate
wealth was returned ut the low price at wh,ch IL
was taxed, and amounted to So. 5.425.7la.-
DIVIDE this sum equally between them, and each
will have S639.4S.
IL The purchase Of laborers in Vircinia, Marv-
.;no' ken'ucky, and elsewhere. and the produc-
more profitable thnn New York industry low
did it happen that the citizens of Georgia were
w"rth' Ill le5u, nearly twice rs much mr. con1,
us those OF New Yorka Tho Journal OF (:nm-
'herce OF The s'h january last. if mistake nor
contained n brief abstract of the most recon, w
timaes OF The real and personal proner,v ~ ,t.
several States. ennnating from the office of the
Secretary of the Treasury ut Washing,on A..
cording to thut document, the State of No.,
York has about $4OD to each inhabitant. NM,
'eorg'a sl'"s' to each person capable by law of
holding property. As large share of the con;-
tai yearly called into existence by the Iobom IS
Georgia, s invested in the purchase of nerroes
out OF the State, it would be absurd TO div;deiho
wealth Of its citizens among these or other slaves
| nelu rs properly, in any estimate ofState wealth
any way involved in this purely economical nnes-
,'on OF dollars and cents. Property holders in
both states use their money rs they please in nj
| lawful ways; and the result is that the industr;s
ous, cnterPrsing people of Georgia have mnde
an" 1 'a,d up about l50 per cent. more capital
! IMAM the people Of New York. The propertv
holders Of South Carolina have twice tbe ,xpesitI,
per capita possessed by the people of bIassichn-
| sells; anu shonld the demand for SoutbeIn sto .
pies, particularly cotton, rice and sugar, continue
at rern''neraiing figures, as it doubtless will
there ire natural advantages in fovor of ~.
| South yet to he named, that will constantly nuo
ment her wealth faster thnn it can be increase,
ut the North wi,hequaI capital It is truc there
has been, and still is great lack of capital Mt
the South to develop wisely her Utmost unlimi
ted agricultural resources, but her intelligent ci
tzens do the best they can to remedy this seri.
ous defect, their unequaled industry in nrn-
dncng capital, and economy in saving it.. bear
witness
Their remarkable success is due in no small
degree 10 II peculiar uni most favorable climate
III a'i'''!on 10 choice planting lands by the hun
dred million acres. which nave literally cost
them nothing. If Southern agriculture were not
peculiarly blessed in reference to climate M
matter how fertile the soil, how extensi v a tEe
planting area, nor how high the price of cotton.
competition IN other quarters of the world, and
equally unproftable and undesirable; Every ;n,
tcllIgent reader will admit that sav ehoIdi Lns
been more prosperous IN the Southern Atlantic
Gull States than in any other part of the W orld.
and that 1T IS destined TO corlinue so, there can
not be reasonable doubt If proneriv wera
| entailcd, and slaves not transferabie frnn, ono
| estate TO another, it might be otherwise Bnt so
| long as the South is favored with somthino l;ls
tropical summers, which ut once keen out Euro
pean i"borers, and bring the cotton plant to its
| highest Productlveness, negro labor as now en-
ployed will be more profitable :han apy other Ie
our winters were relatively rs warm ns those of
England, and Ireland, or the came thew a, o in
| some parts of Mexico and Central America. such
would be their relaxing depressing influence on
planters, as to render our anual eat of cotton
| no larger than that OF the British Possessions in
| Asia and the West Indies If Georeia summers
are admirably adapted to the growth, of cotton.
Georgia winters are equally favorable to the de-.
velopment Of mans highest physical and intel.
| lecual energies. Without these ADVANTAGES
| combined, her industry would not, apnr.beSd
bo more productive than that of New York or
Massachusetts,. The temperature here is aa hioh
and prolonged as it can be and not SLOWLY take
away all ambition to till the EARTH not as mems
OF subsistence, but to accumulate proneriv-
Cold, when not too intense, nor too protracted.. :.
is natures universal stimulus to industry. invsn.
ton, md studious acquisition The people oE fbas
North happily illustrate the sodndness Of tSis
theory; but as it there takes the heat of ~,
summers to mature crop of wheat an1is0Hte Of
corn on tho same land, in succession, and as tho
wheat OF one summer snffices in Georgia, Il "a
plain that labor in the South has-greatly the ad-
vantage.
Any given amount Of money and muscular
toll yields larger return- in the Southern tl,an
in the Northern Stales, because vegetable yitsaf.
ty in the seeds Of agricultural plants operates
some months longer, and therefore more effect
lively In the warmer climate for the e'Benefit of
both tIlage and husbandfy. Wherever. there ia
sufticiept industry and knowlsge to .urnssif the
Multiplying forces in plants and ANNA ito, a
profitable account, In Southern climate. con-
sumption bengredueed to its minimum with com
fort; it e obvious .ha. wealth in plants anatn:
mals may BE- raRidly accumulated. I am far
from saying that Tie self multiplying power of
the cotton plant, or.any OTTER. is fully deyelopod
in Georgis; It is however. cultivated with hueh
credited' Hitherto land has been too Cheap and
abundant to be treuted with that care, and atten:
tion'to enduIing fertility, which are Observed In;
more densely: populated countries. Time and.
necessity, ifnotbipg else will cure this dasaat =