Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-10-07
A Letter from Col. representation Trade
with EurOpe.

a AClleE AEouA NoAs ~ AC-1NnAAANAA 1Ae-US
with Europe,
The following highly interesting letter from Col
R. G. PAYNE has been sent to US for publication.
We have no doubt that the policy which it recon-
mends and views which it expresses, will be gener
ally approved This letter is the first of a series
promised us by Col PAYNE on the the same subject:
Toll G. HARRIS, Governor of Tennessee:
SIR:-Your position as chief Executive OF the
State, and your consequeat official relation to its
system Of Internal improvements, together with the
personal interest you have always manifesto In the
rapid development Of the resources Of the country,
FORM it is hoped a sufficient excuse fer the public
manner in which have presumed to address you
As IL is nv desire to contribute my humble efforts
TO the support of an important measure Of southern
policy it is not doubted but that shall receive an
impartial hearing not only from you, but from
the people of the State who have made you the Gus
todian Of their interests. Should fail in convnc-
ing their judgments or enlisting their support
the consolation at least will be mine, OF knowing
that the effort was well intended and that success
though delayed for time, will eventually crown the
efforts of the friends of the South.
You sir are spprized Of the fact that for several
years the project Of direct Southern trade with
Europe by means Of ocean steamers, has occupied
the attention of many of our leading men. 1t has
been elaborated with marked ability in some Of our
southern journals, while practical men Of the
South are already taking steps to carry the plan
into execution 1t is feared, however, that sufficient
efforts have not yet been made to obtain that pop
ular judgment in favor of this measure, which in
our country is generally the harbinger Of success
1t will be the object of this and subsequent papers
to bring the subject of direct foreign trade from
the South before the people Of Tennessee, and to
demonstrate, if it can be done, the deep interest
which not only they, but the whole South and West
have in its establishment. That it is not merely
matter Ct pecunary interest, but Of commercial lnS
dependence and political equality.
Various lines have been suggested as worthy
Of support and it is hoped that they will be estsb-
hshed,-Without taking ground against any ofthese
or in the slightest manner discredlung their claims
to public favor shall address myself particularly
to the proposition thst is pending, for estab.
fishing a line Of ocean steamers betWlXt Norfolk
in Virginia, and St. Nazare at the mouth Of the
Loire, in France A few preliminary remarks
may not be of place before we approach the Prin-
cipal question.
For one I rejoice in being a Southerner,-With
me it is a designation Of peculiar value, but while
this is the case, not obivious to the defects Of
Southern policy. That there are such defects and
these too of grave and serious character none will
depv. The people Of the South owe a sacred duty
not only to themselves, but to the Union, to adopt
the policy which they have so long ignored, Of
building up and sustaining Southern interests In
stead of committing that interest, as Is now done,
into Nohern hands, let them become their own car
riers and factors and appropriate to Themselves the
immense sums that are annually paid to the muti~
piled northern agencies that have fastened upon
ruinOus system of trade.
For series of years we have complained Of
northern sggressions-ECs charge that section with
seeking to undermine and destroy domestic in
stiuons-that to effect this object it has NOT scru-
pied 10 violate the national compact by enactments
that were degrading to Southern character and de-
Etructive Of It's mlst important interests-that we
have been made the victims Of northern sentiment
which fixed upon the brand Of iufeTiority-mark.
egggnlF he FpEppctpQ but a interiors
to be shunnedsn despised And that these Outra-
Res have been perpetrated by the very people who
have been sustained and enriched by a system of
legislation that e1accd tribute from the South for
the benefit of the north. For our redress we have
aInu0issly depended upon legislative resolves, com
ventionsl manifestOs, and occasional appeals to the
generosity Of our prosecutors. The very weapons
we used demonstrated our weakness, and invited to
further and greater insults. In the excitement Of
sectional contests many have looked to severance
Of the Union as furnishing the only chance Of re-
dress, stopping to consider that like other des-
perste means, instead of efectlng cure, 1t might
only sggrsvate our sutfeTings
1t is submitted sir that the best mode Of obtain
ing justice for the South is for the South to be just
TO heTget and instead of vain appeals to Northern
msgnanmiy, let her teach the North as she can do,
that with her 0Un strong arm and ready will she is
fully able to protect her own interests-that with
her rich and varied producGons-With wide ocean
upon her borders, and the 10ord her for customers,
from sn exscting ssterhood at the North, but from
al others.
II cannot be forgotten sir, Though the fact be a
humRting one to u.s. that al the close of the Rev
olutiou the South was not the least commercial or
influential portion of the confederacy Her voice
commanded respect in the halls of legislation and
her trade with distant countries more than
equal to that Of the North The city of Norfolk
was then the rival Of New York, and the Southern
trader was better known in the countingrOOms of
London than he was in those Of Philadelphia OF
Boston But change has been gradually effected
in the commercial relations Of the South as injur-
Gus 10 her financial interests it has been to her
political equality. The people Of the North have
been constituted under this change the commercial
guardians Of the South-they have become her fac
tors and carriers-Southern staples are controlled
by Northern agencies-they are shipped IL North
ern bottoms, insured by Northern companies, and
for all which millions are paid BY the South, and
that too for doing what the South is entirely compe
tent 10 dc for herself Nor the taxes devised by
Northern ingenuity and based upon Southern ex~
ports the only draughts upon our people. The same
causes that have placed exports at the mercy OF
Northern agencies have likewise destroyed our dl-
rect importing interest and transferred that too to
The nursing care Of the same parties. The immense