New Orleans daily crescent., 1859-06-30
waAr SHALL WE DO WITH THEM !.

MANY persons are inclined to think that should the
United States get hold Of Mexico We would be in as
bad q predicament as the man who drew an elephant
in rafie; that We should not know what to do
with her, and nnd her = mere encumbrance, and
nothing more. But there is one thing, at least,
which We have confidently ascertained can be done
with her and also with Nicaragua, should they fall
TO rs in the moving chance Of worldly events. We
will make coffee plantations Of them, for the world
demands such source Of supply. Men everywhere
are every day learning to drink Coffee and increased
supply is not keeping pace with increased demand.
Every year sees an amount Of the berry consumed
ten per cent. greater than the consumption Of the
preceding twelvemonth. In England and Conti-
mental Europe the masses are learning to drink it in
stead Of their porter, ale and beer, and in America
progressive refinement Of taste is strongly repudatng
the Georgia recipe Of ten grains to the gallon an
parched peas, at that"
The American market has hitherto depended upon
Brazil for the bulk OF supply, but we begin to feel
that the yield is not sufficient, and that prices will
crawl up oppressvely high, unless some competition
s brought to bear against that empire which, by the
way, ia not at all disposed to do the fair thing in the
way Of reciprocity but is entirely content that her
commercial relations with the United States should
dollars per annum-a fact for which statistics are
evidence. She effects this by the shrewd, but not
altogether honorable policy Of crowding heavy i'm.
port duties on merchandise from this country, and
heavy export duties on her own produce which she
knows We have no choice but to take from her to the
amount that We may require for consumption, while
the prices bar our specializing in passing it to third
hands outside Of tho country. Thus she has things
o. q.
without the least regard for rs, though We ret her
an excellent example Of consideration for principles
of common International equity.
Therefore little compulson should be exercised
TO bring her to Of propriety, and this can be
done in the mildest and most peaceable yet most
forcible way imaginable, and by attacking her, too,
in her tenderest and most vital point-by competing
with her in the production Of coffee. Besides, with
al her resources in that department Of production
taxed 10 their limit, she cannot keep up with the in
creasing demand Of the world at large, and all the
coffee lands which the Creator gave to the earth must
Be put to their purpose, and their foreordaned end
attained. Tho coffee product Of the East Indies is
mostly consumed there and in Europe and the yield
cannot be increased to any appreciable extent Peo-
pie must learn to drink coffee no more, or the worlds
plantations must be placed under cultivation. The
Culcle6t VI tueS5o lay IL mSAlCu OcutIAt
and the berry which is raised to considerable
amount, especially that produced in the peninsuar
region from the Isthmus Of Minatitlan SOUTH is of
perior quality and much preferable to the Rio coffee.
great deal Of land is in coffee in Costa Rica and
neighboring States, and increased attention is being
constantly given to it's cultivation, for it is cash to
the country.
So here is one thing that we can do with Mexico
aud Central America (when we get hold of them)--
We can raise our own coffee and some for our neigh
bors, and be freed from exacting dependence Bra
zl for what has to be Of the staple
ries Of fe Let energetic Americans get hold of the
coffee interest in those regions and let it be properly
protected from the injuries Of foreign competition,
and it would attain its proper magnitude. It is
to the coffee culture that Costa Rica is indebted for
the little pre-eminence she has among her sister
States even the slight development Of one depart
ment OF staple resource having enabled her to over
come in measure her integral elements Of weakness
and wretchedness, and given her comparative wealth
and Importance.