The Oxford intelligencer., 1860-08-29
ZION. 4. NJ. Clayton at Rurh,o.

connection with several gentlemen nom TINS sec
ton, few days since, which we find in the Pic
aguae of the 10th:
Mr.. Mayor Of Bg6alo, aud FsllOD- Citizens:
For this manifestation Of courtesy and kind
feeling permit me, on the part Of the excursion
lists, to return our sincere Acknowledgements
Ten days ago we left our homes in the far off
sunny South, and wherever we have been we
have met with hearts as warm, and hands rs
cordial as II we were among old and long cher
ished friends. We have been met, not as stran-
gers from a distant cline, but as members of
one great family and household
We have come from the great emporium of
the South, New Orleans, from the sugar planta-
tons Of Louisiana, from the cotton fields Of Mis-
sissippi, and from the tobacco farms Of Tennes-
see. We have traversed the prairies Of Illinois
teeming with wheat and with corn, and pouring
into the new Cairo of the West far greater stores
of grain than the delta of the Nile ever poured
into the lap of the Cairo of the old world. We
have visited Chicago, city whose growth has
no parallel, and whose history, dating no far
Their back than 30 years, is marvel that almost
exceeds belief We have passed over the rich
plains of Michigan, and paused in her beautiful
city Of Detroit and there witnessed refinement
and polish scarcely equalled in cities of much
greater age. We have passed through the
neighboring province of Canada and found moth
ing but kindness there; and We paused for a
time to contemplate tho great miracle of nature,
the Falls of Niagara-earth's greatest wonder
Wherever we have been, evidences Of wealth, of
prosperity and of all that contributes TO a civil
ization and comfort of the highest order have
met our eyes. Your vast chain Of lakes, the
magnificent system of railroads which is fast
stretching its arms over the whole continent
are not the least of the wonders we have wit
messed But you are better acquainted with
these than am, and I will not dwell upon
them. viii you suffer me to dctain you for a
brief period, whilst advert to what may be less
familiar 10 you, the cotton fields Of the South
There our harvest is just commencing, and for
five months We shall be gathering the rich sta
pie, which furnishes material for the commerce
of the world Not the wheel Of a car that rolls
upon its iron way, not the paddle Of a steamboat
that turns upon its congcnial element, but feels
the impulse which is given TO the trade of the
world by the growth of cotton Let us pause
for moment to consider its contributions to
the commercial prosperity of the earth. In its
raw state the crop is worth about $3.50, 0O0,0 00
a large portion of this goes to England, is there
manufactured, and constitutes but little less than
one-half of the total exports from that country.
In that state its value is some two hundred and
seventy-five millions of dollars, exclusive Of the
value of what is consumed in England, which
amounts to e29,000000 more. American cot
ton forms fivc-sevcnths of all that goes to that
country. Some four millions Of their people arc
dependent upon it for their daily bread and six
ty or seventy millions of pounds sterling arc in
vested in the trade.
So important is this supply of cotton TO the
prosperity of England, that her ablest men to-
day are looking about for the means Of supply,
in the event of deficiency or loss of the crop
in this country. A late London paper says that
the French Emperor with all his fleets and ar
mics, is a pct lamb in comparison with such an
event Tina. it would endangcr the safety oil
four millions of people, aye and of twenty mil
lions more-of the institutions of the Govern
ment, and of the enormous capital which has
been accommodating for ages.
This is tho British view of the subject let me
ask you, my friends how it strikes you What
has built up your beautiful cities, and your
proud manufacturing establishments Where
do you find the best customers for anything you
have to sell Certainly in the Southern mar
kots What has built up your own great COM
mercial emporium in the other end of your
Statc9 The proceeds Of the two hundred mil
lions of raw cotton exported, return almost en-
trely in the shape of imports into her custom
houses The profits of this mighty trade impart
life and activity and energy to all her pursuits,
and give promise of making her the mighticst
city on the globe, as she is already of this con-
tnent Strike down the production of cotton,
and what mind can calculate its effects upon her
destiny, or its influence upon her fate. Perhaps
a single example may illustrate my idea. You
cannot have forgotten the panic of 1857: it is too
recent to have escaped your recollection. Al
most every bank in the United States followed
the example of the banks in New York, and sus-
pended. Private fortunes melted away like frost
work in the sun, individual credit was destroyed,
and the nation seemed paralyzed by the shock.
Men stood aghast at the ruin which stared them
in theface The millionaire Of one day walked up
bankrupt on the next The cry arose, "What
shall be done for safctyP The answer came
not in words, but in deeds. The South poured
her rich crop Of cotton into market, the pressure
was relieved the panic ceased and the car Of
commerce rolled on as il nothing had happened
Was ever victory so triumphant and so complete
ly achieved by means so simple and so direct
| stand here to-day myself cotton-planter, and
as one of the representatives Of this the greatest
material interest Of the world to ask il there be
one man who would raise his hand to destroy it
to ask IL all viii not put forth their utmost cf-
forts TO support and uphold it
But it needs no active aid in its behalf The
only appeal it has to make is, let us alone Give
us Of the South but the enjoyment Of our con-
stitutonal rights let not one ot or title Of that
sacred instrument pass away, give it to us in all
its length and breadth and fulness and COM
pleteness, and the human imagination cannot