Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-02-28
VOLUME LVI.-NUMBER SS.

bly,, that these manufacturers and operatives
shall never derive one dollar Of profit from til,
people Of Virginia. wish 10 put the people o
Natick and Of Lynn in the condition OF tht
trading interest Of England in 1865. wish
to Law them "urder the most dreadful anxiety
they ever fcl;.
This report Of the Board Of Trade referring
to the cotton manufacture Of Massachusetts,
says: "llow different to-day the statistics o
Massachusetts from those of New York, New
Jersey, OF Pennsylvania Within this Common
wealth are TWO hundred and ninetv.four factc
ricS. which employ an Invested capital Of thirty
two millions Of dollars which contain one am
half million Of spindlcs; which require ar
annual supply Of one hundred and six million:
Of pounds ri cotton; which weave three hun
dred and fifteen millions yards of cloth, and
which pat in market, fabrics, warns and other
manufactures, worth lliGtv.iour millions q
dollars yearly"
Again, it says: and the statistics Of al
New England. how clearly 90 they prove thai
supremacy in manufactures is naturally at thi
North. More than hall 0! the cnt.on factories
in this hemisphere arc within her limits anf
more than two.lhirtlS Of the Invested capita
belongs to her. Her annual purchase Of cotton
on an average Of years, is five hundred thou.
sand bales. for which she pays twenty-five
millions Of dollars when the price is ten cents
the pound. Her mills turn out onc-twrlith
part Of all the cotton goods tha. arc made in
the world" And then the report enters into
nm elaborate argument TO show that the
fashionable prevailing doctrine Of the South,
that they who control the cotton Of the world
control the affairs Of the world, is tallacious,
and thatit is the manufacturers Of cotton fabrics
who control the commerce Of the world. That
is what :hcy say, sir,
The report proceeds: in the history Of =
nation an hundred years is q brict space, for
it barely marks the extreme limit Of human
life. But within q century the cotton manu-
tac,ure in England was in its infancy.-
Nothing else now, in the whole range Of the
industry Of man. equals it in magnitude. Eng
land commercially considered is precmnent
among the nations Of Europe, principally, be.
cause she moves twenty millions OF cot
ton spindcs; because she works eight
hundred and fifty millions pounds Of
the raw material III a year; because
Of the three hundred millions Of dol
lars OF fabrics and yarns annually made, and Of
one hundred and ninety millions annually
exported In point Of value, she makes an,l
ven1s one-half Of all the cotton goods manu-
factnrc1 in the world, and hence wcldS 4
moiety OF the power which cotton gives in the
management Of the worlds affairs.
They further refer 10 tho influence Of cotton
by stating 1--WE have referred to Liverpool,
and to Bremen and Hamburg. 10 illustrate the
wealth to he acquired in the transport and
far. ,F u,I vnrorol vi
in Europe, and 10 England especially, To clnci-
date the wonderful social and political in.
iluencc which the making and vending Of cot.
ton conicrs upon nations
There is what these people say: That their
present prospcrity-thc prospects iii the IT,.
ture-are wholly dependent upon the SUCCESS
Of their efforts To manufacture for as large n
portion Of the world as possible, cotton, wool,
and leather. Ana at this very instant, whilst
they are thus declaring their purpose 10 build
up their power, to swell their importance and
increase their wealth. thus gaining greater
power to strike at your intercSts-a power to Gc
acquired By keeping open to the largest posi-
bic extent the largest markets for their cotton,
wool and leather iabrics-l say, at this instant,
while all this is seen, the people OF Virginia are
asked whether they will import these goods, or
whether they will cripple tha: hostile power by
proper and las! !ul mcaIls. They can hardly
hesitate, in view of al the facts, to choose the
latter alternative They have rs many white
people as we have row. Let the present con.
diinn Of things continue, and they will have
twu.fold advantages; or, 10 use another expires.
sion, they strike two blows at your industrial
interests. AS their manufactures increase will
OURS diminish, because Of the irnpossibiiity
Of our competing with them. They have al
ready driven your mechanics from your midst.
Let them 20 on, year after year, and soon We
shall be left without q tradc>nan OF any kind,
and reduced 10 = condition OF entire dependence
on the North. They are going on, driving your
white labor ont. while applying themselves
vigorously to the task Of driving your black
labor from your midst: so that with powerful
force they are striking double blows at you.
In view of this determined purpose to
crush The South, is the Virginia Assembly TO
hesitate whether they will make the most
stringent efforts TO check this dangerous state
of things, and 10 restore the old condition Of
peace This can only be done by assuming 4
position OF independence and thus inspiring
tina; regard which the opposite condition never
bcgc;s 1t is only by heing independent
that We can command the respect Of merceria-
ry horde like those who oppose US.
Sir, we arc told that Virginia does not possess
the power; that Virginia narke; is a most in
significant and contemplate thing not worth
the efforts Of wise and statcsman-likc policy
to strike at. Sir, you have had an Auditor
who, for the first time in my knowledge o!
your public documents has laborcd through
the details Of his Office, and given us one Of The
most valuable statistical documents that have
seen. Particularly Is it important at this time
when weare undertaking to reach out on this
great design. Why, sir, our Auditor tells US,
upon the basis Of your tax returns, that your
merchants annually sell for consumption III the
State forty.two millions dollars worth Of goods
R-collcct what read to you from this book
(Aison's History that the withdrawal Of
market with capacity OF siXty.ivc mil
lions Of dollars worth of manufactured
fabrics, prostrated the whole industrial
interests Of England. Sixty-fivc millions
of dollars annually, was the capacity Of
the American market in 1911, and the with
,lrawal of that market from the consumption
Of British fabrics produced the degree OF dis
trrss which have already described to you.
Vow, sir we sell furtv.two millions ofdollars
worth Of goods in this State annually. Where
docs that come from? Sir, this amount does
not cinbrace the direct mportations. Small as
they are, they do not enter into the iorty-two
millions, because they are expressly exempted
by your laws from taxation; so that the forty
two millions is the amount Of goods not direct.
ly imported from abroad. The sales Of all
your merchants who sell more than $4,000
worth Of goods annually amount to twelve mil
lions of dollars. or course this includes the
whole class of wholesale merchandise no whole
sale merchant sells less than $4,000 per an
rum. This, however, embraces all that they
sell to merchants in North Carolina and Ten
ncssce. These estimates are based upon the
tax returns; and they are always under the
mark by at least 25 per cent, inasmuch as the
merchants themselves fix their own estimates,
50 that the excess which we will allow for that
purpose, will equal the amount Of double sales
by wholesale; so that we can fairly assume,
that the amount Of goods sold in this Stlte an
nually is not less than forty millions of dollars.
And if you allow 35s Per cent profit, it wi!i
Il IL.