Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-01-03
From The New orleans Bulletin, Dee. 10.
r,o,,,,,,.rct.l lNo,,.rnfercour.1

their knowledge, and whose passions
smother their Judgments. Their mo-
tives may be good, but the remediesthey
propose for evils that may exist would
aggravate rather than allay or, remove
them Such people appear to lack bal
ance of mind. They evidently do not
comprehend the workings Of. principles,
or perceive the full bearings and the. re-
dictionary influences of the measures
they propose. Such men are therefore
unsafe leaders and .unwise in council.
Their rashness units them for such Of
fees These reflections are naturally
suggested by the proposition to establish
by law absolute commercial nen-inter-
course with the North and West, and to
do it at once. We can hardly suppose
that those who propose this remedy, if by
courtesy we may so term it, for the evils
that may exist really intend to carry the
proposition into practical effect; or if
they do, we cannot think they will find
co-Workers enough to crown their eff
forts with success. The measure seems
to US to be almost as fanatieal and abb
surd as any one that could be brought
forward, and if attempted to be carried
into execution would fall with crushing
and disastrous effect upon the great mass
of the Southern people themselves, in
Guiding the constituents of those Legis-
lators who have proposed it. Such a
law would not be in existence six months,
we hazard little in saying, before the
people would demand its repeal in such
tones as could not be resisted; and even
during those short months, it would be
nearly dead letter upon the statute
book, Its very enactors would be COM
PEELED from sheer necessity to disregard
it. There is scarcely a family in the en-
tire South that would not feel the imme-
diate effects Of it in pressing, every day
wants.
To show the practical effects of such
a law, let us give the subject practical
turn. When the reader goes home to
dinner, let him take an inventory Of his
dining room, parlor, bedroom and kitchen
furniture, and see what articles there
are which have not come from the
North. He win find a few articles of
luxury and elegance from Paris, or Ger
many and England. But almost every
article of prime necessity, and which
he could not possibly do without except
through great suffering, he will find has
been manufactured at the North. The
crockery on his table, his chairs, tables,
bedsteads, washstands, bureaus, CRATES,
mantel -pieees, stoves, most probably the
rsvret es.rtains knnls. window CDR
nices, ETC., have all come from the North.
ern States! al
cssAn examination Of his personal eff
feets will show similar results. His
coat, vest, pantaloons, boots, shoes, hat,
shirts, and even his watch guard, and
possibly his watch and cane, have, IN
most cases, come from the same region.
Go out upon a plantstion, and the same
truth appears, The plows, harrows,
hoes, pruning hooks, pumps, engines,
cotton gins, spades, drays, carriages,
harnesses, saddles, brides, etc. are all
made in the free States, Very well;
what Of it aN2 Why, much, very much,
when taken in connection with the prop
osition to exclude by. law every one OF
these articles from the South inmedi-
ately, and prohibit any citizen planter,
merchant, mechanic, or professional man
from purchasing them. The planter
cannot make his crop without agrieul-
tural implements, can he? One cannot
very well get along without clothes, q
bed, chairs, crockery, etc, The planter
must have shoes and clothing for his ne
groes. Iti is true that the old Shoes, hats
and coats may last, by brushing and mend.
ing, and much care, six months, and by :
desperate stretch perhaps year. The
old plows, harnesses, etc, ditto, -. {
When these are gone, however, and 4
year slips round quick-what. then2 I
is proposed that the planter shall be pro
hibited under severe penalties from buy
ing any shoes or clothing for his negroes
and his family that may have been made
in the North. Where, then, is he to get
them? They now all come from there
There is not a shoe manufactory worthy
of the name, or a furniture manufactory
or a manufactory for many other arti
eies that must absolutely be had, in 'the
South! Except in this city, there is mo-
a manufactory in the South of negro
clothing, and the materials used in thu
one here are not of domestic make. 1
the guilIotine is shut downdt once upon
Northern manufactures by the high act
of sovereign States, we ask again whene,
the articles of prime necessity, which
planters and everybody else must have
are to come? It is proposed to cut of
the source Of present supply Withou
providing any other. It is proposed tt
leave planters with their handsupon theil
plantations without plows, gins, hoes
clothing; and themselves and families
without furniture, saddles, and many
other necessities of life And this We
are to accept as "a remedy for existing
evils! Ye gods and small alligators, i
doth amaze us! The answer to all this
we suppose will be that planters mus
go to work and make their own shoes
and clothing, their own cartsand spades
and everybody else is to make his owl
hat, boots, coats, shirts, and even his
watch or go without What an indus
trious time of it we shouldallhavel Nc
penitentiary could exhibit such scenes
Of industry as we should in that case
show to- an astonished world ssae
We do not wish to treat SO grave 9
question lightly, but the proposition un
derconsideration isso thoroughly absurd
and Quixotic that really one can hardly
help laughing at it. It exhibits in {
striking light the necessity for the IN
auguration of such a system of domestic
manufacturing industry as We have beer
trying to illustrate and enforce upon tht
minds of our citizens and the people o.
the South for a week or two past Il