East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1861-05-30
Production and COnsu nspti0n,
North and SOuth.


place them among the consumers, so long
as hostilties shall continue. The eifec
of war in a country like ours, where th,
standing army is small, and soldiers ar,
drawn from the classes usually employed
in peaceful avocations is to diminish the
production and increase the consumption
of the neeesaries Of life. Whether thi,
will go to the extent of causing any con
siderable advance in the price of provis
ions, must depend upon several cause'
not yet fully developed; not the least i'm.
portant of which will be the duration OF
war; A long struggle which should
make continued aud repeated drains upon
the productive labor Of the country would
in the end result in the material dimin-
ution of the crops upon which we must
rely for feeding the millions in this coun-
try aud in Europe, dependent upon US
for supplies.
The first call to arms will not draw
very largely upon the agricultural labor
ers of either section of the country. Not
that the farmers are less patriotic, or less
ready to serve their country when their
services are required, but there is large
lioating population in the cities and large
towns, more excitable, more accessible
and, mt the present time, more generally y
unemployed, ready to rush to arms to
till up the present acquisitions.
Patriotism, with many of these men,
is the controlling principle, and they go
to the service Of their country from q
sense of luty done; but there is large
element, especially in the regiments re-
cruted in the populous cities, with whom
food aud clothing is at tho prosont mo.
ment, question of first Importance, aud
who will be better provided for with the
pay of private in the army and found,
than in any other employment now open
to them. The enlistment of such soldiers
will not detract much from the produc-
tive wealth of the country, but will in-
crease the consumption to the extent
that they are better fed by the govern
ment than when "boarding themselves" :"
In the southern States, where the ag-
ricultural labor is performed chiefly by
slaves, the diversion will be still less APP
parent; and the productive branches will
be but slightly interfered with. A con-
siderable change must undoubtedly be
made in the character of their crops,
since, with climate and soil adapted, IN
many Of the States, to the production Of
grain and meats, those branches OF farm
Ing have been neglected for the more
tempting cotton crop, which always tnds
a ready market. The necessities of thelr
present condition will compel the south.
en planters, during the war, to bend
their energies to the raising Of supplies
for their own people. Probably they are
acting upon this plan the present season;
for the preparations for the war have
been far more general there than here,
and the existing troubles more complete
ly anticipated.
Accounts received from the southern
States during the early spring-their
planting season-warrant the belief that
they have planted less cotton aud vastly
more corn than usual.
The idea so frequently expressed at
the North that the South will be starved
into submission, is based upon a very
superficial acquaintance with their pro
ductive resources. Virginia, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Texas, and parts of Georgia.
Alabama, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and
Florida are well adapted to corn and
wheat, especially the former, white Ken
tncky aud Texas have only to turn their
droves of excellent beef cattle and sheep
toward the South Atlantic States, to feed
al tl,.t al Ia,
sumed in New York, New England, and
the European countries. Rice, too, and
sugar, both largely produced by the con-
federate States, are useful articles Of
food-so that taking into the. account all
their crops, we see no reason whatever
for supposng there will be famine in
the South, even should the war be long
protracted. l"'a
In the North our supplies Of food arc
unlimited, and even upon the supposition
that the war is as long as that Of the
Revolution, no scarcity can possibly ex-
list, without failure of the earth to pro-
duce its accustomed yield. A long war
will in some measure withdraw lsborers
from the field, but, on the other hand,
the prospects of q revulsion in nearly
every other class of business will divert
many to tho productive interest, while
the general introduction OF machinery
enables the farmer to perform with few
laborers, what, under the Old system, re-
qired twice as many.
Should the struggle be long continued,
and disastrous in the loss Of life by sick
ness and battle, and the large cities be-
come drained Of their surplus population,
a heavy draft upon the farmers may be
made to fill the ranks of the army--and
in such event there is possibility that
our surplus of food may become made
quate. But for the present we lock not
only for abundance for home consunp-
ton, but generous surplus to send
aboad if the foreign demand should con-
Time. ff vtq a SD
Those who are filed with sympathy OF
apprehension for the South, lest their peo-
pie should starvc for want of our bread
stuffs will do well to look little into the
statistics Of the trade of both sections
They will thus perhaps discover that in
ordinary seasons-the last was an excep-
tion on account Of the drought in the
south-west--we take as much food from
the South as they purchase from us. II
we supply them with some Of the articles
of uacaos,tv N 100 toLa from, xbo,, l.~s~o