The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-04-19

NOW that dissolution OF the UNION becomes
every day more and more imminent, it is of the
utmost Importance to know in which section
the interests of Maryland would be best pro-
noted. Looking to such contingency, we again
return to the subject. We endeavored in our
issue of yesterday, TO show the striking in
crease of our manufactures during the past
twenty years, and how necessary for their pros
perity was an intimate connection with the
Southern States. In these are our largest
and most natural, and, in some cases, indeed
almost our only markets. In all portions of
them with which direct communication has been
effected, we have nothing to fear from the North
ern and Eastern States, our only competitors, Ma
ryland being the leading Southern State in this
branch of industry. There are other points, OF
too important character, not to be Immediately
presented TO the consideration of our citizens;
among which the great natural advantages
and facilities possessed by our State. The
most prominent of these are the abundance
of water power and the cheapness of the fuel
used for manufacturing purposes. In point Of
water power, Maryland far outranks the State
of Massachusetts, and stands second to no State
in the UNION. In the neighborhood of Baltimore
alone, the unemployed power of the Patapsco
river and its branches, of Jones' and Cwinn's
Falls and their smaller tributaries, and of the Gun
powder and the small streams which flow into it,
affords an abundant supply for very large num-
Der of establishments. In addition to this there
is large amount of unimproved power On the
Patuxent river and other streams, which, taking
their rise in the higher portions of our very hiy
State, find outlets at different points on the Ches-
apeake Bay; while the power capable of being
supplied by the Falls of the Potomac alone is So
vast, that beside it, the combined powers of Low.
ell, Fall River and Patterson are comparatively
trifiing. The canal which runs along the Mary
land side of this river, from the Falls 10 George
town, serves in fact as as great race, which can,
at any moment, be tapped at almost any point for
distance of twenty miles, and is capable of fur
nishing abundance of power to countless mills.
for the erection of which, between the canal and
the river, there is abundant space. Could this be
converted into vast manufacturing region, il
would not only contribute directly to the wealth
OF the State, by the large rent which would be
paid for the use ofthe water power but indirectly,
by creating market and demand for agricultural
supplies from that section, through the influx and
settlement of large manufacturing population
The resources of our coal fields, the superior
quality of the Cumberland coal and its great
adaptability to many branches of manufactures,
especially those of metals, are very generally
known. The fact that large quantities oft arc
constantly shipped 10 the New England States,
where it comes into competition with the Nova
Scotia coal--admitted under the reciprocity treaty
duty free-is sufficient proof, if any were needed,
of the great Importance Of this valuable source
of our wealth. Proximity to the coal beds af
fords 10 the manufacturers of Maryland manifest
| advantages over those Of other States, who &c
the original cost at the port of shipment, have &c
add the additional cost of transportation. In adj
dition to these most striking advantages, the
mildness of our climate, the comparative shortnes:
OF our winter, and the large agricultural resources
OF our State are all matters of evident Importance
They enable the operatives to support themselves
and their families at less expenditure than is re-
quired at the North, and as a natural conse-
quence, greater cheapness of labor must be the
eventual result ofgreater cheapness ofliving Still
another advantage, confined chiefly to the manu-
facture of cotton, which is, however, q very
large and most important interest, is our greater
proximity TO the place of production of the raw
material. In addition to this, should an excise
tax for revenue be laid upon raw cotton, and not
upon the manufactured article, our mills would not
only have entire control of the Southern market
but export to the North. Our advantages over the
New England States, as manufacturing point
for the Southern States, of so marked charac.
ter that they will, when carefully examined, be al
once comprehended; and the additional induce
ment of discriminating Tariff no matter how
small, would at once cause Northern capitalists to
invest in this State. In so doing they would run
no possible risk As portion of the Southern
Confederacy, they would control the markets OIL
the South, shutting out Northern competition:
and in case of reconstruction of the UNION, their
capital once invested here, they would have nc
difficulty in competing successfully in all those
markets with which they had the nearest and most
direct communication.