Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-03-11
Amos Kondall 10 the President.
LETTER III.

nshAhAh LINCOLN, President Of tho United
States! ''
kE'rIorED sIR--I propose to consider in this
Sa,, sSr .ne causes which have led to the pending
rsoelnon, ana 70 show the advocates of eman.
S'P.s,on tnat tney have every reason to be eat
ing. - '-'- man
Inc cause or causes of the rebellion NAV he
summed up in the single phrase. Pyide ot
Hea'm and Lust for POs0er. These are not De.
cuiiar TO the South, but have their influence iu
.ne NORM as well. North aud South they per.
vsue' WIN honorable exceptions, those claesea
oi soclety which ind means to live and enrich
themselves without manual labor North as
well as South the feelings Of these classes re-
volt against Government controlled by the
toillng millions, and would overthrow il If thew
could. In the North the attempt would be
hopeless, and the aristocratic classes quietly
acquiesce in things as they are. In the cotton
region OF the South the laborers have no politi-
cal rights, and the aristocratic classes govern In
all tnat relates to local affairs But they are
not content with that Their pride revolts at
association with any government, however
mild and benefcent, in which labotip0 men
participate directly or indirectly To get rid Of
such government, though IL has been the
chief source of all their prosperity, Is the object
OF the present rebellion. The avowed design
OF the South Carolina leaders is the organiza-
hon OF community composed of gentlemen
ana laborers, In which the gentlemen shall be
masters and the laborers their slaves 10 this
ehd they wereJ before the rebellion broke out,
aVowedly in favor Of re opening the African
slave trade, and have since submitted with a
bad grace to restriction in the Confederate
Constitution, dictated by an apprehension that
II would not be safe at present so far to outrage
the feelings OF the civilized world.
But there Is a considerable class Of slave
holders, especially in the border slaveholding
States, who do not entertain this entipathy to
labor IL is composed of men OF moderate
means owning but few slaves. They are the
seli-made men, whose industry and economy
have enabled them TO purchase one or more
slaves, and they may often be seen at work In
the same field with their own negroes. They
do not sympathize with the cotton, rice, and
sugar planters, who reckon their slaves by hun
dreds, and who never put their own bands to the
plow, the hoe, or the axe. These small slave
holders, numerically probably more numerous
than the richer class, have no repugnaDce to
being associated in Government controlled in
part BY the laboring men of the North, and
they are generally faithful to the Constitution
and the Union. Slavery does not make them
rebels.
Cotton is more prolific element than elavery
In generating the 'pride of wealth and lust for
power" which have produced the rebellion,
though both have co-operated. Had cotton,
Ike wheat and corn, been 0 product oil the
North as well as the South, its cultivation would
not have been source of inordinate wealth to
southern planters; for the free labor of the
North would then have been brought into direct
competition with the slave labor Of tho South,
haua kaa
reduced to moderate profit. But climate has
given to the South monopoly of this culture,
and It's monopoly not at all dependent on the
existence Of slavery. II would still exist as
etectually as 1t does now if slavery were swept
out of existence, and the commercial effect
would probably in that event be an enhancement
of the price.
The invention of the cotton gin and improve
ments in manufacturing machinery go chespeu-
cd the preparation and manufacture of cotton as
to bring 1t into competition, under most favora-
bic conditions, with every other article used in
clothing the human family, and the demand for
IL 80 rapidly increased that production could not
keep up with IL. The consequence was an in
crease In the price of the raw material until it
has reached point fer above that of any arti
Gle which can be BROUGHT in competition with it
IN the markets OF the world. This is not the
its effects, 1t is entirely independent OF that in
stituton. But, by this Intervention of the de.
mand for cotton, the slsveholders in South Car
olina and lew other States were enabled to
employ their negroes in species of culture
peculiar to their climate, the profits Of which
could not be lessened by general competition.
Ihougn there has been prodigious increase of
production, the consumption has fully kept pace
with 1t, and up to the breaking out Of the rebel
lion, In no part of the earth for the last thirty
yeare, and in no period Of history, have the
profits OF agricultural labor been go great as ia
cotton growing regions of the Uni ed States
But these profits would have been as great, If
not greater, had the Southern production, as
is the Northern manufacture, been the proceed
OF hired free instead of slave labor.
With the immense profits of the monopoly
the cotton planters became intoxicated, and
thought that, by means of their cotton, they
could rule the world "Cotton is King" they
exclaimed; and through his power they aspired
to break up the Union and compel Great Brit
ain and France to aid them in the fratricidal
operation. 1t has seemed strange to me that
the rulers of those nations have not seen in this
rebellion, or rather In the means BY 6hich the
Leaders proposed to compass success. an insult to
their sovereignty and conspiracy against the
commercial world. Openly they say to those
proud nations: owe haze the potoer and intend TO
use it, by t0thhOldiag our cotton, TO compel you to
become our allies, under penalty of riot and re-
belliOa among the operations in yOur Own dOnin
ions" II they have any such power, it is the
interest of the world 1t should be broken, and
one would think that the sagacious Napoleon
and the proud PalmerstoD, instead of meditsl-
Ing their recognition, would cay to them: "Lay
dOoH your arms and not only Sive US your cotton,
but TestoYe 10 us the market Of an united ond
peaceful country iothOut tOhich your raw mat.riaI
tciH be comparatively Of little ualue."
AMOS KENDALL.
February 19, 1862.