Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1863-10-14
HOW COTTON" MIGHT HAVE BEEN MADE
REAL KING"

The constituent. Assembly of France the National As
semby, and the Conven,on-he first named OF Wncn hso
the honor of nnguating while the two last deVeioPea
full extent the system of ussgDas-are justly ent!'eo
the credit Of having heea the worst fnancers tnse W
tiat period had enbroed the pecunary anaS,
perilied the exste-,-e Of great nation !ney NJ
ring the first six ears of their existence 10 tue "
about ten thousand millions Of dollars IN u r.
per, the basis upon which the issue vas mace %ss
National dOmaih that is the forfeited JANUS VI ~ a. ~
and nobility worth probao, half the SUM- a. Wv
of the six years. France declared 10 De .A. y.
bankruptcy and the whole debt was wiped gu. a Ths
ruin of half the property holders OF Tue n". h,. BIT
must have been stupendous imbecity somew1ss. oGs
doubt very much Whether the statesmen sn;ss nm
the men who then had the control Of her Ld ~ ~
bered any statesmen among them-Woua, n re,
sessed in prodigious quantities an article =, st;
more in demand than any other article al aat
Gle which annually brought into inc m crot a..
an article the commercial value OF when was a.
it called king by its DIN Of the world
an article which alone could supply IN sns
tity and quality and of which therefore
most the article hs co"ntrv perfect della ee
f .h H. ras metas-we say doubt whether had the
wretcbed uancers of the Assembly or t9s Convention
H. hot wond ever have thought OF issuing zen tnou-
d ;iIion, IN irredeemabe paper based upon real e.
t when experience had already shown 10 otner coun.
d sustan the credit paper but convertbty
,nto cash upop demand NO! ihe Hu"heefS VI S.e US
ronde and the Mountain were stupid enough ~ .n,s N
hItfh
oserous so esurnous and 50 entirely without the
iihedow of apology or explanation.
W. have always deeply regretted that Mr. Stephens was
selected to fill office which there are many others VINO
% GI Il inst as WE'LL instead of being made Sec rotary OF
th treasury where his great atanmens IN statesman
shin and rare sagscty in matters apertanng to finance
wod have enabled him to render nestlmabe services to
h country He said and doubt it not to have seen
at The first glance the whole truth with regard to our po
s;ton and to have earnestly the instant pur
chase and to Europe Of million OF bales OF
cotton could have been done at that time with perfect
facility for twas during the last term Of Buchanan while
the government WAS still in Montgomery, and the ports
had not yet been bockaded He estimated that the sale
of tis cotton woald bring at least $780, of which
ded rou-cad going steamers and the rest to be placed
at our credit in Europe Everybody can now see what
would have been the consequence OF such pocy but
is the of genius always to find its fore
sight derided or neglected ordinary minds. Had he
been Secretary of the Treasury from the commencement
the very necessities of his position would have induced
him to enlarge his views as to embrace the whole crop
of cotton that time amounting to five millions of bales
For one year after the commenced the blockade
10 slight that the whole of this might have been shipped
to Europe and there sold at two shings sterling apound
giving the government purchasing attweny CENTS clear
profit Of ssOo0ooooo Or supposng the enemy to have
still have had in Europe balance OF $4SoOO00oO. What
might not have been done with this sum? We mi ght,
had we been disposed hive drained every Bank in Eu
rope of its specie We might have taught the skeptes Of
the Old World and the New that the pretensions Of Cot
ou were no idle gasconade-that he bona tide king,
and every inch Of kug"that he had the nations in
the hollow bis haud-and that kings and poentstes had
no choice but to obey his dictates embrace certain ruin
as the alternative Or might have left this great
in proper hands Europe and drawn from it needed
it, Our Treasury notes would then have been equal gold
sterling bills, which good as gold, and although
the exgenoies of the times would have required suspen
sion of specie payment confidence would have been un.
shaken and universal
But this simple solution of great but perfectly ezpli