The Cecil Whig., 1863-03-07
lsainp pap d:I)ouebts.
For The Cecil Whis.
Dull Things Made Lively.
ny SPLASIIER.

of something to do! When the roads are hub
deep with mud, and you had read the last line
of the " latest ncws,' did You ever realize with
all It's crushing force the fact that you were
emphatically one of those ubiquitous indivd-
uals, the Nothing-To-Does I" If you have,
you can fully sympathizc with me this cloudy.
between-day y-and-night sort of an aftemoon-
Everything without is cnshroudcd in gloom; the
rain falls in spasmodic showers between which
the " old ROSTERS crow Justify, a sgn-tlle old
folks say-that it is going to clear away; but
as they have been growing thus for the last four
hours, = can't see it. t.''-What IL quantity of
these signs y. the old folks huve! And with
what seriousness they repeat them! just ms
though they had not, to their certain knowledge.
Jailed thousand times. When will the time
come that we shall cease 20 hear of these signs
and olncn|, and the people shall trace things in
their real coursc-shall rightly link cause and
| effect Probably there is 10 harm in this
looking after sign in the smaller matters,
were ii not also carried into higher affairs.
suppose you think that is enough on signs, and
so do L. Well, let me take the "back track" to
where divcrgcd. o, yes! was OH the No.
thlnG-Io-Do subject; in fact, l am one of them
to-day. have read all The news read several
chapters in the Great Book several CHAPTERS. I
say, as l seldom read more than that at any one
time, i'll order that my respect for it may not be-
decreased by my mind becoming tired in at.
tempting to comprehend the depth of the mighty
truths therein cnunciatcd. And as / cast nv
eyes out of the window at the murky clouds, at
the rnfathomabe mud which is everywhere, and
u sweeping glance round the room, they fall on
one of those lightly thought of volumes.
known under the general name of "Patcnt
Office Reports Wth a sort of feeling of DIES.
l'a'r take it up, and as l read along | find
many things there TO interest and instruct, and
run my pencil around II number of passages
which strike me- and, with the permission Of
the occupant of the Old Armchair, shall give
from time to time, some of these passages; to-
ge'her with, probably, a few light thoughts of
my own.
This time have selected the following brief
extract from the History, Industry and Com
mcrcc OF Flax. l am sorry has to be so brief:
Among the numerous commodities which contribute
IN one form and otlr- to the clothing necessities If the
human race there is single product Of greater impor-
rance than the LINrM usrATIsStM or what is better
known rs the fax plant. There certainly is no material
susceptible Of textile adaptation cioscl, cutifcd
with the progress Of civilized man. none which has been
81 uniformity subscryient to his wants. and which
through all the yicudes of climate change of locnty
and the various places % his industrial mercant. md
.ai career has been so readily and u>cfuy convert
bic into Fabrics either by ma hinery by hand"
1t is to be hoped that farmers will give the
subject of Flax growing this year the attention
which it deserves Had every farmer in the
country planted last year as much land in flax
as he could have spared we would not now be
paying .ffy cents per yaM for the most ordinary
kind of muslin. There is no risk to run in this
matter in consequence of the probability that
there will be no demand for flax; for should the
war close tomorrow the price of cotton goods
would fall very littlc-and if they should fall
even any, they would soon advance to higher
price than now. My opinion is that the supply
of cotton at the South is nothing like as large as
many suppose. Here is one of my reasons for
believing so:
Mr. Bunch. the British Consul at Charleston writes
to the British Foreign Office that about 4250UO bales
"t upland Gotten remain in the rebel States which could
be exported in case the ports opened His letter
Is dated the 9th of November last. Mr. Moyneux the
British Consul Mt Savannah. has also written TO his Gov
ernmrnt on the snme subject. His estimate which
seems to have been as"d careful examination
than that of Mr. Bunch gives the total amount of cot.
ton III the South at :i.ioO.oNO bales. lie adds:
The urgent necessity for the cultivation or bread
stn3 since the Federal occupation of Kentucky and the
best graiisrwIng regions Of Virginia. Tennessee and
North Carolina, ami the consequent strong popular upIo-
>it"n TO the planting of cotton, together with other
causes ul hardly less Importance. such the want of
'"gSs and nl" necessary To put the cotton into
c,nahlr condition. will tend hereafter ro prevent any
increa-" in the stock. possibly diminish it While
should the Fcsals succeed in making further advance
int" the interior Of the cctonerowing States the cult
yatio of that plant viii be entirely abandoned. the
negroes removed to the mountainous districts where
breadstnlis alone can lie raised. "
From this statement it will be seen that there
is not more than half OF one years crop in the
South, and any one can judge for himself as to
how much cotton we are likely to get from there
for the next two or three years. 1t is no use to
lament about the high price of cotton goods, but
plant tax-raise your own clothing MATERIAL
! assure you that there will be Il ready sale for
all you can grow. In some parts of PennSyl-
vir'lia the farmers every year raise considerable
quantities of flax for the seed, but this year they
are sending the flax itself to market, where they
get large prices for it,
The culture of flax has been sadly neglected
i'll this country. 1t is without doubt far more
suitable for light clothing in summers like ours
than cotton. There has been n small war car
rlcd on between the two articles here but cot
ton, as in almost everything else, was victorious,
and triumphant in the same old way-by enc
mics in tiax's camp. But to be u little palmer:
The South found it was profitable for her to raise
cotton, and much more profitable that cotton
should be king. The North and West wore too
cold for cotton, but they could produce better
article-flaX. But the South had her hirelinps
u the North, and they put themselves to work.
They got up disputations about the proper modes
of planting curing and manufacturing the flax,
and even discouraged it altogether; they were
great admirers of cotton. Finally, the result of
all this was that the farmers would not grow an
article Tor which there was no considerable de-
mand; and capitalists did not engage i'm the
manufacture of an article, the raw material for
which they We're doubtful about getting. The
article from which before quoted, says:
The writer's on these topics too besides advocating
views entirely antagonstc, have thrown over the sub
ject kind Of mystery that has been i'll calculated to
lead capital IN this direction. The subject of flax man.
uacnre has been somewhat like that of political econ
"my-te more it has been discussed, the less has it
been understood"
Thus the people may see how completely they
have been bound hand and foot by the nabobs Of
South, through the abors OF their hirelings in the
other parts of the country. These are facts, and
ones that have been partially, Mt least, seen
through by men who watched the course of
affairs for the last ten or twelve Years Ii will