, 1864-01-26
WHY DE BOW VAS I11PRIs01ED.

WHY DE BOH WAS lniPhlaUAEDs
4 New Corner Stone for the South.
Cotton No Longer King.
1t is fact not generally known that
.DeBow, the Southern Reviewer and the only
man at the South possessing attainment suf.
hcient to edit first class review, has been
Imprisoned by JEFF Davis and his Ruiew sup
pressed in consequence Of an article going to
show that cotton vas no longer King.> An
article based upon indisputable figures and
facts.
The following arc the more important por-
tions Of the article Which have caused De-
BOWS incarceration: -.
It is true we have believed that cotton is
King; It Is undenfable That we possessed q
monopoly for its production, arising out Of q
variety Of causes, hut it Is not true that 1t
Will grow nowhere clse. Indeed, We find
that The production oft in various coun-
tries i increasing ia geometrie latio, and
sbo needed: to supply the commerce Of the
globe with what we yntnly hoped would grow
nowhere else. !,
Shall we not learn from our enemies?
What are the causes of their prosperity?
Why do even tho 1aborers Of the North live
with degree Of comfort often Unknown to
the wealthy planters the South?: -,s.:*;
The statistical reports accompanying tho
census Of 1850 establish fully the results of
material conditions; and, If We admit that
tie people Of the North have really hardly
felt the war up to this point, VIC must look
to and examine the material conditions Which
surround them. -. T.:
They cannot be more prosperous because
therets no slavery; certainly # is cheapcr to
have slave who labors for you than to labor
yourself; therefore, slave labor is the more
economical, Or rather It was before the time
Of Henry A. Wise and John Brown. Consid-
e1ing the present condition OF the country,
and prospcctiyely, nlEo, 1t may well be sup
posed, s. 1t already is by many in the slave
States, that it actually may be more econoul-
ieal to 1ahor for ourselves thau to maintain
negroes for that purpose
we have taken to Iatsfng cereals, and have
I succeeded SO badly as to make It matter of
doubt whether We will not have, eaten every
thing before the time Of greens, which, when
boiled with t9wl, arc so priced by the First
In the meantime, the production Of cotton
is slipping AWAY from us, and We haye already
slipped away into unknown depths, and
are drifting to fearful and to an uncertain
future.- 80,
The people Of the North live comfortably
moro so, indeed, than the majority Of the
slave owners in the South. They educate
tllei1 children, and teach them that there is
no dishonor in employing either their hands
our prejudicea, I think they are right ii that.
We know that the turnip crop Of England
is now by fur moro valuable than any other
cultivated by the English, although it has be-
come so recently. II regard to the compare
tive productions Of the people OF the North
and Of the South. as given by The ccnsns re-
port, we observe in those common to both
regions: TINT the widest divergence exists in
regard to milch cows.
In the North the ratio Of increase of milch
COWS was rlight1y in excess of the ratio Of
nnil 1850. In the South there was an actnal
deficiency In the ratio above stated OF 431,
col! In proportion to the ratio Of increase
Of population the chiyalrous- State Of South
Carolina Is deficient in mich cows, G4,765l
AS her decadence is far greater than that O
any other State, and her deficiency in the ra-
ito Of milch COWS to the population is the
greatest, mny VIC not suppose that either the
deficiency indicated, orE0me cause colncident
10 it, has been the ruin Of that atatee
People must drink something. If they
cannot get milk, naturally they take to Whis-
Ky, md We may well lament the result. The
slbjoincd tables show plainly that the de-
crease Of ulilch COWS In proportion to the
population indicates precarious condition
Of society; and, If it has not led directly to
the rebellion, the causes Of the decrease Of
milch cows orc coincident and analogous. pt
least, to 1t.
In the sluve States, tabulated in 1850, there
was mich COW to every 81 persons. In the
sons. In isG0, in the slaye States, one to cy-
cry Sc persons, or a elfght gain of tho pro-
cortiouate number of milch COWS,
The want Of good meadow lands in most Of
the slave States, the poor md insufficient
aunntity Of food usually given milch cows.
kept and the neglect Of them by the negroes,
would make the yield of milk less than one
half per each COW Of those in the Northern
States. This appears to be shown by the
amounts of butter md cheese produced.
Mr.. De nox then pfvea in n tabu1ar form
t,,o a,no,,1t oe 1,n.+es -, ahoos. ,,.oa,,oo5
'n1 au'"at W uuitet aau eusee. P.ouueee
sna the nnmnet ol mlica COVE IN Inc 1fee ana
slave States and adds:
..Wc sec in the above our road to progress;
has failed or will fall ma It 10 sd1o to hope
longer to enjoy peacefully the proceeds Of Ills
labor when ut tl1Is moment eighty thousand
Of Lis color arc Organized and ioid arms In
thcir hands to fteo &c their fellows. The longer
/ the war is protracted the more violently VIII
slavery be destroyed. For two years and
half NC hare waEcd war, and lost more thau
half the territory over which We asserted
comes from Texas, nor does cotton escape
longer from the frontier to furnish US SUD-
plies. The Mississippi bears q hundred gun
boate, half of them iron-clads, that eIecfual-
1t prevent our occupation Of any point along
its entire course, Or even the passage Of It
except urdcr cover Of darkness and by Stealth.
SIho fruitful valleys Of Kentucky and Of
Tennessee have been desolatcd by. war, and
nre held by The enemy. Arkansas, d large part
Of Ionisfanas Of MIsstssippi. OF NortG Caro-.
lima and Virsinia hoyc been held or arc now
held by the enemy and have been exhausted
by the supplies drawn by the contcnding
forces. Nor can We rtplrd Alahamo. Geor
ria. South Carolina or Texas EXEMPT from
fkc march Of heaTy armies now or.tanizinr
for purposes OF INVASION.
Wa win eay to Concress md to President
Davis TINT careful etndy of The Inst .sCen-
| sus Report Of the United States'' viii correct
or destroy many perturbations In their minds
as well as our own. Let them iegislate SO as
to increase the number of COWS and think no
oas sfag ag1 ] yon By a and @ the lnhas @