The Portland daily press., 1864-01-06
Wednesday Morning, January 6, 1864.
Cotton Not King.


George Thompson writes to William LLOYD
Garrison from England that the cotton famine
in that country has greatly abated. Here are
his facts:
ITO give you some idea of the diminution
in the distress prevailing in the cotton Districts
may refer to the last report on the subject
The number receiving parochial aid, in the
shape OF outdoor relief, was, in the third week
of November, 1862 249,336, while in the cor
responding week of 1868 it was Ill POS: being
diminuton of 13S 53S. The money paid in
the former week was el7, ,7I3, while in the lat
ter week 1t was fs,2l6, being decrease of
e9,55 To meet the distress of the approach
ing winter months, there is remaining of the
fund in the hands of the Central Relief Com
mittee about t25000 of another fund, called
the Bridgewater House Fund $4,000: of the
Liverpool Fund, 100000; and in the hands of
the Parochial Boards, el00nO0-total, $780,
900; to which add 81 100000, for employment
on public works, and you will see that, excu-
sive Of the ordinary parochial rates, we have
nearly s2O00,0 900 to be applied TO the relief of
distress, pending the arrival of our expected
supplies ofcotton, and the resumption OF work
at our mills.
"The value of the works which are being
carried on in the various townships most Sc
verely visited by the distress, will far exceed
the amount in money expended upon them.
The result in the Improvement, both of the
public property and public health, will be i'm
mense. Miles upon miles of streets will be
severed and paved parks for the people will
be laid out and planted; waste lands will be
drained and brought into cultivation; and all
who are employed on these and similar under
takings, having their physical wants provided
for while so engaged, will be more likely TO
enjoy robust health than they would be ii inn
INJURED within the heated rooms of cotton
factory.
After sober and thoughtful review Of our
domestic condition during the last three years,
and an equally deliberate estimate of our
prospects for the future, have arrived at the
conclusion that the failure OF our supply OF
cotton from the Southern States has done US
no serious injury, and that iu its results TO us
1t will be one OF the most fortunate events
that could have occurred.
The spell! by which we were once bound is
broken-the enchantment is dissolved. Eng
land no longer bows her neck TO the yoke OF
slavery. Her cotton Is no longer stained with
blood
Previous TO the breaking out of that wicked
rebellion, which at this moment is alike con-
vulsing and regenerating your country, so
prolific were the plantations of the South, so
eocellent was the quality Of the fibre grown,
SO comparatively near was the field Of pro-
duction, and SO established were the trade ex-
changes and correspondence between England
and America, that cighty-fve per cent. of
all the cotton we consumed came from your
slave-cursed shores. While this was the state
Of things, there was not the slightest possible
encouragement to other countries TO grow
cotton in competition with the produce OF the
Southern States. Hence our bondage to the
shareholders seemed complete and inexora-
Bile. BY their own act we have been eInauci-
pated, and shall never again be enthraled.
The cunning have been taken In their own
craftiness. Vaulting ambition hath DER
leaped itself.
How maryelously have events, even in
themselves, worked toward the furtherauce of
ends benefcent and good.'