Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1865-12-18

The reasons every day accumulate which
call imperatively for reorganization of the
labor Of the South with the purpose of secur.
ing alother cotton crop. There is no denying
the fact, that such has been the action of Con-
gre,s of late, that the President has felt it in
cunbent upon himself to stand somewhat upon
lis reserved rights upon his reserved action
in doing any thing decisive to help the South.
Whilst it must be acknowledged, too, that
good many of his acts have been extraordi-
nary that he has taken the responsibility of
anticipating the action of Congress in dealing
with the South, still the necessity for this has
been so plainly apparent, and the call for it
so clearly an absolute necessity, that pract-
cal men have rejoiced that we had one in the
elevated position to which he has been called,
competent to do this; competent to deal with
needs hardly contemplated in the past by those
who framed the Constitution. Had he been
less resolute and less capable had he tim
idly stood back from doing good from the fear
of results purely personal to himself; had he,
in short, been so afraid of censure as to have
stood by in silence to let the South and
the country suffer, he might indeed have
been Landed for his devotion to official
and constitutional routine, but he would hard
ly have been standing where he does now in
the estimationof the great world of humanity;
whereas, by being the man for the occasion,
he is now recognized as true statesman, as
one calculated for every contingency to which
he may be subjected. In other words, he has
won the confidence of the people, if he has
not conciliated the politicians; and it is too
late for the latter now to think of inter.
fering with policy and with kindly endearors
80 generally endorsed by the people.
Let it be noted that whatever of vindictive
feeling existed during the war, and immedi-
ately at its close, however loyal men may have
felt about having the rights of the law against
treason rigdly executed, the fact developed,
that the South is utterly crushed has brought
about a feeling of commiseration at the ulti
mate consequences of past follies, that cannot
be ignored or dsregarded. And if the South
has reluctantly appreciated her changed con-
dition, and has been found listening to her old
counsellors instead of at once throwing them
overheard, it is no more than might have
been expected of any community whatever;
because talent will maintain its prerogative,
make itself felt, despite any and every coun-
tervailing influence whatever.
But the one great fact that cannot be ignor.
ed, north or south, is-that now with restored
Union, our interests must be identical, and
the sooner all come to realize this, the better
e. he -lo1o VI
of our own common country, without injuring
the advance of the whole. And if we cannot
now realize this great fact, and speedily, we
must, as nationally, suffer; we must continue
to have our prosperity postponed, and possibly,
indeed-as matters are drifting-probably, we
shall awaken to our want of wisdom when it
is too late.
Now we have felt it incumbent on ourselves
to do what we could, Of late, in insisting
upon speedy reorganization ofthe South, upon
making its labor effective, and supplying it
with capital. We have shown that as matters
are progressing, we are likely to have nothing
that can be considered cotton crop. And
as only lately we were compelled to accept the
amount of the cotton on hand, as only ''seven
hundred thousand bales" and this on the
authority of Secretary McCuloch we have
in addition statement which reduces even
this amount, as we shall proceed to show.
1t is well known that the average weight of
bales before the war, and whilst the cotton
presses throughout the South were in good re-
pair, was four to FIVE hundred pounds each; so
that when a crop was named as flour or
Give millions Of bales, it represented q
maximum quantity. But it is now stated, on
the authority of an old New Orleans mer.
chant, writing to a Liverpool paper, that the
bales being sent forward now amount, on an
average, to only three hundred or three hun
dred and fifty pounds! Of course this reduces
again, and disastrously, the estimates of what
is available for the wants of the country and
for foreign exchange, and it is another urgent
reason why not a moment should be lost in
doing all that is possible to secure another
crop this year of the great staple.
Now, in view of all these things, is it not
possible for the controlling power in Congress
to at once join with the President in the adop.
ton of measures to reconstruct the shattered
SOutA' YAH II 10 tudC upon questions
of precedence, of propriety, of anything
merely political in its tendency, that the
great opportunity for doing good will
be thrown away and the South be left not
only to sink into hopeless poverty herself, but
be allowed to drag the whole country itself
along with her to distress and possible bank,
ruptcy? We have instanced the action had
elsewhere by commercial men, by Boards of
Trade, by those who are competent to scent
the danger afar off, which points to needed
action in the premises. Let Congress, then,
we insist, forget its political action in other
directions, for q brief period at least; let it
cease to think of the chances of this or that
faction getting precedence and power, until
this great question is disposed of. Let Con-
gress definitely authorize the President to ex-
tend the powers and define the duties of the
Freedmen's Bureau authorizing the leasing of
lands SO as to secure the best application of
the labor of the South, and we may thereby be
in time to secure another crop, and save our.
selves from being distressed, perhaps ruined,
by lack of means to settle balances against us
in our trade with the world abroad.