Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-04-11
The Great Cotton Question.

The Great Cotton Question.
Cotton has become word to conjure with
Plu,us whispers it ON Change and the whole
commercial World becomes excited. Many
there are WHO lhi:,k Of nothing else, specp-
late in nothing else, love nothing else. They
talk uf the heecy fabric when awake, dream
of when asleep, turn t now into greenbacks,
now into gold, and now build with it all sorts
of f-castles in the air..
The cotton crop Of 1860 was $3.50, ,897
bales, of which about one-fourth was con-
sumed ia this country, leaving tba balance,
worth at rle old ante-bellum price, about
$3.50, 600, ,0Oe> 10 take the place of specie in
our foreign exchange. Itis not wonderful,
then, THAT cotton is regarded as q product of
great importance, and that in the future as in
the past, it is expected to occupya prominent
position in our industrial and commercial
statistics.
Much speculation exists as to the. probable
crop of 1866 Some look for a crop Of 3,0OO,.
600 OF bales, while others again are fer more
moderate in their estimate, placing the pros
pective crop at 100000 Or 100000. These
differences OF opinion arise from the different
views entertained touching the productive
value Of free and slave labor. Some think
thnt the freedman will be more effective than
the slave as an agricultural producer, while
others imagine that lie will be almost worth
less.
On this subject, we have been favored with
some Calculations, made by keen statistical
friend of ours which we think are we'll wor-
thy OF being seriously pondered. The data
cannot certainly be questioned, and all Of our
readers are at liberty to Judge for themselves
of the conclusion arrived at. If the figures
and deductions which we are about to offer
lend in any manner to haruionize commerce
and check the wild mania Of hazardous spec
ulatcn, our aim will be accomplished.
Numerous correspondents who appear to
be interested in lowering the price OF cotton
now held by the producers Of the South, cool
ly state that oil the negroes have gone to
work with energy, aud that consequently the
cotton crop OF The present year cannot be
less than 2,500,OO0 or 100000. Persons
who mako such statements cannot have yis-
ted The outskirts OF this and other Southern
cities, where negroes by thousands congre-
gaze, and are living in comparative idleness
and destitution. There are in this city at
present not less than $4,000 negro men and
women, who have drlted hither from the ru-
'ral districts, III order to enjoy the imaginary
ease and pleasure of city life. A similar
story may Ce told OF every city aud town from
thesP otomac to the Rio Grande, and the total
number thus drawn away from agricultural
employments is Indeed enormous.
Ace riding to our friends statistical table,
there were about 100000 slaves in the
South at the commencement OF the war. IL
was the custom in ancient times to estimate
one-tenth Of ev. ry nation or tribe as warriors,
or persons capable Of bearing arms. Taking
this as basis of calculation, there were, at
the beginning Of the war; 100000 negro men
between the ages Of eighteen and forty-hve
years. Of that number 100000 entered the
army of the United States, but the sword and
disease reduced their ranks to 100000. Since
the close of the war, many OF these have
been disbanded and gone to the North aud
West. The remainder are in the army still.
Of the 2OO,OO9 who did not enlist some per-
ished in the Confederate service, while en-
gagged in erecting forts and digging trenches;
100000 are now to be found in towns and
villages throughout the South, employed Oh
board of boats, in hotels, or playing the
part of independent freedmen. OF the bal
ance, $4,000 removed into St,tcs where cot
ton is not produced, and $4,000 remained at
homc, on the old plantations, and mort OF
them may now be found in the field at work.
Turning to the opposite sex, we find 4OO,-
OOJ between the ages IF eighteen and forty
five years. And how shall we account for
them Go, nk-shedding Bohemian, to the
coast Of Carolina and Georgia. Follow the
trail of Gen. Sherman's grand march tc The
sea from Atlanta. Go to Mobile, Nashville,
Memphis, Vicksburg, Savannah, Jackson,
Baton Rouge, Monroe, Shreveport, Alexan
dria and this city. Visit the graveyards in
our towns and villages, and ask who sleeps
there. 1t will be easy to account for the dis
appearance of 100000 negro women-poor,
ignorant creatures, who left their homes to
follow triumphant armies, but perished OF
cold, hunger and fatigue, ere the bliss of free
dom became theirs. We are speaking now
OF grown.up women. The children who fol-
lowed them fell by the wayside, and slamber
in unmarked, unconsecrated graves. To seek
guarantees for their promised freedom, $4,000
have gono North, East and West, and l25 900
are about towns, cities and villages, washing,
cooking, or following lar less credtable occu
pations. This would leave 10000 effective
female laborets in the rural districts. Or
boys and girls between the ages of ten and
eighteen years there are, perhaps, 10000,
half Of whom are either employed or arc
lettering about towns and villages. We have,
therefore, of available colored cotton rasers ::
Negro men. l2,OUu
Negro women. .....,,,,..,,,...... l0O 0OO
Negro boys and girls. ..."......... 10000
Total. .................... 2S5, 900
We must now take into consideration the
number of white persons who will devote
their attention to cotton raising. In the cot
ton States there were about 250,000 white
men at the commencement of the war, who,
if 30 inclined, might have devoted their at.
tention to the raising OF cotton. OF this
number, 100000 have been killed or disabled
during the war, but their place, have to some
extent been supplied by the growth of boys.
We think it would be large estimate to al
low 100000 white laborcrs for the cotton
fields during the present season. If so, We
have total effective force of 4S5, 600 cotton
raisers.
The next question is, how much cotton can
we reasonably expect to be raised per hand 2
Statistics show that, in 1910, with force of
100000 laborers, our crop was 100000
bales, or three bales per hand. When the
laboring force doubled between 1850 aud
1860, the crop proved to be 100000 bales,
equal to 81 bales per hand. What then shall
be our estimate for the present year2 We