New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-01-05
rDcrssIrlEs OF THE SOUTHERN STATES,

\
The close Of the war found vast majority Of
he Southern people utterly Frustrated Ia fortune.
sspeciaalv was this true Of these engaged in agri
culture. With scarcely square mile of their ter
itory which had not been passed over by the.
roops Of one or the other Of the belligerents- J
with their system of labor disPrganized--With no
agricultural indictments or farming stock--with
10 money except Confederate bills, which were
hen worthess-ard, besides all this, with no Ger.
sainty as to their future political status and govern
mental refationst was not strange that the hearts
Of the Southern people aunA for while within
them, and that their feeling with regard to the fu-
tnre was one of almost absolute despair. /
AT this time there is reaction to q certain ex-
tent, aud more cheerful feeling; but there are
still great obstacles in the way and the future of
The agricultural interest BIZ means be clearly
foretold. There is every disposition among the |
planters to go to work-there is, indeed every in
iucement of interest, to say nothing of dire neces-
sity to urge them TO an attempt to more pro-
duce those agricultural staples which benefited
alike North and South, and carried the coun-
try to that pitch of material greatness and pros
perity which it had attained before the war. But
it is clear to the commonest comprehension that
without capital to begin withtwithout aid from an
exterior source-the valuable agricultural lands OF
the cotton States must remain untitled, and the
prosperity Of the whole country Slapped for the
want Of that grand article Of export, cotton, |
which is the life. blood Of our commercial system.
n We need not enumerate all the vast interests OF
this country which are dependent upon the pro-
duction Of cotton. There is scarcely any portion
Of the United States that is not benefited d.
rectly there is no portion Which is not benefited
indirectly By the production of cotton. i is not
the planter alone who reaps the profit. The man
ufacturer makes his gain by lit is the motive
power Of the wheels of foreign commerce. Above
all, it is the great medium Of exchange between
this and foreign countries, taking the place OF
gold, and sustaining not only private credit but
even the credit of the Federal government itself.
Importing value Of four hundred millions year
the country would be drained Of its gold to pay
for these imports and the financial affairs of gov
eminent and people involved 10 inextricable CON
fusion, but for that single article Of commerce
cotton.
I 1t has been supposed by some that an increase
Of production would be followed by correspond
ing decline in priceso that a large crop would
BE- worth little more, iii actual money, than a
small one In our opinion tbs is to q very great
extent, an error. Tie statistics of cotton CON
sumption show that from 1910 to 1860 the increase
in the use of cotton fabrics HIS been steady and
firm. The extension Of commerce is carrying the |
cotton goods of America an6 Europe to all por-
tons of the world. The use df such goods is eve |
rywhere increasing. The demand is every year
greater. Reasoning from thd past, we may con-
elnde thatM cotton in 1860, when four millions OF
bales were produced actually sold higher than it /
did twenty years before, when not one half that
quantity raised in like manner the price will
continue to keep up III the futhre with the ncreas
ing demands Of the world ; and that it is safe to
say that it will be many years, if ever, before
American cotton will be worth less than the eaui-
valent of twenty cents per pound in gold.
The interest of our people then no less than the
necessities of commerce and the Federal govern
ment, require that every exertion be put forth to-
produce this invaluable staple. Suppose that we
could make, this year, the crop of ls60-say, in
round numbers, four millions Of bales. The aver
age price Of cotton now il, IN gold value, thirty
cents d pound. The total value of the crop, at
that price, would be the magnificent sum Of nearly
five hundred millions Of dollars in gold!
Think of that, ye statesmen, who are trying to
reduce the currency to par. and to pay off the pub
lie debt! Think of it, VI importing merchants who
must pay your purchases either in cotton or gold
Think of il, We bankers and fihaneers of Northern
cities! Think Of it, We lords of tile loom in New
England, who have built cities, and towns, and
villages and palaces, through the magic aid Of the
power of cotton! Above all, think of it, ye poor,
penniess, ruined, helpless planters Of the South,
who have had the means Of realizing all these
bright visions Of wealth rudeEy taken away from
Syon, and consumed by the blazing torch Of war!
To think of it, indeed is all that the planter can
do. He has no money Wherewith to hire labor.
He has no money to buy draught animals and agri-
cultural implements. He has no money to buy
provisions and supplies for laborers. He sees his
once fruitful fields growing u in weeds before his
eyes, and he is utterly powe1less, without money
to redeem them from waste. Before the war he
could get advances from his commission merchant.
NoU, his commission merchant like himself, is
ruined Whittier shall he turn?
AS we said above, we believe the people of the
Northern States are as much interested in this
matter as we are. 1t is great question Of com
3merce--it is q great question of manufacturing
prosperity especially, it is o great question of
government itself Five hundred millions worth
Of cotton--even two hundred millions WORTH
produced this year may save the country from a
financial crash, which would topple to their
foundations many of the gaudy superstructures of
wealth which the merchant kings and the manu-
featuring kings Of the North have raised.
n this extremity Of our necessity we believe
the North can save Us, and save itself, by an act
of judcious policy. 1t has millions of accnmu-
lated capital Let it send some of that capital
here. to be applied to the growth Of cotton. Let.
III spare something out of its store to set the
planters Of the South on their feet again and ena
bio them to resume the pursuits of agriculture.
Not as q gJt--but as a loan, to be repaid out Of
the proceeds Of the cfops, TIE capitalist having
the first mortgage upon those crops after The
demands OF labor are satisfied. We believe a
system can be easily devised by which tile capt
talists Of the country, taking but little risk, caa
stimulate tile production of cotton throughout the
South, and restore to the country a crop of such
value as will save oil Of the people alike from the
Horrors of q financial reynlsiorl.
1t can be easily demonstrated that the cultiva-
lion of cotton NOW, provided we can have re-
liable system Of labor will \ e much more profit
able than before the war. The cost Of good
( feld-handn then was about two thousand dollars
The annual intareston that sum, at 8 per cent, the
rate in Louisiana, together with clothing and
maintenance, was as much as the planter will
now have to pay for q year services Of laborer;