Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-12-21
cofroN PROSPECTS FOE 1857:

| correspondent Of the New Orleans 1Snes
writing from the M Mississippi bottoms, points
out the fallscy Of tho belief that the present
quotations for Cotton are justified by the crop
Of the present year, and discusses the work
now before Southern plantcrs ir q spiri, Of de-
termination and resolve. that is worthy of gen.
eral imitation. The present price of Cotton is
| lower than it should be, Whether the extent of
| the crop or the quotations from Liverpool he
taken as stsndsrj. and, when it is considered
! that there is no hope that the sropof 1867 will
be iu any way superior to that Of 1866 the
! wisdom of holding Cotton, instead of allowing
it to he sacrificed al present quotations. is plain
~ aprarc:t. Many of the planters, are. uu-
fortunately. cccinpeled TO PLACE their Cotton on
the market for what Il will bring. Their ne
cessties allow them no alternative, but when
this temporary pressure of sales is over, epec-
ulat"rs for the fall will grow discouraged, the
effects Of short crops will begin to show them
selves and quotations vii reach figure that
will re'nui. arate the planter for the labor and
care which his crops have cost him.
10 the Editor Of tie Ncao Orleans 71mes:-
The year about closing Is suggestive of deep
and profound thought, not only to the great
th"ss of the people Of the SOUTH, but 70 the
planting inter"r,s particularly. The planters
at the start this season, labor.d und.r the
greatest sprrehensons in regard to sulficieu.
cY oi labor to carry on their plantations even
in u moderate degree, e" far as quantity of
crop was concerned. This fear WINS partially
overcome, but rather late for a satisfactory start
in The majority Of cuses. The price Of Cotton
was ,oerably satisfactory at the beg timing of
the Year, and the almost universal opinion.
among we'll informed aud business men, was
that the price of Cotton at the opening of this
season would have been from fifty to seventy
cents, certainly not under The former named
price. This stimuli ated the planler to eser,ion,
and led to higher wages being offered than tho
result has justified.
Instead Of a moderate crop of Fl vo bales to
the land, there is not two. on an average,
| th cughout the entire Cotton-growing States,
ard prices have receded TO 26 32c for ordl
nary to mddling, So that we see that the crop
has fullen off more than one half Som our
must moderate calculations at the beginning o f
the year. aud prices in about the same ratio.
Thus the brightest hopes and the Most catetul
calculations have come to naught. Provisions
and the entire cost of living have been aud
still are exorbitantly high, and can il be doubt.
ed or wondered at that bankruptcy and uni
versal distress is about 10 cover the land. Add
to these calaruities, which come home to every
mans door. TIE dark aspect of our political fl.
tire, lie must be brave man, and highly i'm
sGinative, who sees a ray of sunshine on our
dark and lowering horizon.
The qusstion naturally arises what are We
| ~. .ln2 TN.rf g,.l
poets before I'm. zee but one way TO extricate
ourselves. The people-the planters-must ask
indulgence of their creditors and friends who
well know that these accumulated ealatnities
have been brought on by DO fault of theirs
These indulgences obtniued, and continued an
sistance offered to the worthy aud indust, iou.,
We should ''pnll off our coats" and "go at il"
auin. resolving that no such word as fail shall
be found in the Southern vocabulary.
We must rouse ourselves to anurh her trial, aud
If possible, learn W isdom from the trials Of the
present
The system of labor will doubtless have tc
Is co onAiderably changed. the 'ys,ern of month.
~ wages entirely ignored tint certainly will
not do Tor planter, This year amply proves
That to the sorrow of many, The system Of thirds
to the freedmen is eq ualIy disastrous to them,
ard they will doubtless require a greater cd
vantage. The employer. who has psid wagee,
aud the unfortunate freedmen in his third, are
about on an equality for ouce-both uvol.
poor.
My oPin is, after mature reflection, that
f"nr-'enthe, after dcducting all expenses Of the
crop. would Le just and fair compensation for
the freedmen. All parties. uron this basis,
ought 10 be estis6ed.
Whether the freedmen will show as much
alacrity ~ for work the coming year as they
have done the present, rernans to be seen.
Every one can form his own Judgment. Mine
IL rather against it, less they are encouraged
upon the bssis above named, or something like
it, and there are otNet causes which tend to
still further denioralize this unfortunate class.
Whatever they may be we cannot rely upon
white labor to take their placer. We must,
therefore. depend only upon black labor In the
South 10 resusci!aie our depressed agriculture
and increase our prosperity. if it ever is done,
which some consider doubtful, at least for the
next quarter Of o century.
P. S.-There is a question which I should
like to see answered: Cotton being worth I44d
in Liverpool, in gold. why is it that it brings
only 26 q 33c. in New Orleans, in greenbacks,
and they worth only u 3c ON the dollar, altow.
ing gold at l4oi
A PLANTER.
WAsHISo1vN. Dec. 1S.-Mr. Sumner presen.
ted the memorial Of the Union League of Nor
fulk Va for the establishment Of a Territorial