The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1866-11-14

all competitors, aud to produce good arti,
clio cheaper than nuy other country.
Speaking roughly, we may say that before
tho war we only bought Indian cotton be-
cause it was cheaper than Orleans, and
Egyptian or Brazil because we wanted that
special quality forspecial purposes, and DO.
cause the United States could not send uS
suite as much as wo required But Negro
labor i'll the cotton States will be ncithci aS
cheap, rs abundant, nor us reliably at cont
mond rs it used to be; probably years may
elapse before the American crop atains its
former Dimensions, and il can never, in nj
likelihood, be grown nt its former cost. W.
must, perhaps, never look certainly no.
for long pcrod--to have mdlling Orleans
sold in Liverpool, as ii has been, At id. pc,
pound, wi.h handsome profit on thr trans-
action.
But VIC haveno idea TIM. either EGyp, 3.
India will at any time be able to grow cotton
MS suoccssfull" or economically as the Uni
tea States, .aad the rcsult which all consid-
crations point TO as tho mos. probable we
apprehend TO be this The American supply
will, year by year. constitute larger por-
ton Of our total importation, as in former
times; but there will still rcmain q consdc-
rablc margin of deficit, which must be sup
piled from the old sources; and rs prices
will remain permanently higher, this mar
gin will be relatively higher than it used TO
be, since il is evident that India will hc able
aud will be induced TO send us greater
number of bales when the aviragc price of
Surat is Cd. than when it was 81. or 4d per
pound. There will, moreover, probably al
ways be soils and districts, both in Egypt,
Brazil and Iindostan, OH which cotton
crop will pay better than any other even if
II 40 not yield ny large profit rs is rcapod
BY the American producer. IL is dangerous
10 prophecy in such matters; but as far as
the data Of the past arc q guidc TO The fi-
turc, We shall probably not be far wrong If
We prognosticate that, in tho course Of two
or three years We shall have settled down
into position OF affairs in Which the Unitod
States will furnish about 55 OF 80 per cent
OF our consumption. while prices will range
somewhere about Cd. or 1Od per pound for
Orleans, and Cd. pound for middlng SUI.
rat.
Meanwhile, it is matlor for sincere con
graduation that our crisis Of manufacturing
distress is past; that al fnctorics arc again
fully at work and likely to remain so and
that the whole of our operative population
is once more employed, and employed nt
even higher wages than heretofore. II is
gratifying, too, TO rccollcct that dnring the
four calam us years that we had to en-
when nearly q million Of people
were moro Or less dependent upon charita-
bio aid, not 6 single person isa known to
have porished FROM want; and that We ira,
ycrsed aprotractcd period of unparallcd in
dustrial disorganization with less permanent
."ipuiler ur oiSrvr InoraI or soclal charao.
tor than any ono believed possible. There
was widespread ruin among capitalists
thero was sad impovcrishmcnt and bitter
distress among tho laboring poor; there
Was severe pressure Of many sorts among al
classes but through the whole period there
was scarcely single attempt At riot there
was little drunkenness and still less crime,
while the feeling between employers ana
Employed though far from perfect, still was
softcncd rather than cmbittorcd by the
crisis.