New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-03-12
OUR DOMESTIC POLICY,

l
We publish to-day a Communication from cor
respondent, writing under signature OF " Stone
| wail,n in which he discusses our article we pub
| lished some days since on the subject OF "our
Domestic Policy" If our correspondent will OK
4 anime the article more closely, he will discover
there ii not So great divergence of opinion
between us as he supposes. We by no means
4 advised, as he assumes, that cur agricuturists
should plant their fields altogether in cotton On
| the contrary we stated that the SOIL and climate
and other natural circumstances, would compel q
variety Of crops, according to iocality--and that
while sugar would be the leading crop in Att&ka
pas, and cotton on Red river, and corn in othe,
places, there were other regions in which it would
be more profitable to engage in stock raising, o,
in market gardening or the lumber business, OIL
the planting of mixed crops and the diversified
ton Of labor.
The general principle we laid down was ths,
people ought to go into that business, what
ever it is that will bring in the most i" net Y
money. If planting nothing but cotton, and buy
ing everything else. would produce that result
we would most unhesitatingly advise to plant
nothing but cotton. We do not mean that every
body ought to plant cotton and nothing else, be-
| cause there are circumstances in which it would
be more profitable not to do it, and of these
circumstances every planter must jadge for him
self. What we meant was that if any planter,
upon close calculation and careful consideration,
discovers he can make more clear money by de-
voting all his labor to single crop, and buying
every thing else he needs, by all means let him de-
vote himself to single crop, whether it be
cotton, or sugar or tobacco, or rice, or anything
Sof NC is
more apparent than real.
Our correspondent assumes that if all of ones
labor is devoted togcotton, and he has to buy
everything else, he may reap larger income, but
his expenditures will eat it up, and at the end of
the year he will have nothing. But in this he is
combating what we did not say. We said "net',
inc the balance remaining in pocket after all
expenses are paid. Wesdid not advise the plant,
ING. of an cotton on account Of its predicting the
largest gross income-it was only in the event
that it would show q better balance sheet at the
end Of the year after everything is settled up.
Our correspondent is an adzocate of mixed
crops, but the principle he goes on is precisely
the same as ours. He favors mixed crops, be.
cause they are most profitable. Very we'll In
all cases where this is the result, let there be
mixed crops by all means. Upon the same prin-
ciple, he must agree with US that if single crop
be more proftable-ifa man can make more clear
money by giving all his labor and attention to one
crop, and has more money in his pocket when the
year closes, IL Is unquestionaby his duty to him
self, his family, and his country, to do SO.
The system of division Of labor prevails in all
countries, TO the mutual benefit of society. The
shoemaker does not compound drugs, nor the
blacksmith make clothes. Each one sticks to his
business, and then they accommodate each other
BY an exchange of values, or of money, which is
the representative values. They find it more pro-
liable to attend to one branch of business, and
buy what they may need from those in other pur- |
suits. The application Of this system may not
De % general or as advantageous in agriculture as
4 the mechanic arts, but the general rule holds
yood. Agreeing fully with our correspondent
hat it is what man saUes, and not what lie
makes, that is the test of his material prosperity
We renew the advice that it is cur duty to devote
ourselves to whatever will enable us to save and
ay by the most money, consistent with our vari-
'us natural and humane obligations. We do not
uppose this general principle will be contested
doney is power, and we need all the strength we
AVE. or can acquire, to protect ourselves in the
uture, and to regain the position which we had
before the war.