New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-01-26

beng carried of as fast as gathere1 to NOrthel
cihes and sold to liquidate liabilities incurred b
! our planters at a period when there wasno remed
Gcesslble for the evils that existed and the fra nd
, that were constantly practiced upon them. Thul
all was about to be given up for the present sea
fication of all, Maj. johnson arrived with his 1arg
and commodious wharfboat. This at once offere,
shippers all the accommodations needed, and pro
lection against the dangers already mentioned. 1
goodwarehouse or wharfboat was the thing needed
and in the absence of either, Napoleon could NO
\ be that important auxiliary that she naturally
i withit. The next object to be accomplished wa
the introduction OF a line of steamers from Ma
poleon to Little Rock, and, when the water woult
admit of it, to Fort Smith and oil intermediate
points on the Arkansas river; and in connection
Herewith, line of steamers up White river to the
head Of navigation; all Of which, | am happy te
announce, has been satisfactorily accomplished
Thus you see, at Napoleon, the auxiliary for New
i Orleans and the Arkansas and White river valleys
we have large wharfboat, and from Napoleon tc
up White river to Jacksonport, thus affording ship
pers, consumers and producers all the facilities
they want from either Jacksonport, on White river
Or to Fort Smith, on the Arkansas, to New Or
leans The present cotton crop is nearly disposed
Of; but let US see what the prospect is for youl
| city to secure the remainder.
steamers are now plying between this town and
Little Rock, and soon Captain Ben johnson will
the line, all of which will be commanded by gen
tlemen of unquestionable popularity on the Ar.
kansas river, and through their agency the New
Orleans market will be able to control more cotton
than 1t probably otherwise would; and in addition
to this the assurances of safety, speed and cheap
ness will control a great deal more. Our planters
are also extremely anxious for their commercial
business to resume its old and legitimate channel
which it is ultimately bound to do sooner or later
| Now let us examine the reasons that favor your
city in the future. Suppose Ishipa bale of cotton
| from Little Rock to Memphis, which will, with the
present prices, cost me just ten dollars. The cot
/ mi A T oofFar
45 cents per pound for it; but decline taking it,
and with the hopo Of getting better price reship
It to New York. Here l sell it for fifty cents.
This gives me on advantage of five cents over the
Memphis price. From Little Rock to Memphismy
freight is ten dollars; and from Memphis to Little
Rock twenty five more, making in all thirty five
dollars. This, however lisa very moderate charge.
About the time the war closed it cost from forty
to sixty dollars, more than five hundred pound
bale of good mddling was worth, to get it to New
York; but now, suppose, thirty -fve or forty dol
lars would get it through. 1t is unnecessary to
pursue this thread of my argument, for every sen!
sible man knows New York can never be the cot
ton market for the Southern producer.
And what is the prospect for Memphis to rival
average cest, as before stated, for shipping bale
of cotton from Little Rock to Memphis is ten dol
lars, and from Pine Bluff and other inter
mediate points seven; Memphis is not a
whose inhabitants deal in all sorts of mer.
chandise from a pound of sour krout to bale to
cotton But can the Memphis merchant afford of
give as much as the New Orleans merchant? He
cannot, because the Memphis merchant buys with
the prospect and hope Of making by the operation,
and in order to do so he must ship the article so
purchased to a consuming market before he can
realize on the money invested and in doing SO,
he hazards a great deal. in risking losses, and a
decline in the market; hence he has not the in
ducements to pay large prices for cotton that the
consuming merchant has The New Orleans mar
ket has another and very decided advantage over
ms in fhn nIa cSSffn not; n.,P
ton. The Memphis merchant is not justified in
making the difference in good and in an inferior
article of cotton that the New Orleans merchant
is, because the latter merchant buys the good and
can afford to give the same for the sorry or infe-
rior article he does for the good. He meets the
French buyer who wants the first quality, the
German who wants the second quality, and the
Englishman who wants the third quality and the
Austrian who wants the fourth class cotton Here
he finds purchasers for all the cotton he has
nv. Not SO with the Memphis merchant. He can
dispose of his fine article to advantage but he can
not his coarse, simply because his market is not
consuming, but speculative one. New Orleans
is consuming market hence its merchants can
afford to pay higher price for all sorts of cotton
than the Memphis merchant, whose object is
paying speculation. We see, too, the advantages
given to the producer by shipping his cotton di-
rect to consuming market NJ y S9Es
We have seen the advantage and actual cost Of
shipping bale of cotton from Little Rock to Mem
phis now let us see what it cost to ship one to
New Orleans, the way charges now stand, The
cost on a nale OF cotton from Little Rock to Napo-
ieoh' IS rom four and half to five doars,-say
from Napoleon to New Orleans, it will cost
just two dollars and fifty cents this making the
entire cost on bale of cotton from Little Rock to
New Orleans 81 so, or 50 so less than it costs to
Memphis. From the foregoing figures it will be
seen that the producer will save 81 so freight by
shipping to New Orleans instead of to Memphis.
And in addition to this, there is always difference
of at least five cents in favor of New Orleans
suppose, then, ship bale of cotton from Little
Rock TO New Orleans which weighs five hundred
pounds; to begin with clear 50 so on the ship
ment and sell it for five cents more in New or-
leans than do in Memphis, which will be a gain
Of S25 on the bale add to this So SO more which
clear on the, shipment, and will have cleared
twenty-five bales and clear $27 so on each bale, It
will leave me 1857 so. This item is worth some
thing to the producer and should be saved, and in
the absence of any necessary use by the owner, it
widows whose Husbands fell on Chickama kama ns
bloody field or at Shiloh rather than thrown into
the pocket of people at a distance.
During the war, New York became quite cot.
ton mart. This was brought about by the superior
advantages which that city possessed over others
OF. less magnitude No fears were ever enter. |
tanned of its falling into the hands of the enemy,
ana controlling more capital than any city in
the United States, it was believedit offered liberal
inducements to both the buyer and the producer
thus the opportunity was embraced of shipping
and selling cotton there During the existence Of |
nostlites 1t required time to ship it, and receive
returns of sales hence but few were received up |
to the surrender After it they came direct, with /
out any delay, as all distractions were removed,
and then, too, came the. tug of war; A gentle
man, for instance, ships twenty five bales of good
middling. He, of course, expects it to bring hun
handsome sum of greenbaGks on return but to
his utter establishment and CONSERVATION, 1T |
brought him back slip of paper containing a /
= dun !" for two thousand dolfsrs the balance due B
on his last shipment" Cotton gone and the /
poor farmer two thousand dolass m debt for rails
ing it, and the privilege of shipping it. And in
another instance, a poor old negro, who had been
! faithful servant, shipped bale OF cotton, which
his former master had given him asa slightreward
Tor his faithfuness as a servant; and when he re-
seiyed his returns it showed an Indebtedness ON
his part, of sixty dollars
As the above is literally true, : see no impro-
,riety in mentioning it. 1t serves to show too,
he extravagant prices charged for shipping cot
on from the Arkansas valley to New York city. |
L must be conceded by all that the cotton raised
n the Arkansas valley is destined for New Orleans,
where it finds the acme of its valuation. The
PRICES paid there sire always as good as they are
n New York, and it costs far less to get it there
md then we deal with a class Of merchants who I
their business. #s a&gs V n
I have now stated the cost on the shipment of a
,ale of cotton from Little Rock or Pine Bluff to
demphis, and also to New Orleans from either of
he above places. A full line of steamers is now
lying from Napoleon to Pine Bluff aud Little
soek, in connectioa with steamers on the Mssis-
ippi; hence all the cotton the river can be
aSily Skinned tbj2 mint VIII nap boi