Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-01-03
From the New York Journal of Commerce
The Tnxon Ctus1ou

passed teVylng an internal revenue tax Of
three cents per pound on all cotton grown
In the United States This is equal TO an
assessment of twenty to thirty per cent
upon the cost of prodaction-a burden
which would be altogether without excnsa
if it were to rest upon any home interest
This is apparent, that those who have
defended the tax have based their oro,,
ments upon the ground that American cot
ton was without rival in the markets ~
the world, and therefore such an exactinn
could not interfere at all with its foreic,
consumption, and must be paid bv t5n
alien purchaser.
To show the error of that Dosition .
committee of the New York Chamber of
Commerce, consisting of five eminent CHI
zens, drew up u report, which was perfect.
~ unanswerable in its conclusions and was
unanimously adopted by that body. The
committee were afterwards instructed to
prepare a memorial to Congress urging the
abolition of the tax. This document Was
prepared and presented for adoption at =
special meeting of the Chamber recently
called for that purpose. To the astoni.h-
ment of those who ordinarily attend the
sessions of this body, the meeting on til,
occasion was packed with n class Of polti-
cal partisans, who have done so much dur.
ing the last three or four years to destroy
the representative character OF this Board
of Trade. Speeches were made in opposi-
ton to the memorial by some gentlemen
who We're far more jealous than well-u-
formed, and by others from whom no such
opposition could have been expected
Sneers were uttered against the committee
who had prepared the report, although one
of them, A. A. Low, who is also president
of the Chamber, WAS ahSent.fr from the cOun.
try, and courtesy might have suggested
different course toward one who had given
the SUBJ SO much attention. Sharp crit
icisms, with more ill-nature than point,
were made upon the statistics prepared by
the committee, although these were fur
nished from his own records by the we'll
known Matthew Maury, Esq, who was one
OF the 8 fathers " of the Chamber in the
days Of its widest influence and greatest
usefulness, before it had degenerated into
a political machine. In short, after treat
ing the subject with the hippancy peculiar
to the performances Of Il Juvenile debating
society, the majority present laid the ne
mortal with It's belongings upon the table,
and the whole matter was indefinitely post
poned. This was Il signal triumph for the
friends of the tax, and was brought about
by the unusual gathering of those members
whose faces are only seen in the Chamber
on such special occasions, and whose name,
the s. commerce OF New York.
This probably closes the history Of the
memorial, but it by no means disposcs Of
the question thus summarily dismissed
from the attention OF that assembly. with
ali proper Difference to the gentlemen who
were IN such haste to stultify their record
and disOwn the former deliberate action Of
their body, made after consultation with
the wisest heads in the country, we venture
the assertion that the tax on cotton vii.
prove to be Il very serious mistake. 1t il
true, as that committee asserted, AUWevt2.
unpalatable the truth may be, that Amer
can cotton does not hold the position la
the necessary supply OF the world which il
occupied before the war. The spiunerS
did not simply learn to do without if, but
they provided, to great extent, Il sIlbsti-
tute for it in the growth of other couutri,a
This production was everywhere stimulated
by the eager demand and the enormous
prices which were paid, until, at the close
OF the rebellion, the largest supplies came
from other countries and if our fields had
never yielded another bale the world would
not have been greatly distressed by the
failure.
In the two years which preceded the wal.
the European markets took So per cent of
their supply from this country, and hut L.
was so far changed that after the close OF
hostilities it was found that other coun-
tries produced 60 per cent. of tho cotton
thus used, while America furnished but 80
per cent. Of the supply.
The theory then held by some that the
foreign was used only because American
could not be obtained and that its use
would be abandoned the moment IL supply
was offered from our fields, has not been
sustained by further experience The for
elgn staple has not been obliged to wait for
u market until our crop was exhausted, nor
has It's price depended upon its relative
proportion to the yield from the States
The cOttOns of Brazil India and Egypt are
now produced in large and annually in
creasing quantity, and have established p
recognized position in every important
market. When it became apparent two or
three months ago that the crop of Amcii-
can cotton would fall below the larger esti-
mates which have been current, the cOnSe
quent advance in prices at Liverpool was
far greater in india cotton than it was Iir
cotton from the United States.
In view Of these undeniable facts. il
would seem to be the dictate OF sound poll
cy to recover, if possible, the prestige thus
lost, and restore to American cotton the
leaf OF European markets. There never
H''n a. iIlOLc mo )ppElule InODnGnGfDr the IN
position Of q tax upon its production. The
south itself was impoverished and desola-
ted, and needed every encouragement as a
stimulus to its industry, The planter had
more formidable competition than he had
ever before encountered, backed by large
capital and the accumulated profits Of an
undIspHtad market, while he was required
to commence anew with an exhausted trrus-
ury, and All untried system Of labor just
when he needed most the outstanding of
his resources, and the untrameled use OF ali
that could aid him in his struggle, this I'M
examped burden was laid upon him. lit
was penal in its design ii was certainly most
lH-advised, for the South had u thousand
Vulnerable points where rebellion might
have been punished with far more hope of
reaching the guilty without involving the
innocent, and intlicting an irrevocabc dam
age upon every material interest common to
all sections by Offering direct bonus to thr
growth OF this great staple in other coum-
tries