The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1867-01-25
From the Columbia Phoenix.
: COTTON CULTURE

COTTON CULTURE.
:. There is q new paper published in
Manchester, England, devoted to the
culture of cotton, it's manufactures,
&c., which proposes to lay before5its
readers the last and most reliable
data and information that can be OBJ
tanned in regard to the present cul-
ture and future probable value Of the
great staple. 49,
Some Of the statements the writer
makes will be interesting to planters.
He assumes that the production Of
cotton in India was profitable when
its value, in the Liverpool market,
was only four pence per pound: and
the difficulty and cost Of Transports
ton were greater than they are now,
and that the price which: it now com
mands (more than double the former)
will insure it's cultivation in that
countryto a much larger extent than
heretofore. He recognizes in India
a formidable competitor to the South
ern States in the growth of cotton,
and after enumerating some of#the.
advantages the former possesses
brings them IN contrast with impedi-
ments which, since the war, have su-
perinvened in the latter. -;
There are some truths in the argu-
ments he uses to stimulate anincreased
production in India. He says that
the present condition Of the South, its
incapacity for producing the former
large crops, and the tax Of three cents
per pound, which has necessitated a
method of collection that seriously
impedes the movement of the crop
and embarrasses. the planters in their
operations, may sberegarded with GER
1 tainty as guaranteeing the cotton
growers Of India and elsewhere on:the
Eastern continent ample remunera-
ton as the result ofthe curtaiIment
Of the crop here. He.adds other rea-
sons for expecting diminished pro-
: duction of cotton in the Southern
/ States, as compared with the qpanfl-
/ Y IL e grown ,aH before the war; and .anioag
them is; the reorganization of society
and of the relations of labor; that the
number of horses, mules and cattle
in the Southern States is now about
forty per cent: less than in 1860; that
the transport system, both on land
and water, is still very fur from being
restored to its former efficiency; and
that the prices Of labor, and all i'm
plements, and products, and animals,
are now double what they were pre-
vious to the war, and involves at least
double cost in tile growing Of cotton,
whilst credit, so essential to prcduc-
ton, shows a very tardy recupera-
ton.
&c then places in contrast the ad-
.vantages that India at present pos.
sesses. He says the prostration OF
energy and enterprise who'll resulted
from the tyrannical sway Of the East
India Company is giving away under
the new system rule; that the people
of the country are recovering conf:
dence in Europeans, and having bet
ter chances Of securing to themselves
the rewards of their industry, they
are moro disposed to cultivate the
land and to engage ip productive and
trading pursuits generally. The VII
ter adds that the same causes and in
fuences arc producing like effects in
other parts Of the East and in South
America, which have valuable oppor;
tunities open and available, and Of
which advantage will be taken to
the utmost, in order to establish a
permanent and rcmunerativc cotton
trade with the manufacturing commu-
nifty.
| Welay these views before our read
crs, and commend them especially to
: the farmers and planters Of our State
Some of the positions Of the writer
cannot be gainsayed; and when we
take into consideration, superadded
to the onorous tax imposed by Con-
gross, they must show the planter,
that it is his interest to plant less cot
ton, and turn his attention more to
other agricultural production. II
shows morc-that it is the interest Of
both tho planters and capitalists Of
the Southern States to engage large.
" in the manufacture of the staple, SC
that if cotton-spinning Manchester is
determined to make herself indcpcnrl,
cnt of Southern production, the Soutl
can make herself independent Of hcl
s,,;,dlcs and loums- This course, be-