Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-12-24
.nnrrRne. GLOOMY rrTrRE.

aLoEERENG. GLOOMY FUTURE
We returned, q few days ago, from s
Conrt beld in the once rich and prosper
ous eooDty Of Chieot, in Arkansas, the
varv centre Of the cotton region Of the
limited states. We were prepared to
ind. there and elsewhere on the river
crest disbursement snd depression,
csYza for alarm, ruin Of estates ana loss
OF fortune; but the reality far eAceeds
all our i~magiBings.
We found all fortunes wrecked, all
estates become worthless, lands q drug, q
community hopelessly in debt, and q
general determination 10 abandon the
cultivation Of cotton. Money in the
country there is none, and it i useless TO
hone 10 collect even the smallest debts.
The cotton raised by planters on the river
has cost them nearly OF quite 2 hundred
dollars s bale. Many have made only
one bale 20 the hand; few more than a
bale aud a half. All are overwhelmed
with debt and a rspaeious Government
still exscts its black mail Of two and 8
half cents upon every pound Of cotton.
When the war ended in 1855 every one
who had money owing to him, in a
country in which there had been in four
wears q positive snnihilstion OF property
IN the cssh value Of st least seven hun
dred and nifty millions Of dollars, not
including the value Of the slaves eman-
cipated, sued bis unfortunate debtor, and
actions Of debts, and bills for foreclosure
OF mortgages, swsrmed in all the
Courts and plagued the people every
where. The great purpose OF creditors
seemed 20 be 70 complete the
general ruin. The planters obtained sd-
vapces, in the hope OF full crops and
high prices aud at the end Of W years
lad themselves in worse condition thai
when they began. a few months since
q plantation In Chicot county was pur-
chased by 8 creditor, under execution,
for the sum OF five hundred dollars. Il
would require three or four plantations
20 satisfy s security debt OF I'VE or six
thousand dollars. A New Orleans meE-
chant who had advanced $4,000, and
had 70. security a plantation in Desha
county. Arkansas, lately preferred to
lose the whole, rather than advance Sl75
more, to pay the due upon the
LAID.
Meanwhile u sees only patches OF
eotsoD-stsiks here and there in the fields,
and no negroes At work ia them any
where. Almost every where the picking
e. over and where some small spots srs
st1I white, they seem TO have been
abandoned. The negroes have, with
very few exceptions, got in arrears to
their employers, and have nothing due
them. Nearly OF quite q hundred
thousand OF them, in the river region OF
Mississippi snd Arkansas are, or IN 8
Few days will be, discharged. TheIe Is
no employment for them, the coming
vesr and they are about to learn that
freedom 20 starve is no great boon.
Northern philanthropy is now proving
itself. for them, the destroying angel
their sudden emancipation
and invesdture with the power 20 ruin
the country, a crime more %stupendous
than any that man eve before com
mitted.
Already. negro women have been
found in Arkansas, lying dead or dying
Of starvation In the roads.
Having pretty nearly exterminsted
h swine in the bottoms,
the freedmen are now destroying the cat
tie. On the Arkansas river, we learn,
corn is scarce and already high-hardly
more than a bushel to the mouth, in the
ivere0untTy we are told. Twoshortyears
Of folly have suficed to ALLEVIATE from the
silly aud besolted negro the sympA-
tbies OF those who would fsin have been
his friends. A short carnival Of license
and lsziuess is 10 be succeeded, for him,
by 3 long winter Of discomfort. The
farmers and planters are not able either
10 employ or &c iced him; and no longer
want his services OF his presence. The
only question 25w il, how to get rid Of
him and the process Of extinction BY
starvation, exposure AND dRssse, has al
ready begun. As 3 worthless lsbOurer
and 8 vicious voter used by tad men for
the bssost ends, be appeals 20 none Of the
kindly sympathies Of the white race.
After robtsng the employer and tie Ia
boursr. FOR two years, by 3 shamslessly
unconstitutional tax On cotton, the cabal
Of consulrators at Washington now re-
pesls the TAX. 1t is too late. The cult
walton Of cotton is for the most part ct an
end: and with 1t ends the capacity ofthe
south to purchase the goods which
Northern merchants lave imported.
The year just closing has been sns Of
embsrrassments, Of ~eKpedients TO make
both ends meet, of devices to maintain
sinking credits, Of BRrrowness Of means,
of the creditors disappointed hopes and
the debtors violated pz0mises,O of depres-
sion. gloom ndRpprehension, Of narrow
uess Of means aud straitened cireunJI
stances and falling incomes bot on the
nortsls Of the year that Is abCut to open,
nav dHy be written the terrible
words which, according 70 Dante,
are engraven over the great
brszen gates of he'll, " Ogni l~asciate
sDeranza, here leave hope behind
We have As yet seen only the beginning
a. The end. The immediate future has
for our people nothing Of encouragement
=, nromise. We Are only entering into
TIE valley OF the shadow Of death,
which our South has to pass, in
orser chat the cup Of ths iniquities Of its
rants .aay be full anc Overflow, their
5unishmsnt be in some degree proPoE-
.oued 10 tbslt enormous crimes, and