The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1867-10-01
THE TAX ON COTTON.

THE TAX ON COTTON.
The following judicious remarks on the cot
ton crop and the cotton tax are from the pen oi
G. w. Griffin, late editor in chief of the Indus
trial and Commercial Gazette:
There is every indication that the cotton crop
for 1867 will be very small, even smaller than
that of last year. Although number of oul
cotemporaries express contrary opinion, our
own advices from Alabama, Mississippi, Texas
and Louisiana, are anything else but encouraging
In these States the worm and the overflow have
destroyed nearly two-thirds of the entire crop,
while in other parts of the country, where the
seasons have been more favorable, the planters
have, in many instances, been wholly unable to
procure help. The freedmen, if they work at
all, do not care to work in any other way than
on shares, and usually demand one-hall of the
crop for their services. This deluded class of
human beings fatter themselves with the belief
that Gay Of luxurious ease is near at hand;
that the landed property Of the South will be
con6scated for their especial benefit, and that
they will soon become the sole possessors of un-
told wealth. Their imaginatons are filled with
visions of splendor, and dreams of debasing
servitude for their former masters. No wonder
that they are sullen and insolent, when asked to
labor But these are not the only difficulties
with which the Southern planter has to con-
tend His taxes are becoming daily more and
more burdeosome. . ..
Almost every article of human consumption
is taxed. He is obliged not only to pay in-
direct tax on everything necessary for growing
his crop, but for the clothing he wears, the light
he burns, and the books and papers he reads;
and last, and meanest of all, has to pay tax of
24 cents on every pound of cotton be raises.
Under these circumstances, it is not at all
strange that cotton is no longer King; that, in
stead of sending millions of bales abroad, We
find the supply scarcely equal to the demand at
home, ard that other countries and nations are
cultivating it as we'll as our Own, aud are meet
ing with success undreamed Of before Eng
land, our greatest commercial rival, has not been
idle. Her statesmen and political economists
to force the culture of this indispensable article
in her dominion. They have succeed 10 uniting
their country to the Indian Empire, as it were
"by bridge of gold" They have sienced the
grumbling of the Sepoys, and quelled every dis
position of mutiny and war. They have widened
and deepened canals, and constructed new ones
They have built railroads, and bridged mountain
chasms and mighty rivers They have improved
navigation, thrown up highways, and repaired
common roads, and taught the ignorant inhabi-
tants industry and sobriety. The great PENN
sular and East Indian railroads, through which
cotton is made marketable, were projected and
built in spirit of enterprise unsurpassed by
any nation of modern times. During the CON-
ing year, the former will pass from Bombay to
Calcutta, distance of fifteen hundred miles,
while the latter has the longest unbroken line,
under the management of one company, in the
world.
10 times gone BY we were able to boast that
We monopolized the cotton market of England
Now, she is independent Of US, with the excep-
tion that our cotton is of better quality and
better suited for manufacturing purposes Shall
we remain longer inactive, and make no effort
to recover the supremacy from our aspiring rival?
1t would seem that there is no other way to
awaken the American people to sense of duty
than by reminding them that We are losing our
greatness as nation. We have spoken un-
pleasant truths, but We have been compelled to
give utterance to them.
The tax on our greatest staple should at once
be repealed, for it is not only Uni ust, but dis
graceful. Our legislative authorities should go
to work in earnest, and by system Of wise and
judicious legislation, encourage the developments
of our agricultural resources, ard afford every
protection to our commercial interests, SO that
We can again wrest the sceptre from England,
who, with graspng tyranny, has extended her
sway over weaker empires, and, with all
absorbing avarice, is aiming at the conquest ef
every cline where wealth is found.