Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-09-06


our exchanges, our manufactures, our
wealth and ability to support the common
schools from which emanates the bcs.sted
intelligence of our people, all date their
birth from the cotton plantations OF the
South, which we are running for party pur-
poses, and thus committing national sui
eide.
"sProtection in general is no part of
our creed We believe in the doctrine of
such a general interchange of commodities
as different countries can produce to the
best advantage, and SO feeding and clothing
the whole world, ourselves included, with
the greatest possible economy.
"But if not what are politically termed
! protectionists of American industry we
are certainly not advocates of the practical
protection of foreign staples which is
brought about by the wilful destruction Of
our own labor. 1t is not intended that this
expression shall be construed into regret
that slavery is abolished, with the enter
tainment of which all conservative men
are frequently reproached. Slavery was
a cancer which was supposed to be eating
into the body polite, and antl-slavery, the
caustic which extirpated it, had nearly
killed the patient in the process. Our wish
is not to restore the original disease, but
to heal as quickly as possible the wound
which has been made in eradicating it.
Slavery, with its advantages and disadvan-
tages, has forever passed, and our duty
now is to make freedom advantageous only.
It is vain for US to boast that we are a
great country, and all yet will come out
right, if we persistently endeavor to make
everything go on wrong. We should re-
fleet, that great as our country is, it is not
the only country on earth, and that Others
are not disposed to stand still while we are
settling our domestic broils. Cotton is
prime necessity for the world, and the world
will have it from wherever they can get it
quickest and cheapest.
| sThere are some remarks which bear
upon this subject in Captain Codman's Ten
Months in Brazil, work which we have
already commended to our readers. The
author takes very sensible view of the
|
quote at length:
| s'Wherever in the world cotton can be grown,
| it's cultivation has received an impetus from the
| late American civil war. Various nations have
begun to compete for the cheapest production OF
this absolutely necessary staple, and none have
farer chance of success, in building their fortunes
upon our ruins, than Brazil, if her people can dis
play sufficient energy. The most sanguine plan
tiers scarcely hoped to do more than to make
| large profits while the war continued but they
now see an unlimited future of prosperity before
them. They quite sure that the labor system
| of the Southern States will be much more expen-
! sive than heretofore, and that this climate, even
with free labor, which all anticipate eventually,
will give them every advantage over us. Their
reasoning is simple and not easily refuted. For
| example, in the province of San PaulO, of which
Santos is the seaport, there Is no winter, proper
y called although it is within the limits OF the
Southern temperate zone. Something Is pro-
duced from the soil in alternate crops throughout
the year, and there generally two crops of cot
| ton annually, or, at least, three crops in two
years. There IL no season IN which the laborer
need remain idle. He can always be producing
| something for his employer or for himself. In
either it is the same, for it enters into the
cost of raising cotton, as the price of remunera-
| tive labor. Nor, like the Southern negro, whose
service cannot be made available In the winter,
does the labOrer here require warm clothing, II
any at all, for clothing Is luxury INDUCED IN
| only on Sundays and holidays. Slave labor, or
| free labor is, then, undenIably cheaper here
Moreover the expense of cultivation is infinitely
less with the proper tools, OF winch the Brazil
ians are so slow to learn the use. Cotton with US
is planted yearly. Here the plants last from five
| to seven years without renewal.
"When slavery existed in the Uuited States
cotton could be raised for seven cents per pound
| and then Cotton 2CdS King. What a fall he has
had from his throne, dragging down his ministers
and his immediate vassals with him, involving in
the ruin those who were obliged to dethrOne him!
| The kingdom of cotton is changed into world
wide republic. Many nations will be the gamers,
while we are the losers: At this time with our
| ted that cotton cannot be raised for less than
| twenty cents per pound. Doubtless, in the course
of years. either by the utilization OF the black la
Dor, which the hopes OF some anticipate, or by
the influx of emigrants, this condition will be i'm
proved But, meanwhile, the outside world will
get prodigious start, and it IS difficult to con-
ceive that, with all the appliances we can bring to
| bear, reduce the present cost of produc-
ton one-haf-to ten cents. To this must be add
| ed the internal revenue tax of three cents, and
| the export duty, if our Government is so IN
wise rs to place any further restrictions upon in
dustry.
| 'sIn this district of San Paulo, cotton can be
raised for very little more than our present reve-
| nue. tax and the proposed export duty; and this
even with the antiqu ated tools and the slow ener
gies of Brazilians. In many parts of the empire
the experiment has proved unsuccessful Espe-
cally is this true of the country Rio de Jane
iro, where the plant is utterly destroyed by
worms. "-[Ten months in Brazil: PIP. Sc, 81.
Thus it appears that Notwithstanding
the lack of energy among the people and
the abundance of caterpillars, the Brazil
ians have already taken advantage of us
and it is fair to presume that they will
endeavor to maintain their position. Nor
is this the case in Brazil alone. Doubtless,
travellers in other parts of South America,
in Mexico, in Egypt, in India, and among
the isles of the ocean, could tell us similar
stories of what Captain Goldman so aptly
calls 6: building fortunes upon our ruins.
We repeat that we are no advocates of
slavery in any shape. The negro is freed
from his Southern master. Let his North
ern master leave him alone! This much at
any rate can be said of the former. He
made him work, but he fed him. The lat
ter makes him vote, but lets him starve-
yes, lets him starve! for what is the destruc-
ton of labor but starvation Have we no
sympathy either for the whites or for the
blacks of the South, whose interests are
surely identical with each other, and with
| L. I. Il.