Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-01-18
Largest Clrculation in City and State
A Wall FROM NEW ENGLAND.

Tuptey from Radical Legislation
senator sprague on the Repeal Ol
the Cotton Tax.
While the bill to repeal the cotton tax
was under consideration in the United
States Senate, just before the holiday recess,
Mr.. sprague, Of Rhode Island, said
Mr.. PRESIDENT: / wish that could
deliver the ideas that desire to express
upon this question AZ well az the Senator
from Iowa, Mr.. Grimes, did his, and ]
desire 10 embody his remarks in what |
may say. am frank enough 10 say that
the people of my State, in my belief, are
more interested in the ren1oYx1 of this tax
than they are in any other question now
before the country. / am frank enough TO
say that the market Of the South Is as in
dispensable 10 our prosperity as our pros
perity is necessary 10 our existence. Sir,
have been surprised and alarmed at the
position that has been taken here by my
friends from that section OF the country.
] do not distrnst my own judgment bnt
the facts that have been elucidated by them
are 30 contrary TO my experience and in
formation, that ] am alarmed for the great
interests of this country, and especially for
that section. | have sounded the alarm
toward all the industrial interests in other
sections of this country from time TO time.
Ny words have been listened TO, il is true; /;
but no attention has been paid to the warn
ing by those whose duty il was, in my judg-
ment, to attend 10 it, stand here now and
advocate the interests ofthatindnstry which
in my judgment is more depressed than any
other. In the range Of my vision | 10 not
know of a single manufacturing interest
that is not almost destroyed at any rate
prostrated to the very dust. / know that
thousands and thousands of men, women
and children are to-day suffering for the
want Of employment, in consequence of
these taxes and this adverse legislation
towards existing interests.
There is one important fact that desire
TO impress upon the mind of every Senator
here Iwould rather whisper it to them
than speak il in public. The cause which
has operated to dethrone cotton, the cause
which has operated TO destroy il as a mo-
nopoly, is what? An over production of
cotton in this country? No, sir. / am
humiliated in being obliged TO admit,
the fact that with this poor, despised. short
stapled husky India cotton, a fabric is to-
day produced by the skill and labor of
Englishmen equal TO the best fabric that
American machinery has yet been able to
produce. This is the cause of the present
depression ofthe cotton manufacture in this
country and throughout the world.
Sir, thequeslion before you is not whether
you shall not tax an existing interest. but
it is whether cotton is an existing interest.
IL the people of the South, those whose
means are to be invested in this crop. knew
the exact circumstances, my life for IL
they would not invest a single dollar in it.
Ii has been my privilege 20 plant cotton.
commencing in 1852 and following it up
to the present time. / know something Of
the necessaries required to grow that crop.
As you have been told, in the month of
January the furrow is made; in the month
of February the seed is planted and then
the hoeing commences soon after. If you
postpone this measure yOu postpone the
cultivation of this crop. What man will
place seed ih the ground with this tax
weighing upon him, certain to destroy
him? Who will commence the planting Of
cotton under such circumstances e?
Sir, in my Judgment, you have not this
interest in your hands. | am afraid that
you have lost us forever. But il NAV not
be. If you are wise you will look upon il
in this light you will endeayor to go back
upon your past legislation to mend, to re-
pair, to heal, TO cure, if you can. My iudg,
ment is that it will be the hardest task that
ever washed the hands or minds of poll
ticians or Statesmen. / fear for the ex ist,
ence Of the manufacturers of my own State
in consequence of this alarming condition
of things. i fear that the fabrics produced
from the cheap cotton which is now grown
in India will, in spite of all tariffs, find
their way into this country and be con-
sumed by the American people, and then
let me ask, what will I've our position in
New England?
There IL one other point ON which |
think il is important that the Senate should
be informed, and that il in regard 10 the
different qualities of cotton. We boast OF
the Sea Island cotton a. being unequalled
by any, and we feel sure that we have a
monopoly in that from which nothing can
oust us. And yet, sir, in my Judgment,
not two years will have passed over ug
when instead Of its being cultivated as il
has been in years past, il will be known
only in some gentlemans garden as a re-
mlnder Of what once has been, and il will
be merely a plant Of ornament. The
Egyptian cotton is 10 day being introduced
into seyen-eighths Of the finer qualities OF
goods that the Sea Island cotton was
hitherto used for.
hope have made myself unlerstood.
wish 1 could create in the mind of every
Senator the alarm | feel. We have been
told that We of the North are rich; the
Senator from Massachusetts, (Mr. Wilson,
tells US that we are seven times richer than
we were before the war ] wish / could
believe il. What have we TO show for
these alleged riches? We have spent IS. :
000,0O0,000; We raised 5000, 100000 last
/ year; we pay enormous taxes. We had
the South before the war. Have we IL any
more now than we had before the war ? /.
| it worth as much? Why, sir, know the
fact that many Of the principal plantations
Of the South are not worth One-twentie,l
part az much "a they were then.
Mr.. Newly
Mr.. Sprague-Why? Because il doe,
not pay 20 cultivate them and to hold them
as know. Are we richer as a manuiac-
turing State in Rhode Island than we wer,
before the war; ] say no; and know
the fact myself from experience. | knoN
that seven years of employment OF the ma
chinery Of that State has reduced its yalu,
seventy per cent. Have we laid ND any
thing 10 meet that deficiency Have ",
more lands, more houses, more of any %
the necessaries OF life ? The statistics dC
not show it2 We have not. We are poorer
in my Judgment by the 5000, 600 600 ",
have spent in the war. Ii may be that tC
offset THE YOU may deduct what we have
produced during the seven years; but ther
on the other aide of the account YOU mus
add that which fifteen hundred thousand
men have destroyed. The argument of tn,
Senator from Massachusetts was in favor o
a measure which / am for, but am no
willing TO admit that his statement Ct in
creased riches on the part of the North i;
\ correct statement Of the facts. | say III,
CONTRARY is the truth.
| am sorry to differ from nv friend from
Vermont; bat he tells us that if we obtair
from a short crop as much money as we ge
from a larger one, the result is inst th
same Nv whole experience is TO the con
,rary Of that. The thing is 40 selfeviden
| thai | do NOT believe ii i necessary for m,